Open Confession?!

[ElaineMomNC]

A priest in a nearby Parish has moved out of the Reconciliation Room! He is hearing Confessions in the back corner of the Church. I know we are not supposed to listen, but you could hear the “hissing” of both their voices.

My own parish priest has a secure room, with a sound-proof window, plus a small fan on the floor outside so you really can feel secure of the privacy of your confession.

Two questions: is there any church ruling on where the Sacrament of Penance can be celebrated? Is the fear of child molestation and sex scandals taking precedence over the Seal of Confession?

I will not go to Confession in this parish because I do not feel there is sufficient privacy and protection against over-hearing. If any of the CA apologists could also cover this one, I’d really appreciate it.

 

[jmcrae]

I much prefer the old style of Confessionals where there is a screen between you and the priest.

I’m sure that part of the reason your priest has to go out in the open is because he can’t be in any room - not even the Reconciliation Room - alone with a woman or child - under current legislation.

A proper Confessional would alleviate all of these problems - the problem of the penitent’s privacy, and the problem of the priest not being allowed to be alone in the same room with a woman or child.

With a proper Confessional, he’s in a room by himself, and the woman or child is next door, also alone in a little room by herself, speaking to him through a little screen.

 

[LilyM]

There is certainly a rule requiring the priest to offer both privacy and anonymity in regard to confession, not that I can quote chapter and verse offhand.

Although anyone who overhears a confession is bound by the same seal of the confessional as the priest himself.

Perhaps suggest to the priest that if he doesn’t wish to use the confessional there still may be better places than the back of the church - perhaps in the sacristy or something?

 

[WanderAimlessly]

I only go where there is a screen. I prefer the anonymity.

One time, there was a cluster confession (group of parishishes having individual confesssion) for Lent. All of the priests were situated around the church in the open. I turned around and left.

 

[jmcrae]

I only go where there is a screen. I prefer the anonymity.

One time, there was a cluster confession (group of parishishes having individual confesssion) for Lent. All of the priests were situated around the church in the open. I turned around and left.

All of them? That’s weird. It’s strange that some of them, at least, didn’t make use of the parish’s Confessionals.

I have met some priests who prefer to be out in the open. I just go to different priests for Confession, in that case.

 

[Victorious]

I’m sure that part of the reason your priest has to go out in the open is because he can’t be in any room - not even the Reconciliation Room - alone with a woman or child - under current legislation.

Which legislation would that be? And if an individual priest is under such an order from his superiors (or from the parole board), then what is he doing still functioning as a priest?

 

[aurora77]

I’m sure that part of the reason your priest has to go out in the open is because he can’t be in any room - not even the Reconciliation Room - alone with a woman or child - under current legislation.

Is this Church law or Canadian legislation? I just find it creepy that there’s a need for that sort of legislation. The confessional should be a safe place for both parties.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

All of them? That’s weird. It’s strange that some of them, at least, didn’t make use of the parish’s Confessionals.

I have met some priests who prefer to be out in the open. I just go to different priests for Confession, in that case.

That is what I thought. I even checked since it was my parish at the time. Fortunately, there was a parish up the road doing the same thing that night. Same setup, but some were using the confessionals.

 

[jmcrae]

Which legislation would that be? And if an individual priest is under such an order from his superiors (or from the parole board), then what is he doing still functioning as a priest?

No, this is the regulation where no male adult is ever allowed to be alone with the door closed with a woman or child, if it is a public institution (such as a school, church, or community centre).

I don’t recall the name of the law right now - my husband calls it the “tender tootsies” law, but that’s not helping me remember the proper name of it.

It has nothing to do with his ever having been arrested for anything - his “crime” is that he is an adult male, working in a public institution that caters to women and children.

 

[Victorious]

No, this is the regulation where no male adult is ever allowed to be alone with the door closed with a woman or child, if it is a public institution (such as a school, church, or community centre).

I see violations of the “separation of church and state” only go one way! Is this in Canada? I’m not aware of this in the United States. Was there no hue and cry over this?

 

[jmcrae]

I see violations of the “separation of church and state” only go one way! Is this in Canada? I’m not aware of this in the United States. Was there no hue and cry over this?

Yes, this is in Canada. There was plenty of hue and cry - those who were huing and crying got labelled as “child molestors” and “enablers of child molestors” and got shut down pretty quickly.

My husband quit teaching Sunday School at his church over this thing, because he couldn’t count on there being another volunteer to be with him in the room at all times - that’s why they now have all female Sunday School teachers at his church, now.

A normal Confessional could be used, but a Reconciliation Room that had no screen, with the door shut, would be a no-no, under this law.

I can’t even have a private chat with my priest, without him having to leave the door wide open, which is rather annoying, at times.

But the real solution to protect both the priest and the penitant is to bring back the old-style Confessionals, where privacy is assured on both sides of the wall. There is no law against being in a room all by yourself, after all.

 

[LilyM]

I’ve seen one situation where a room was used for reconciliation - constructed as a normal confessional but with walls of glass. The glass was opaque enough that you couldn’t read lips or anything but clear enough that the priest and penitent were both highly visible.

This seems to be a good compromise between privacy and protection. Of course, as has been pointed out, the traditional confessional with totally separated spaces for priest and pentitent should also give no one any cause for concern. But then some people are claustrophobic and others desire face-to-face confession which is impossible with such an arrangement.

 

[Pug]

Yes, this is in Canada. There was plenty of hue and cry - those who were huing and crying got labelled as “child molestors” and “enablers of child molestors” and got shut down pretty quickly.

I’ve been postponing this decision, but I am now reconsidering placing Canada on my special list of baffling mysteries of the universe. Is it Canada, or just your province? Do most places cooperate? How does this work in the public school system? Do they enforce this law?

 

[JimG]

Our parish has the old style confessionals, even though it’s a newer more modern type of church building. But sometimes when there is a line at the confessionals, another priest will come out and hear confessions at the altar rail. (Yes, our modern church has an altar rail.) I have often gone to confession this way, and no one has ever been able to overhear.

 

[Woodstock]

I know of a US church that put in a glass door for the confessional for the very same reasons as above. A Catholic priest in a closed room with the elderly or children is not allowed according to the diocesan norms promulgated after the sex abuse scandals. Churches renovated to put glass throughout the offices so that youth ministers, DREs, or priests are not alone and out of sight with the youth or elderly as well. It was the best compromise to maintain confidentiality and visibility.

I know of a priest who won’t go near children for fear of being accused of something untoward.

This is the climate that they are living their vocations in.

As for the confession in the open, there might be other explanations. The person might have requested it for any number of reasons. Maybe she is claustrophobic. Maybe she wanted less formality as a condition of working up the gumption to go to confession. Maybe she has been abused by a man in the past and needs the space to feel safe. There are many reasons this might have been. You can tell the priest that you were able to overhear, that you understand the implications and will not discuss it, and you tried to not listen, but you think he might like to know this.

 

[Rawb]

Occasionally there is a priest in my parish who will hear confessions outside the confessional. He sits up near the front with a small screen placed upon a table. He sits on one side and there is a kneeler on the other. There are three regular confessionals in the church (all are both anonymous and face-to-face). I think this priest might have been visiting because I havn’t seen him in a while, but either way it was an attempt to help make sure everyone’s confessions were heard. Even when he was around you had to wait 10 to 15 minutes, and now that I haven’t seen him you can wait for almost 20 before getting your confession heard.

 

[mystified]

Canon Law: Can. 964, pghs 2 and 3.
These two paragraphs are explicit.
In necessity, a priest may hear a confession almost anywhere, i.e. hospital bed, battlefield, etc. In a church, with confessionals available, adminstering the sacrament elsewhere does not seem necessary.

 

[jmcrae]

I’ve been postponing this decision, but I am now reconsidering placing Canada on my special list of baffling mysteries of the universe. Is it Canada, or just your province? Do most places cooperate?

Yes.

How does this work in the public school system?

Male teachers can’t close their classroom doors, and male counsellors, principals, and other staff work with kids in an open area rather than in their offices.

Do they enforce this law?

So far, I’ve never heard of anyone being arrested for having his door closed, but then again, so far, I’ve never noticed anyone not following it, either.

Even when I go to the doctor, the nurse has to stand there with him and watch him examine me. Personally, I’d feel safer if she wasn’t there, since he is very non-judgemental about my problems, but she is always "tsk-tsk"ing about this and that.