Priest texting or playing with cell phone during confession.

[DeaconJoeP]

They wait in the confessional box for hours"

I no of no priest in our Diocese that spends hours in the confessional are there priests in other diocese that have the time to spend more than an hour in the confessional?

Secondly, I have experienced the same thing as the original posters and so have other in our diocese, that is, Priests reading or messing with with there cell phones during that intimate moment of a person revealing their heart and seeking spiritual wholeness.
Let is call it what it is, I’t rude and distasteful.
Now while a priest is waiting of the next penitent, I could care less if he is texting or reading or eating. However, when a child of God, is baring their soul to the priest, he must put down that book, or cell phone and give his full attention to the penitent. This is what the Holy Father is calling for. If we only hear the confession and give a penance, without really having one’s spiritual antennae up and being docile to the Holy Spirit we cannot help and cooperated with the Holy Spirit in the conversion of Souls.

The Church rejoices when her children come to confession but seeing a priest with the cell phone in hand, could discourage some if they are not seen as interested in them, and their is a legitimate concern over privacy and confidentiality, unintentionally but the potential exists just the same.

If the Bishops knew these priests were being rude and foolish they would chastise them.
My sincere advise to you is, write your bishop regarding your concerns. Only you and the priest know for sure what happened.

I have been in ministry for many years…things happen sometimes because of many different reasons. The the microphone which are cordless and clip onto the priests alb first came out, a good holy priests I know entered the confession before Mass and forgot it was on…the results were disastrous. The priest was modified, he was being plagued with questions right before Mass and then the request for confession,he wasn’t aware.

First give the priest the benefit of the doubt and talk to him.
If he insists that he is perfectly within his rights to continue to text and read “during the confession” then write or call the bishop.

Love and peace,
Deacon Joseph

 

[corefaith]

We shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Priests are on call 24 hours. Also many priests use electronic devices for their breviary prayers and other books.

 

[johnnyc176]

One time I saw Father on has iPad through the confessional current and another time I saw another priest on his iPhone through the current but once someone walked into the confessional I saw him put it away.

They gotta do something while they’er in there waiting for no one to show up. Agree?

As far as the iPad…there are apps for the Bible and the Divine Office. Perhaps he was praying.

 

[HashTagSharp]

The Sacrament of Penance is often neglected these days, so it can get boring sitting in the confessional for an hour with only one person coming for a 2-minute confession. It would not be surprising if he did something to occupy himself.

If I was a priest, I would probably either read from my breviary, or a nice book, while waiting for the next penitent. Of course, it would probably be respectful to put the book down while you are hearing someone’s confession.

Because I am a new Catholic, I was totally surprised that so few people go to the Sacrament Of Penance, in my experience. A couple of months ago, I took a trip to visit my oldest son and his family. During the 5 hour car trip I listened to the Catholic Channel on Sirius radio. The main topic was Divine Mercy Sunday, as it was about to occur. I learned the importance of making a good confession, Eucharistic adoration and attending Mass to receive the Blessed Sacrament. So, on Saturday afternoon, my wife and I excused ourselves from the planned activities and went to Confession in a different diocese. We got to the Church about 5 minutes before the scheduled time, and were shocked that no one else was there. The Priest arrived a few minutes after the appointed time, got his vestments on and entered the confessional. He was very attentive during my confession, and gave me Absolution and Penance. I stayed in the church for a while to pray before the Eucharist. During the 45 minutes I spent there, not one other penitent entered the church. Is this normal? I surmised that Divine Mercy Sunday would prompt more people to take advantage of this sacrament. Not judging anyone, but why wouldn’t more people be there? The following day, the church was nearly full at Mass. Color me confused.

 

[DeaconJoeP]

We shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Priests are on call 24 hours. Also many priests use electronic devices for their breviary prayers and other books.

I agree that many Clergy use the smart phones to pray the Divine Office; that is not the problem. What is troubling is that a priest should not divide his attention between penitents and whatever he is reading. When someone comes to confession, the priest should shut off the device and give full attention to the one who bares his soul. When the priest is not engaged with someone, then they can do whatever they need or want to do.

 

[TimothyH]

It doesn’t matter how boring it is, the priest should be paying attention to the confession. It’s a sacrament. The emergency thing is no excuse. How did priests handle emergencies before the days of cellphones? Plus it’s just plain rude.

Yeah, but you gotta give people a break.

Are you 100% focused at work all the time?

I find it difficult to demand from others that which I am not capable of myself.

-Tim-

 

[Monica4316]

[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]I don’t think its normal for a priest to get bored with Confession. Our priest always takes it seriously and asks questions, gives advice, etc, and he spends a lot of time hearing Confessions too. This is a Sacrament! I’m going to assume this other priest had an emergency. If it wasn’t so then we should just quietly pray for him but not say this to others in the parish or gossip so his reputation is lowered