Priests going to confession

[Elzee]

Are priests required to go to confession on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, etc.) And…do they typically go to another priest in their church, the Bishop, etc…do they have a choice on who their confessor is? Just curious. I’ve never heard this talked about before.

Since so few priests seem to talk about the need for confession these days (at least that has been my experience), I often wonder if this is a reflection on their own particpation in the sacrament?

 

[Deacon_Ed]

Elzee:

Are priests required to go to confession on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, etc.) And…do they typically go to another priest in their church, the Bishop, etc…do they have a choice on who their confessor is? Just curious. I’ve never heard this talked about before.

Since so few priests seem to talk about the need for confession these days (at least that has been my experience), I often wonder if this is a reflection on their own particpation in the sacrament?

In terms of requirements, priests have the same ones we do. They are required to confess at least once a year if they are aware of serious sin. Now, the reality is that most priests go far more often than that. Yes, they get to choose their own confessor. In many cases it will be a priest that they are no likely to have to work with on a daily basis and someone that they trust to provide spiritual direction (although their confessor may not be their spiritual director).

Deacon Ed

 

[atsheeran]

Deacon Ed:

In many cases it will be a priest that they are no likely to have to work with on a daily basis and someone that they trust to provide spiritual direction (although their confessor may not be their spiritual director).

Deacon Ed

Where does this requirement come from? I thought that it was best for a person’s spiritual director to be that person’s confessor.

 

[baltobetsy]

atsheeran:

Where does this requirement come from? I thought that it was best for a person’s spiritual director to be that person’s confessor.

I’m guessing that the meaning of the sentence in question is not, “the confessor is not permitted to be the spiritual director,” but rather, “the confessor might or might not be the same person as the spiritual director.”

Betsy

 

[JimG]

Priests, just like you or me, go to confession to another priest of their own choosing. If I were a priest, I think I would rather go to someone whom I don’t work with daily.

Any person’s spiritual director need not be the same as his confessor, although that could be the case. A woman, a married man, or a non-ordained person could be a spiritual director, in which case they would obviously not be a priest.

 

[kleary]

Deacon Ed:

In terms of requirements, priests have the same ones we do. They are required to confess at least once a year if they are aware of serious sin. Now, the reality is that most priests go far more often than that. Yes, they get to choose their own confessor. In many cases it will be a priest that they are no likely to have to work with on a daily basis and someone that they trust to provide spiritual direction (although their confessor may not be their spiritual director).

Deacon Ed

But the priest CANNOT celebrate Holy Mass when conscious of grave sin. If he does he commits another grave sin for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice in that state.

Ken

 

[CatholicCid]

kleary:

But the priest CANNOT celebrate Holy Mass when conscious of grave sin. If he does he commits another grave sin for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice in that state.

Ken

Is there an exception to this, such as If the Priest is 100% unable to go to Confession before the Mass and No Other Priest Is Able to come and say the Mass? More so as the Priest has a duty to perform the Sacrafice of the Mass for the faithful? Or would the sin prevent that.

 

[Brain]

sacramentgs are effected by the act itself so an unworthy clebrant makes no difference to you. As for a priest in grave sin, i guess he would just ahve to make as perfect an act of contrition as he could and promise God that he would seek confession ASAP (AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF NOT FASTER). After that all he could do is pray for mercy, and hope God will understand that he was simply doing his duty (but as soon as he has 5 minutes and another priest…)

 

[mjdonnelly]

The Pope even has his own confessor.

 

[msproule]

kleary:

But the priest CANNOT celebrate Holy Mass when conscious of grave sin…

I was going to start a thread last week asking about this very situation…but never did so because I found my answer in the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 916 Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession, unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.