Reservations about becoming a priest

[Andrew_11]

Kielbasi:

Just test it, enroll in a seminary if you ain’t there already (you didn’t say if you were in a high school seminary or not).

I didn’t know there was such thing as a high school seminary. I doubt my parents would alow me to enroll in one. Its not that they are adamently opposed to me becoming a priest, they just want me to wait to make sure I make the right decision.

 

[Kielbasi]

I didn’t know there was such thing as a high school seminary.

Not suprised with that, as there were only 7 left in the US in 2002, I just looked it up. There were 122 in the country when I was a kid in 1967. Two each in Wisconsin and New York, 1 in California, New Hampshire and Illinois.

This is something which has fallen by the wayside apparently.

chnonline.org/2002/2002-10-03/newsstory3.html

 

[Liberian]

Andrew,

The dilemma you face is really no different from the dilemma faced by lawyers and psychiatrists. Legally speaking–as well as ethically speaking–the seal between them and their clients is unbreakable, every bit as binding as the seal of the confessional.

There are a couple of historical precedents that might also interest you. One is that a few centuries ago in England, some Irishmen (led by one Guy Fawkes) planted gunpowder in the basement of the Parliament building in order to blow it up. (The English still celebrate the hanging of Guy Fawkes every year on November 5.) The plotters had gone to confession and the priest had refused to break the seal of the confessional, even to save the Parliament buildings (and Parliament), and was tried and hanged along with the plotters.

• Liberian

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Well, Andrew, Sweetie, don’t you think they cover these things in seminary training?

Seminary is for discernment and training. Why don’t you give it a shot, take it semester by semester or year by year and see what God has in store for you?

Your call seems a lot stronger than my husband’s. He calims to have discerned the priesthood was not his vocation when he considered how clerics and vestments, and his witty repartee of theology might impress the girls…

 

[MaryAgnes]

Andrew_11:

Part of me says, “maybe I shouldn’t be a priest, I wouldn’t be able to adaquatly fufill the duties,”. Then part of me keeps telling me how strong the pull to a religous life is, and how it seems that I am cut out to be a priest, in every area except this. I also keep thinking, that maybe if priests would have turned in their fellow priests, this scandle would be nowhere near the magnitude it is today. I feel horrible saying that, I know that its wrong to say and feel, I’m just trying to honestly express my emotions, as I am really trying to discover what my voctation is. I feel so much confusion.

If you are feeling such a strong pull to religious life, have you thought about becoming a monk or religious brother? Brothers are laypersons and not all monks are ordained … Perhaps you need to furthur discern your call.

If you are a priest, you cannot violate the seal of confession. Period.

 

[Al_Masetti]

In the seminary, they teach you and train you about how to deal with difficult moral issues such as what you might be faced with in the confessional. Also a confessional is NOT the appropriate place to go into a lot of spiritual direction. There are other venues for that, generally, a private session of spiritual direction or meetings such as parish missions, or Legion of Mary or Holy Name Society (whatever happened to that).

Anyway, that’s what the seminary is for… to teach you how to handle various situations. And you learn as you go.

If you have questions, I would advise contacting the director of your local seminary, write him a letter and ask how these particular issues are addressed in the seminary and if he could send you a book or some papers to read on the topic.

A lot of Catholic seminaries and graduate schools affiliated with seminaries also offer courses to private individuals who are sim;y interested in these topics. You might want to ask if your seminary offers such classes or if they have any recommendations. For example, a priest friend of mine teaches these kinds of classes at the seminary at Dunwoodie in New York as well at Fordham University. There are a lot of priests who teach part time at different Catholic colleges and at the local seminary. Ask around. Call your diocese office. Check the internet. A lot of people you ask might not know, but once you get plugged into the circle of folks who ARE interested and knowledgeable, a whole new world will open up.

 

[FrCorey]

**the seal of confession is so sacred, you must even be willing to go to jail if you refuse to tell even under a judges order. i.e. who is your boss, the lord or a human judge?

**

 

[Confiteor]

Andrew_11:

Part of me says, “maybe I shouldn’t be a priest, I wouldn’t be able to adaquatly fufill the duties,”. Then part of me keeps telling me how strong the pull to a religous life is, and how it seems that I am cut out to be a priest, in every area except this. I also keep thinking, that maybe if priests would have turned in their fellow priests, this scandle would be nowhere near the magnitude it is today. I feel horrible saying that, I know that its wrong to say and feel, I’m just trying to honestly express my emotions, as I am really trying to discover what my voctation is. I feel so much confusion.

Andrew,

I have often thought how many opportunities fellow priests and their bishop had to exercise “fraternal correction” and stop the kind of perverted behaviors that hurt many and so damaged our church. However, much of this would not have involved breaking the seal of the confessional (which must remain inviolate), but rather acting on observations of inappropriate behavior in rectories and other venues. In that, they erred…so egregiously. We need good priests so I hope you will not let this be an impediment…you will spend years in preparation helping you to deal with this and other challenges. God bless you…

 

[harinkj]

Kielbasi:

You’ll have a good basic classical type academic education, and you can go to law school or instead. There certainly is a desperate need for lawyers in this country as well.

I don’t know if this is good advice to become a lawer. :tsktsk:

Kathie :bowdown: