Seal of confession for Penitent

  • Thread starter Thread starter robin_hood
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

robin_hood

Guest
For the second year running in our RCIA course it has been ststed that not only the Priest but the Penitent as well has to keep the seal of Confession.No documentation is brought forward to back this up, has any body come across this and what is the reasoning behind this?:confused:
 
robin_hood said:
For the second year running in our RCIA course it has been ststed that not only the Priest but the Penitent as well has to keep the seal of Confession.No documentation is brought forward to back this up, has any body come across this and what is the reasoning behind this?:confused:
Click to expand...
The seal of Confession applies to the priest and any interpreter. It does not apply to the penitent.

Canon Law:

Can. 983 §1 The sacramental seal is inviolable. Accordingly, it is absolutely wrong for a confessor in any way to betray the penitent, for any reason whatsoever, whether by word or in any other fashion.

§2 An interpreter, if there is one, is also obliged to observe this secret, as are all others who in any way whatever have come to a knowledge of sins from a confession.
 
You are free to discuss your confession with others. I can’t see why anyone would think otherwise. When I made first Reconcilliation, we were discouraged from discussing it with our classmates, but that was to discourage childish talk of “what did you confess?” and more drastically, “whadidya get?”

I can see a benefit to being able to discuss your confession… if I went to confession with a priest other than my own (or my spiritual director or regular confessor), I would find some real benefit to being able to discuss the sins confessed, the priest’s counsel, and the application of the penance with my own priest.

In fact, the last time I visited my parents, I went to confession from the priest I grew up with. It was not only beneficial to discuss confessions with my current confessor, it was beneficial to discuss this particular confession with my current confessor. It helped paint a picture of a pattern of sin and the steps being taken to correct the pattern. Both priests are extremely excellent confessors, and I feel like a better person for this experience.

Now, the seal applies to a Penitent if they overhear someone else’s confession. If you are at the head of the line and you overhear the confession of the person in the confessional, the seal extends to you.
 
if this was a parent class preparing children for first confession, the point of the teaching may have been to warn parents not to question their children about their confession, to respect the privacy and confidentiality of the sacrament. Parents have no right to give kids the 3rd degree about their confession, and no, because it comes up every year, you may not videotape your child’s first confession.
 
You know that game “telephone”? I think this:
MusicMan said:
(…)When I made first Reconcilliation, we were discouraged from discussing it with our classmates, but that was to discourage childish talk of “what did you confess?” and more drastically, "whadidya get?"

I(…).
Click to expand...
turns into this:
robin_hood said:
For the second year running in our RCIA course it has been ststed that not only the Priest but the Penitent as well has to keep the seal of Confession. (…):confused:
Click to expand...
 
puzzleannie said:
if this was a parent class preparing children for first confession, the point of the teaching may have been to warn parents not to question their children about their confession, to respect the privacy and confidentiality of the sacrament. Parents have no right to give kids the 3rd degree about their confession, and no, because it comes up every year, you may not videotape your child’s first confession.
Click to expand...
Why not? I have seen it allowed so long as there is no audio or video that would allow for lip reading.
 
CuriousInIL said:
Why not? I have seen it allowed so long as there is no audio or video that would allow for lip reading.
Click to expand...
I don’t see how there would be anything wrong with that, really- but I wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of doing that.

There is no seal of confession for the penitent, but it would be a sin against charity to say what the priest said to make him look bad (even if he said what you say he said)- especially because he cannot defend himself.
 
m134e5 said:
I don’t see how there would be anything wrong with that, really- but I wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of doing that.

There is no seal of confession for the penitent, but it would be a sin against charity to say what the priest said to make him look bad (even if he said what you say he said)- especially because he cannot defend himself.
Click to expand...
The seal would extend to the person filming the confession.

The entire notion is absurd and demeaning to the Sacrament.
 
CuriousInIL said:
Do you feel the same way about filming other Sacraments?
Click to expand...
Would it really matter if I did?

This particular Sacrament is, by it’s nature, a very private one, shared between the Penitent and God via the Confessor. Filming something so intimate as that is demeaning to the nature of the Sacrament.
 
MusicMan said:
Would it really matter if I did?

This particular Sacrament is, by it’s nature, a very private one, shared between the Penitent and God via the Confessor. Filming something so intimate as that is demeaning to the nature of the Sacrament.
Click to expand...
OK I don’t get that but I understand your opinion.
 
m134e5 said:
A TWO year RCIA course? I don’t understand why some parishes do this.
Click to expand...
No, I think you misread it. The RCIA course is only one year, however for the second year in a row they have stated that the penitant must also keep the seal.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top