Self Absolution?

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

Can a Priest absolve himself? If he is on a plane and it is going down can his absolution of the other passengers cover himself? What if a Priest is sent to a far away mission and won’t be in contact with non-natives for years or longer - how does he receive absolution?

 

[Contarini]

Hello,

Can a Priest absolve himself?

I’m not a Catholic, but my understanding of the Catholic Church’s teaching is that not only can a priest not absolve himself, but he can’t absolve someone else for a sin in which he (the priest) was implicated (the most obvious example being a sexual sin). I may be confused about that second part.

What if a Priest is sent to a far away mission and won’t be in contact with non-natives for years or longer - how does he receive absolution?

I think he’d just have to make an act of contrition and resolve to go to confession as soon as he found another priest!

Edwin

 

[Todd_Easton]

I’m not a Catholic, but my understanding of the Catholic Church’s teaching is that not only can a priest not absolve himself, but he can’t absolve someone else for a sin in which he (the priest) was implicated (the most obvious example being a sexual sin). I may be confused about that second part.

I think he’d just have to make an act of contrition and resolve to go to confession as soon as he found another priest!

Edwin

I think our Episcopalian friend understands the Catholic faith better than many Catholics.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello,

Can a Priest absolve himself? If ?

no he must confess to another priest at the earliest opportunity. don’t make assumptions about mission territories and “non-natives” as the goal for missions these days is to prepare and ordain native-clergy and turn missions over to an indigenous church hierarchy as soon as possible.

 

[Contarini]

no he must confess to another priest at the earliest opportunity. don’t make assumptions about mission territories and “non-natives” as the goal for missions these days is to prepare and ordain native-clergy and turn missions over to an indigenous church hierarchy as soon as possible.

Right, but he was making a hypothetical point. It is, however, relevant that the Jesuits (who had the most flexible and simple structure of any order so that they could engage in pioneer missionary work, among other things) typically sent out their missionaries two by two (this is also the NT precedent, of course!), not alone. One missionary might die, leaving his colleague stranded. But I don’t think it was ever common practice to send out missionaries by themselves. This had many practical reasons, of which the need for a confessor was surely one!

Edwin

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

What got me wondering about this, is that I caught the tail end of Titanic the other day. The ship was going down and the Priest on board was praying over Catholics that had gathered around him. And I thought - what if the Priest needed absolution? What provision is there for him? And I thought about the old Priests - like those who first came to America to evangelize the Indians; they were gone for years and they always seemed to go alone, usually with a group of explorers. What if they needed to go to confession.

I was pretty certain about the normal canons about not absolving oneself or absolving in a sin one is implicated in or an accomplice to. But I thought, what happens in extreme situations? I wondered is there an extraordinary loophole in the canons?

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

Hello,

What got me wondering about this, is that I caught the tail end of Titanic the other day. The ship was going down and the Priest on board was praying over Catholics that had gathered around him. And I thought - what if the Priest needed absolution? What provision is there for him? And I thought about the old Priests - like those who first came to America to evangelize the Indians; they were gone for years and they always seemed to go alone, usually with a group of explorers. What if they needed to go to confession.

I was pretty certain about the normal canons about not absolving oneself or absolving in a sin one is implicated in or an accomplice to. But I thought, what happens in extreme situations? I wondered is there an extraordinary loophole in the canons?

Well, first, there are no loopholes. If there would be a so called loophole that it won’t matter. The Church believes and then puts things on paper…not the other way around. I suppose that you mean loophole but rather a exceptiom for some extreme cases. No, not really. If priests can’t confess themselves to themselves. That’s not a confession. If they are in the danger of death they will do an act of contrition like any other person who doesn’t have an access to confession.

 

[Marysann]

One of my priest friends has joked that he doesn’t like to fly unless there is another priest on the airplane. He says that in case of a “problem”, he could give general absolution to the others on the plan, but not to himself!

 

[Pious_Mat]

Why do they always ask the one-in-a-million questions?

It’s possible that the priest could make a perfect act of contrition before death, a phenomenon that other people on this forum are better qualified to explain than me.