Sin and confession outside the bounds of Earth

[s.cono]

I was pondering the imponderables last night as it was quite warm and difficult to find sleep.

Something came across my mind regarding living beyond Earth’s bounds as a Catholic. I suppose sin is not exclusive to happening on planet Earth. That where ever man goes, sin follows, and occurs under the umbrella of “heavens and earth”. So just because man can physically leave the planet, he is still bound by God’s (and the church’s) laws regarding sin (and reconciliation).

As time away from earth increases due to protracted mission lengths, the need for reconciliation increases, yet it would be impossible under the current structure to be able to confess in person to a priest, and receive absolution.

Do you envision a day when the church will address this by allowing a person away from earth to confess via remote hookup, such as is done in some medical applications, such as with a psychologist or psychiatrist? Does the church have, or is working have a contingency plan to address this in the future. Already man has spent more than a year in orbit. A Mars mission would take at least a year.

 

[thistle]

I was pondering the imponderables last night as it was quite warm and difficult to find sleep.

Something came across my mind regarding living beyond Earth’s bounds as a Catholic. I suppose sin is not exclusive to happening on planet Earth. That where ever man goes, sin follows, and occurs under the umbrella of “heavens and earth”. So just because man can physically leave the planet, he is still bound by God’s (and the church’s) laws regarding sin (and reconciliation).

As time away from earth increases due to protracted mission lengths, the need for reconciliation increases, yet it would be impossible under the current structure to be able to confess in person to a priest, and receive absolution.

Do you envision a day when the church will address this by allowing a person away from earth to confess via remote hookup, such as is done in some medical applications, such as with a psychologist or psychiatrist? Does the church have, or is working have a contingency plan to address this in the future. Already man has spent more than a year in orbit. A Mars mission would take at least a year.

Confession must be in person. It cannot and will never be done by email, mobile phone, Skype or whatever.

 

[EZweber]

I am slightly sceptical about any digital sacraments because physical objects play essential roles in most sacraments. In the case of a man going into outer space the Church would probably give a dispensation from most canonical obligations and there would be less opportunity for sin. This is just my personal opinion; I could be wrong

 

[Beryllos]

Confession must be in person.

Why do you say that? I just did a quick review of the Catechism and find that there is some leeway in case of grave necessity or physical impossibility.

 

[s.cono]

You don’t think this will ever change based on necessity? Other things must have changed over two millennia.

 

[Kima]

You don’t think this will ever change based on necessity? Other things must have changed over two millennia.

We cannot let that be changed. Jusk ask yourself: what´s Confession gonna be like if it´s online? There will be digital footprints everywhere and it will no longer be in privacy.
I hope that digitalization of Church and Sacraments won´t ever be a thing…!

 

[OraLabora]

Do you envision a day when the church will address this by allowing a person away from earth to confess via remote hookup, such as is done in some medical applications, such as with a psychologist or psychiatrist?

Don’t worry, HAL will take care of everything! He’ll just be ordained before liftoff!

 

[s.cono]

I think we agree that for those earthbound, the traditional way should be retained. I was more thinking in extraordinary circumstances such as being 50 million miles away from the nearest priest, and in a position where your life is in a precarious position at all times.

 

[OraLabora]

Assuming this isn’t a one-way mission, i.e. the crew are expected to return to Earth, then I think that saying an act of perfect contrition would be deemed acceptable in lieu of confession, with resolve to confess in the normal manner once safely back on Earth. At least there would be no danger of receiving the Eucharist unworthily unless some means is found to pack a bunch of consecrated hosts on board and preserve them from spoilage. I highly doubt, however, that the Church would allow that.

And of course the Sunday/HDO obligation would be waived automatically by the impossibility due to travel, just as it would be for an earthling stuck in airplanes and airports on a Sunday with no opportunity to attend.

Some ability to live feed into a Mass broadcast might be feasible; of course that doesn’t cover the obligation, but the obligation is waived in this case and it would allow our astronauts to make a spiritual communion.

Now what are the odds of a practicing Catholic astronaut?

 

[Beryllos]

There will be digital footprints everywhere and it will no longer be in privacy.

Let’s assume, for the sake of discussion, that it can be encrypted to whatever degree is necessary to ensure privacy.

Also note that privacy is not strictly guaranteed even in the confessional at church. Someone with good hearing might be listening in, not to mention your cell phone if it has been hacked.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

This is no different from the old case of a sailor being on a ship at sea, or shipwrecked on an island. Sailors might not see a priest for years. For that matter, colonists in any remote area might not see a priest for years.

If the Church can send a priest up on the space ship, it will. Otherwise you just have to avoid sin and have perfect contrition.

In the meantime, those of us who do have access to priests and sacraments might be more grateful for them and quit whining that they don’t like the priest’s choice of art or hymns etc.

 

[OraLabora]

I worked in the design and analysis of electronic medical records before retiring. There was a great reticence to use them by some folks who feared hacking or other privacy breeches, conveniently forgetting that when you went to the doctor’s office, (s)he might have a pile of other people’s files sitting on their desk.

And a nosy secretary would have easier access to a paper file than a properly designed EMR with permission levels.

There’s really no absolute guarantee of privacy anywhere these days.

 

[s.cono]

Now what are the odds of a practicing Catholic astronaut?

There were six in the Apollo program. I don’t know if any of them were practicing. The Presbyterians sure were.

“The twenty-seven who were married (Swigert and Schmitt were not) produced an average of 2.8 children. Generally the astronauts - twenty-three Protestants and six Catholics - adhered more closely to formal religion than their contemporaries; a high proportion of them served as elders, stewards, deacons, or vestrymen. Presbyterian Aldrin administered holy communion to himself inside Eagle after it landed on the Moon, and when Frank Borman was orbiting the Moon he apologized to his fellow members of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church because his absence made it impossible for him to serve as a lay reader on Christmas Eve. The prayer he did say reached a somewhat larger audience and caused an atheist to sue NASA, unsuccessfully, on a separation-of-state-and-church issue.”

Source: Apollo Expeditions to the Moon CHAPTER 8.4

 

[OraLabora]

Thanks. I can say that it wouldn’t have surprised me to see an astronaut blastoff as an agnostic or atheist, and splash down or land as a believer!!!

 

[Major]

I am seriously doubting, if our civilization in current state of decay can think of really long space missions. However, if we will somehow after this new dark ages reach new Christendom, then such missions, I hope, will be possible. But then having priest onboard should be a rather standard thing.

 

[OraLabora]

Who knows what will happen that far off into the future. There’s a good chance that a Vatican III will have come along by then and who knows what would happen with that. Perhaps it would be the final nail in the clericalist coffin and the Church would start to act on this “priesthood of all believers” thing. Note that I’m not saying it will happen or wishing for it, just using an extreme example to illustrate that we can’t predict the future.

Or maybe by then Christianity will have been reduced to about 100 families of believers surrounding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 

[Sbee0]

s.cono:

You don’t think this will ever change based on necessity? Other things must have changed over two millennia.

We cannot let that be changed. Jusk ask yourself: what´s Confession gonna be like if it´s online? There will be digital footprints everywhere and it will no longer be in privacy.
I hope that digitalization of Church and Sacraments won´t ever be a thing…!

Exactly. There will never be “online confession” for that reason.

 

[thistle]

Why do you say that? I just did a quick review of the Catechism and find that there is some leeway in case of grave necessity or physical impossibility.

That is not correct. If you believe that then show me the part in the CCC which you say supports your claim.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Live stream adoration, it does not count as far as I am aware of.

Your prayers and devotion certainly count. God takes note of those.

However, you can’t get an indulgence for it. Indulgences are handed out by the Church, not by God, and the Church says you have to be there in person.

 

[s.cono]

How about the Pope’s blessing to Rome and the world? I think that’s a plenary you can recieve by television. Does it have to be a live broadcast, or what if you see it afterward? I wondered about that.