Who would a priest or even the Pope go to for confession?

[JReducation]

JReducation,

You said that the priest becomes Christ for a second. Christ is God.

Filioque,

I like the sound of that.

God bless

I see what happened. The soul of a man is ontologically changaed when he is ordained a deacon. He is no longer a member of the laity. He now shares in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

The priesthood of Jesus Christ has three orders or three ranks: deacon, presbyter and bishop. The presbyter is the one that most people call the priest. When a man is ordained a priest, even though his soul has already been changed and can never be the same as the rest of us, because he has the stamp of Christ’s priesthood, he now has another place in the life of the Church. He can now stand in the place of Christ and do what Christ commanded: to celebrate the Eucharist in memory of him and to forgive sins.

The scripture is very specific. It says “Whose sins you shall forgive shall be forgiven and whose sins you shall deny shall be denied.” It’s not just that the priest is a vicar or a sheriff of Christ. He speaks for Christ. He is not Christ in the literal sense. But he is not a symbol of Christ either.

Because of the Sacrament of Holy Orders he is part of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ and can never be separated from it. Therefore, he can do what Christ commanded him to do. One of those missions was to forgive sins. But Christ also gave him the authority to refuse forgiveness. This is the second half of that statement, “Whose sins you shall withold, shall be witheld.”

That’s why we can’t separate the priest from Christ in the sacrament of confession or the mass. He is doing what only Christ can do, but he is doing it with the authority and the power that Christ gives to him alone. His forgives and he gives the us the body and blood of Christ.

I hope this is clearer.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

If the Pope or priests sin, who do they confess to?

Any other priest. It’s really that simple. And what do you mean, ‘if?’ We all sin. Some religious Confess every day.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I once read of someone who was in line for confession and realize that the one behind him was the bishop. Everyone immediately stepped aside to let the bishop go to the head of the line. He refused with the comment, “I’m no hurry to get in there than the rest of you are.”

 

[JReducation]

Any other priest. It’s really that simple. And what do you mean, ‘if?’ We all sin. Some religious Confess every day.

Bold is mine.

This practice is actually discouraged by most religious superiors, formation directors and spiritual directors, because it has a tendency to be rooted in scrupulosity, which is not healthy.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I think Pope John Paul II confessed weekly.