Why can't a priest confess to himself?

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My dad was asking me this morning, why does a priest have to go to another priest for confession? Why can’t the priest confess to himself?

What should I tell him? (I have to say, I hadn’t ever thought about it before…)

Tif =8-)
 
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TraderTif:
My dad was asking me this morning, why does a priest have to go to another priest for confession? Why can’t the priest confess to himself?

What should I tell him? (I have to say, I hadn’t ever thought about it before…)

Tif =8-)
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Why can’t a doctor treat himself?
 
Interestingly enough, that was the first thing that popped into my head.

But I think he’s looking for a little longer answer… 😛

Tif =8-)
 
I think that the nature of the sacrament will yield the answer that you are looking for.

Each Sacrament has a natural aspect that is part of its nature which has been elevated by grace to make it into a Sacrament. Baptism is washing, Eucharist is food, Marriage is a contract etc. Well in the same manner the Sacrament of Penance has a juridical quality. What I mean by this is that the confessional is like a court of law where the priest presides as judge. If we understand this natural aspect of this Sacrament then it is easy to see why a priest cannot absolve himself from sin. A judge cannot sit as judge at his own trial but must have another judge preside over him judgment. This is why a priest who is party to a sinfully act cannot hear the confession of the other parties. This is similar to a judge having to recuse himself in a case that he has a material interest. I hope this helps with your understanding of the sacrament.
 
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TraderTif:
Interestingly enough, that was the first thing that popped into my head.

But I think he’s looking for a little longer answer… 😛

Tif =8-)
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OK, so why does a lawyer need another lawyer to defend him in court?
 
Matthew 18:20

20 For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them

emp
 
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TraderTif:
My dad was asking me this morning, why does a priest have to go to another priest for confession? Why can’t the priest confess to himself?

What should I tell him? (I have to say, I hadn’t ever thought about it before…)

Tif =8-)
Click to expand...
My guess is there are several reasons. My first guess is that the priest is acting in persona Christi when hearing confession. Christ does not confess sins because He has no sins, therefore the priest can not be performing both parts of the sacrament. Second, the act of humbling yourself and going and confessing before someone else is important. It is getting your secrets off your chest. A sinfull man(everyone) has kind of a dual personality in a way. They have their public self that they show everyone and they have their interior self which they keep secret. In a way, confession makes these two one. You are owning up to your sins and saying ‘I am a sinner’.
 
Note that a lawyer (or a non-lawyer, as far as that goes) can defend himself in court, but a President who breaks the law cannot pardon himself.

DaveBj
 
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DaveBj:
Note that a lawyer (or a non-lawyer, as far as that goes) can defend himself in court, but a President who breaks the law cannot pardon himself.

DaveBj
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As someone who’d had some legal training I can tell you lawyers very rarely defend themselves - it’s usually ordinary poor folks who can’t find a lawyer who’ll take them on who do that.

There was a great quote I read somewhere, can’t remember who said it unfortunately - ‘the lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a lawyer - and a fool for a client as well’ 😃
 
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TraderTif:
My dad was asking me this morning, why does a priest have to go to another priest for confession? Why can’t the priest confess to himself?

What should I tell him? (I have to say, I hadn’t ever thought about it before…)

Tif =8-)
Click to expand...
Because people in white coats might take him away. :eek:
 
For a sacrament to be celebrated properly there are 3 items it should have:
  1. Matter and form
  2. a minister
  3. a recipient
    The tradition of confession to a priest comes from the Old Testament, sorry I do not have those references at this moment, but they say to confess your sins to a priest. Penance is part of the sacrament, what penance is there in confessing your sins to yourself? Confessing to a priest extracts great cleansing to the soul in of itself and in addition to the Grace that is bestowed.
    Hope that helps.
    Jeff
 
That would be spiritual masturbation. The sacrament of confession is a communal sacrament – celebrated by the entire body of Christ in Microcosm. Priest and penitent for the whole Church. Remove a wife from the husband, all one has is fruitless pleasure. Remove the priest from the penitent, and one gets a fruitless confession. One must approach the sacrament in a spirit of total self-revelation to another – total vulnerability, total humility. One can not do that with one’s self.
 
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