Tamarisk "On-line Confession" -- Christian Theology Discussion Group

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Date Posted: 00:17:39 01/10/03 Fri
Author: Mother Superior Hail YES!
Subject: Tamarisk "On-line Confession"

World News
January 10, 2003

Vatican warning on danger of 'online confession'
From Richard Owen in Rome

THE Vatican has warned Catholic bishops and priests not to use the internet to hear �online confessions� in case they are read by �ill-intentioned people such as hackers� for purposes such as blackmail.

The Holy See�s judicial arm said there was a risk that criminals would misuse confidential information intended for the eyes of a confessor only.

It did not say if the warning had been prompted by an actual case of blackmail. No figures have been released for the number of confessions heard online. The Vatican has embraced the internet with enthusiasm, and since 1997 has had an efficient website powered by computers named after the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael and run by nuns.

The Pope, while warning of the �dark uses� to which the internet can be put and the �temptations� it offers, has used it to send messages and prayers around the world. However, he is against group confessions and collective absolutions.

Last April, in an apostolic letter entitled Misericordia Dei, he declared that group confession had to be �a rare response to grave necessity�, not a routine form of the sacrament.

Vatican officials said that although collective absolution had become popular in parts of the Catholic world, it was an exceptional measure to be used when the normal celebration of the sacrament is physically or morally impossible.

Some Catholic dioceses have set up their own computer networks to spread the faith and offer spiritual support and advice. In Canada, the Archdiocese of Winnipeg established a network two years ago so that online visitors could talk to priests in chat rooms or seek �virtual prayer guidance� from nuns.

After the Vatican website was set up, the Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana warned readers to beware of �flirting� through chat rooms, declaring that that amounted to �online adultery�.

�For Christians there is no moral difference between a virtual affair and a flesh-and-blood betrayal,� the magazine said. �The internet cannot wash your sins away.�

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Does the priest judge the sinner during Confession?

Question Your statement that priests claim to have the power to "judge sinners" is false. The priest does not judge the sinner. The first thing that must occur before a sin can be forgiven is true contrition. The church does not teach that sins are not forgiven unless they are forgiven by a priest. The priest is there to help the sinner truly know his sins are forgiven.

Answer I am often �corrected� by Catholics for my �misunderstandings� of the Catholic religion. This is a typical case. You can check for yourself from the official writings of the Catholic Church whether it is true or not that the priest acts as a judge while administering the sacrament of penance:

�It is true that priestly absolution is the dispensation of another�s kindness; yet, it does not consist in the mere ministry of proclaiming the Gospel or of declaring that the sins have been forgiven, but it has the pattern of a judicial act in which the priest pronounces sentence as judge� (Trent, 14th Session, chapter 6).

Absolution is �a judicial act� and �the priest pronounces sentence.� The priest is not there simply to help the sinner know that his sins are forgiven. Contrary to your assertion, your church warns you that:

�If anyone says that the sacramental absolution of the priest in not a judicial act but a mere ministry of pronouncing and declaring to the one who confesses that one�s sins are forgiven�anathema sit� (Trent, 14th Session, Canon 9).

Yes, the Catholic church teaches that the priest acts as judge over the penitent.

And again, contrary to your statement, the Catholic church teaches that ordinarily, confession and absolution are necessary to receive forgiveness. The Baltimore Catechism asks, �Could God not forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret?� The answer is given, �Certainly, God could forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret, but He has not promised to do so; whereas He has promised to pardon them if we confess them to His priests.�

This is amazing, for nowhere in the entire Bible are we told to confess our sins to a priest, whereas the Lord Jesus told us to pray to our Father in secret and to ask Him to forgive us our debts, and assures us that He will forgive us if we forgive others as well (Matthew 6:6-15). We wonder how the Christians received forgiveness in the first seven centuries of church history prior to the invention of the new practice of secret confession to the priests (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1447). Copyright Dr Joe Mizzi 2002

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Replies:

Re: Tamarisk "On-line Confession" -- tamarisk, 07:08:30 01/10/03 Fri