Outspoken Melbourne priest Fr Bob Maguire was a guest on youth radio station Triple J on Sunday night when host John Saffran invited callers to take part in radio confessions.
Three listeners rang in, confessed on air, and were given penance by Father Maguire.
But Vicar General of the Melbourne Archdiocese Monsignor Les Tomlinson said the church regards radio confessions as inappropriate because they break the secrecy seal of the confessional. He said there could be severe repercussions for a priest who broke the seal, including defrocking or excommunication.
"The penitent may choose to reveal the contents of their confession, but the priest can never break the seal of the confessional, and that includes broadcasting it on radio," Monsignor Tomlinson said.
Monsignor Tomlinson said the callers’ sins would not have been forgiven because the official words of absolution were not used, and was concerned the callers may have believed they had received real absolution.
The church has long resisted calls for phone confessions, insisting the rite be kept personal. Monsignor Tomlinson said radio confessions could also embarrass a third party who had not consented to being identified. [Source]
The question of hearing confession with the confessor and the penitent being physically present to each other came up fairly soon after the widespread use of the telephone. The answer given was no and it would apply to any form of communication where people are not physically present. The answer given in the article is not really the main reason why this is denied. The following is a good explanation of why this is.
When we go to the Gospels and watch Jesus at work ministering to people, we notice that in his ministry of the forgiveness of personal sins, Jesus was always physically present to that person: up close and personal, we might say. Read for example Mark 2,1-12 or John 8,1-11. When we remember that every Sacrament is a personal encounter with the Lord in and through the person of the minister, that ministerial-person must be very present to us, "right next to us", so to speak. This cannot be done on the phone or by email. And since each Sacrament is also an action of the Church, the minister (in this case, the priest) is that personal presence of the Church to us. That important personal ecclesial dimension would be missing on the phone or in email. Confession, mid-20th century. Many churches today have small chapels where people can meet face to face, if they wish, with the confessor, or from behind a screen.
That being said it makes me wonder what could have happened if sacramental confession did not have to be in person.
So without further adieu I bring you e-fession.
16 comments
Curt Jester———
It must be tough for a perfect catholic like you to live in a world with imperfect catholics like most of the rest of us…
I don’t agree with ‘radio confessions’ either, but often in your postings, you seek to use sarcasm as a means of driving a point home, and you really end up making a mockery of the church and of other catholics, because you are often times through casting stones an example of exactly what it is to be unchristian.
It doesn’t mean don’t judge, but it does mean show a bit of charity along the way. People are in different points in their religious lives, some religious lives and practices formed better than others.
You often write as if you are the ‘perfect’ catholic. I suppose you attend confession once a week, or perhaps don’t sin at all. Many times, for a lot of different reasons that are legitimate and maybe illegitimate, people just don’t confess like they should. But hey, we are just human. it doesn’t make it right, but it is a reflection of fears, weakness and fault that we all share as humans.
Find something to blog positively about, for a change, in the catholic church, don’t always just sit there and comlain about the church or its members. I have yet to see a positive post about what the church is doing well, or maybe a posting about something that you liked the last time you attended church.
You would do well to remember that we catholics are all members of the catholic family, faults and all.
You have an audience, and I think that you could use the power you have as a writer and blog writer with this audience to effect positive change in the church, and to bring us closer as members of the church.
Hilarious, Jeff! But one concern, which may not be warranted: could you change the absolution so that it to some effect says: “this is not real, go see a priest!”
I’m afraid this could be misused or misunderstood if the link got away from you w/o the context of your post.
“I have yet to see a positive post about what the church is doing well”
The post directly before this one was about nuns working in a hospital. Does that not count?
Keep up the good work, Jeff! Some people just don’t seem to have a sense of humor. Nor do they have the guts to give their names and e-mail addresses when posting comments. Go figure.
This was pretty funny, but I think a disclaimer is needed after the absolution popup – I’m sure you could find people thinking this was genuine.
Jeff, I thought your e-Fession was hilarious.
FWIW, I have never felt that you were uncharitable or mean-spirited in your humor. (And I would, unfortunately, have to say that about some other Catholic bloggers.)
I can imagine that many think you are too orthodox, but I think you are one of the most “positive” and cheerful Catholic bloggers out there.
(Thanks for that, by the way. If you couldn’t tell, you are one of my favorites!)
To paraphrase the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe, I’ve no reason to suppose that I’m more curious than other people, but I confess I should like to see a person who visits a site called “The Curt Jester” and is surprised to see someone “seek to use sarcasm as a means of driving a point home”. One feels that a site called “Rather Dull But Relentlessly Positive” might be a more congenial atmosphere for such a person.
For Withheld’s benefit, Jeff not only reports on admirable things in the Church but is himself an Admirable Thing, a critic in the tradition of Chesterton. When it comes to criticizing an abuse, reductio ad absurdum beats a lecture any day of the week.
Absolutely hilarious. Great as always!
rotfl.
Holy cow. You’ve gotta lotta nerve, Jeff. That is so funny.
Yeah, I’m not sure what “Withheld” is driving at either. I’ve been visiting this site regularly for a while, and it seems that about one in four posts is an earnest post praising something that goes on in the church. Nor have I ever found something Jeff writes offensive or mean-spirited; it’s clear he has a lot of love for his church.
Elinor- Right on with the “Rather Dull But Relentlessly Positive.” Laughed out loud at that one.
Jeff, you might also add that the other problem with phones or e-mail is that they lack the liturgical dimension. Sacraments are liturgies, first above all: acts of worship of God, set in context of a worshipping community. It might be said that a poor effort at reforming Reconciliation leads people to conclude it is mreely a matter of being serviced by a priest for sins committed.
Going to confession is an act of worship, first. It is a means to receive forgiveness for sin, second.
“Rather Dull But Relentlessly Positive”
We used to take the National Catholic Register an for the longest time could not figure out why when we read it, we came away bored, dissatisfied, and vaguely disappointed. After a while we just started tossing it in the recycle bin unopened. It was so relentlessly positive, there was such an emphasis on attempting to ignore or plaster over the realities of life in the Church, that it ended up saying nothing at all. I understand it used to be considered a good paper.
This is absolutely hilarious! Well done, once again.
Why is it that the people who are supposedly very accepting of others diversity (read: liberals) are the ones who seem to be most adamantly against some people (read: the orthodox)? I am struggling with that same issue here at school – and it confuses me to no end. Obviously the real issue at stake is a question of who feels their toes have been stepped on when Truth is presented…and we all know who that is…
Keep posting…you’re both truthful and comical. It’s a wonderful combination!
The answer to your question, Angela – and it’s a very trenchant question – is that liberals get to tag certain groups (Republicans, Evangelicals, men, and so on) as Part of the Problem, and orthodox Catholics are definitely one of those groups. A member of such a group is officially backward and intolerant until he explicity renounces the wickedness of the group. Then he’s redeemed, at the trifling cost of having validated all their assumptions about the group, whom they’re now entitled to malign even more than before. The same thing goes on with reference to certain beliefs, especially the sanctity of life, and any over-bumptious confidence in the existence of sin or the truth of one’s religious doctrines. That’s why you see so much of that pretence of smug self-confidence at Call To Action events: it’s the mask of the collaborateur.
E-Fessions – Confess Your Sins Online?
Check out this gem I found in this entry on The Curt Jester. Note: You must go to an actual priest to receive absolution.
Absolutely hilarious. But your e-Fessional was a lot more strict than my pastor. 5 Hail Marys for 1 venial sin! I’ve gotten “say the Our Father one time” for mortal stuff!