"deliver us O lord from sudden death" or something like that (I am translating), so in the olden days it was well known that you could repent on your deathbed even without a priest.
Blazing Saddles “What in the wide, wide, world of sports is a going on here? “ A reflection on the morality of deception to save one’s town from an evil governor.
Caddyshack “The Good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life.” When bad things happen to good people.
Haha....so good. Speaking of the 70s (and not necessarily a comedy film), how about Kojak's famous line "Who loves ya, baby." as an introduction to the theme of covenant?
What about an explainer about the validity of marriage and moral obligations in a "Cast Away" scenario, where your spouse is presumed dead, you get remarried, but your "dead" spouse shows up years later?
I have written on Hollywood movies that express our faith in overt and/or subtle manners. [See Being on Fire: top ten essentials of the Catholic faith (pp.123-127). ] The words under Peter Bailey's picture in It's a Wonderful Life say, "You only take with you that which you give away." That's worth an article. From the priest in One the Waterfront to the Sister in Dead Man walking, gospel truths and values are being mediated. In many ways. movies are our new scriptures. Many people know lines from movies better than they know biblical references. And there are more and more really good movies that are positively portraying faith and faithful people in positive light (see The Hill, # 10 on Netflix today or I can only Imagine.) Also what a wonder is the Chosen. And I can't wait to see Cabrini!
“ Imagine a rural and remote village, to which a priest is able to visit only once a year. Imagine that when he comes, everyone in the village lines up to go to confession — but there are so many people, and only one priest! “
OK, granted the article uses some irony or truly unuual situations to introduce a concept unfamiliar to some.
But the Ranger Creed is applicable to the spiritual care of laity when speaking of general absolution:
"I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy..."
Canon law obliges not only that the bishop makes the decision as to when general absolution is appropriate; but that the penitents MUST be notified that they need to confess their grave sins in individual confession "as soon as possible."
Cardinal Seper, at the direction of Paul VI wrote (June 16, 1972) that there is a tension between the need for General Absolution in mission situations and in the military on the one hand, and the abuse of General Absolution in parish situations or in situations where other clergy are available, on the other.
The abuse of General Absolution is a serious matter that should not be ignored. And that is not to take away from clergy who spend three, four or five hours (perhaps more) in the confessional every week in some parishes in the US.
If you meet a priest who is a good confessor, or who spends numerous hours a week in the confessional, thank him for his service.
The last thing the Church wants to do is use legitimate exceptions (such as you mentioned) to establish a rule that is applied in less pressing situations.
This happens.
You mentioned acts of contrition. Absolutely. There are additional devotions of personal prayer that can mitigate the effects of grave sin.
But for the sake of the sanctification of souls of your readers.... and setting aside the remote probability of the headline of this article...
Let's not forget canon law does not define sacramental theology: it's the other way around. General absolution is truly an emergency measure, and it should not be habituated.
Any experienced confessor would hesitate to offer general absolution as opposed to individual confession, in cases where there is serious spiritual need. The Church knows and believes that valid *individual* confession liberates a person from sin and restores sanctifying grace. Per general absolution, the theology is that it is an exception administered where hearing confession is a near impossibility.
General absolution has been abused (not in the military during war time!) -- and it has been abused in modern cultures like our own -- and sadly that is not mentioned in the article.
And the theology does not need to be "more developed."
A priest in a true situation, such as those mentioned above, is called to be the minister of reconciliation and assured grace for those properly disposed.
If you have not stood hearing Confessions for six hours straight (with time for a drink and a bathroom break) it is quite easy to dismiss the need in a isolated place where a priest will not come for months.
And when you don't have a Satphone or the bishop is unavailable, a priest does what he is ordained to do, he prays with the people, offers an act of contrition and absolves.
In a perfect world a priest will be able to go to a village or isolated place and sit for hours hearing Confessions.
When a priest is helohopping as military chaplains in Iraq or Afghanistan did and has less than and hour for Mass, general absolution is possible and often required. In times of war a priest might get to Foward Bases once maybe twice a year as happened in the last war. Remember few priests are in our military Services.
Should men die without the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist?
I know of three situations when the Battalion chaplain was Orthodox and Catholics asked for and received general absolution.
What you describe as a "habituated" event is habituated by need, the Sacraments were made for men and women, not the other way around.
No one here is speaking of a suburban parish, with two priest and a mob of people waiting for Confession simply granting general absolution.
We are not discussing "cheap grace." We are talking spiritual solace and the salvation of souls.
The wartime case you proposed, where a priest cannot linger; where the mode of transportation is not even your own, where the bishop may be 4,000 miles away or more, where there may be no likelyhood of establishing a permanent parish community or it is threatened with destruction, where the individuals may come under live fire, was not mentioned in the article.
Those are exceptional factors that justify general absolution. Those unusual situations are noted in the 1972 letter by the CDF.
Not an single one of those extraordinary factors were even hinted at in the original the article.nor did I even remotely hint that such an extraordinary combination of factors would preclude general absolution.
The church does not teach the faith beginning with the most extraordinary of exceptions.
And yet ironically, if we are obliged to speak of exceptions, the exception you mention should be at the top of the list.
The theology regarding general absolution needs to be clarified so that we do not confuse a wartime, mission, or life or death situation, with other less extraordinary situations where general absolution is not the best response to a pastoral situation.
I think the canon quoted is sufficient and practical.
Everything cannot be legislated.
If a priest is lazy (or confused) and abusing the use of general absolution he is generally in an established parish. This is.the only.situation I have dealt with where general absolution was used. (He just decides there are too many people) This is rarely justified, if ever. His bishop is called to admonish him, and in my opinion should be made to announce his error and sit and listen to the Confessions of those he absolved through general absolution.
The article talked about general absolution in the case where one is on an airplane which appears to be about to crash. In that case general absolution is the best response.
The 1972 letter from.Cardinal Seper from the then CDF referred to General Absolution given by the then bishop Carroll Dozier of Memphis at two Masses in a colosseum in Memphis in the early 1970's. Paul6 and the CDF were, of course, not happy and Dozier was told not to attempt this again. The 1972 letter was sent to all hierarchies in an attempt to avert this abuse elsewhere.
Correct. When access to the bishop is not a possibility the priest decides that there is an urgent need and he makes the conditions known (if he has time) and absolves.
This is regularly the case in Rural Australian parishes. I knew one poor priest who drove 400 km to say Mass for a remote aboriginal community and back. He didn’t that once a month during the dry season and in the wet, the roads were barely accessible by a big 4wd rig, and definitely not for his beat up Subaru. About a third of that 400 km out was unsealed roads with croc infested river fords. #strayamate
And when the bishop is not available for making that decision? The priest does what he is called to do, while some might call this an exception to the rule, but it becomes for those folks the rule (unfortunately, not enough priests is the issue as well). The people have a right to the Sacraments.
As you mentioned a Subaru is not gonna cut it, the priest needs a duckboat and even then...
There are those folks (and some priests) who have to get over that the fact that the Sacrament of Repentence is not a counselling session. We have to be considerate and realize others desire the Sacrament as well.
If someone wants counselling they need to make an appointment with the priest.
Excellent stuff. Might I just make one suggestion: recall the Church's longstanding formula for individuals in mortal danger where no priest is present: yes, make an act of contrition but then be sure to ask Christ directly (as my God, King, and High Priest) for absolution and finish by reverently saying His name three times (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus) then end by making the sign of the cross. I do this at take-off every time I fly fwiw.
Wartime provides other examples. Father Francis Gleeson was immortalised in a painting giving General Absolution to the men of his battalion before one of the terrible slaughters of WW1. Catholic priests attracted favourable comment because they went out on the battlefield to absolve the dying, whereas Anglican chaplains were strictly ordered to keep off the most dangerous areas.
"God can work in and out of the sacraments, to forgive everyone [he] God wants. "
The confessional is there for those who think that God will not listen to them, who need help in asking for God to forgive. It is always available for sacramental grace.
"forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" does not mention a visit to the confessional.
"Rad Trad" did a similar story, about the hypothetical need for general absolution on a plane crashing, in 2019. They also missed the mark.
In parish situations in the USA, and in Europe, general absolution has been repeatedly abused, decades before COVID, and after COVID.
I read of the same stories that I have heard of personally:
1) a priest hears confession in the confessional, - in a parish that is not in the Australian Outback - and then grants everyone else in line, at the end of the hour, general absolution.
2) clergy hold Lenten and Advent penance services in suburban parishes, where general absolution is granted.
3) laity tell a priest that they received general absolution last month or last year in a parish, and they were never told they had to confess their grave sins at a later date.
These are serious abuses (as Fr. Mike Schmitz has pointed out in a video last year), that should never have creeped in to parish life.
Catholics should be aware that individual confession, conducted properly, forgives mortal, grave and venial sins.
General absolution exists in a sort of twilight, where sins are forgiven, and yet the penitent is obliged (in cases where they do not die in the interim) to confess their unconfessed grave sins again. No one can conclude that general absolution is either an absolute moral equivalent of individual confession, or a proper substitute in a parish situation in most places in the US in Europe.
It's a dis-service to laity when we make light of the one in fifty million cases where it might be useful, only to fail to point out that general absolution is abused thousands of times a year in parish ministry in urban, suburban and rural parishes where other clergy are available.
Ironically, TLM clergy who hear confession daily have been booted out of parishes at the same time that the abuse of general absolution happens in other parishes.
Good stuff Pillar!
Indeed. How does the prayer go?
"deliver us O lord from sudden death" or something like that (I am translating), so in the olden days it was well known that you could repent on your deathbed even without a priest.
After completing this article, i wish to propose a series of articles based on comedies from the late 70s and early 80s.
propose away!
Here are two:
Blazing Saddles “What in the wide, wide, world of sports is a going on here? “ A reflection on the morality of deception to save one’s town from an evil governor.
Caddyshack “The Good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life.” When bad things happen to good people.
Haha....so good. Speaking of the 70s (and not necessarily a comedy film), how about Kojak's famous line "Who loves ya, baby." as an introduction to the theme of covenant?
What about an explainer about the validity of marriage and moral obligations in a "Cast Away" scenario, where your spouse is presumed dead, you get remarried, but your "dead" spouse shows up years later?
I have written on Hollywood movies that express our faith in overt and/or subtle manners. [See Being on Fire: top ten essentials of the Catholic faith (pp.123-127). ] The words under Peter Bailey's picture in It's a Wonderful Life say, "You only take with you that which you give away." That's worth an article. From the priest in One the Waterfront to the Sister in Dead Man walking, gospel truths and values are being mediated. In many ways. movies are our new scriptures. Many people know lines from movies better than they know biblical references. And there are more and more really good movies that are positively portraying faith and faithful people in positive light (see The Hill, # 10 on Netflix today or I can only Imagine.) Also what a wonder is the Chosen. And I can't wait to see Cabrini!
Excellent article. Forgive me if I offer the following; Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori. Go to confession!
fugit indeed!
(Don't) fugit about it
THANKS DAD.
And buy KofC life insurance.
“ Imagine a rural and remote village, to which a priest is able to visit only once a year. Imagine that when he comes, everyone in the village lines up to go to confession — but there are so many people, and only one priest! “
OK, granted the article uses some irony or truly unuual situations to introduce a concept unfamiliar to some.
But the Ranger Creed is applicable to the spiritual care of laity when speaking of general absolution:
"I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy..."
Canon law obliges not only that the bishop makes the decision as to when general absolution is appropriate; but that the penitents MUST be notified that they need to confess their grave sins in individual confession "as soon as possible."
Cardinal Seper, at the direction of Paul VI wrote (June 16, 1972) that there is a tension between the need for General Absolution in mission situations and in the military on the one hand, and the abuse of General Absolution in parish situations or in situations where other clergy are available, on the other.
The abuse of General Absolution is a serious matter that should not be ignored. And that is not to take away from clergy who spend three, four or five hours (perhaps more) in the confessional every week in some parishes in the US.
If you meet a priest who is a good confessor, or who spends numerous hours a week in the confessional, thank him for his service.
Well, I know rural priests in other parts of the world who, by necessity, employ exactly this solution. And they’re good priests.
A priest with a parish the size of Rhode Island does what he can.
Your point is well-taken.
The last thing the Church wants to do is use legitimate exceptions (such as you mentioned) to establish a rule that is applied in less pressing situations.
This happens.
You mentioned acts of contrition. Absolutely. There are additional devotions of personal prayer that can mitigate the effects of grave sin.
But for the sake of the sanctification of souls of your readers.... and setting aside the remote probability of the headline of this article...
Let's not forget canon law does not define sacramental theology: it's the other way around. General absolution is truly an emergency measure, and it should not be habituated.
Any experienced confessor would hesitate to offer general absolution as opposed to individual confession, in cases where there is serious spiritual need. The Church knows and believes that valid *individual* confession liberates a person from sin and restores sanctifying grace. Per general absolution, the theology is that it is an exception administered where hearing confession is a near impossibility.
General absolution has been abused (not in the military during war time!) -- and it has been abused in modern cultures like our own -- and sadly that is not mentioned in the article.
And the theology does not need to be "more developed."
A priest in a true situation, such as those mentioned above, is called to be the minister of reconciliation and assured grace for those properly disposed.
If you have not stood hearing Confessions for six hours straight (with time for a drink and a bathroom break) it is quite easy to dismiss the need in a isolated place where a priest will not come for months.
And when you don't have a Satphone or the bishop is unavailable, a priest does what he is ordained to do, he prays with the people, offers an act of contrition and absolves.
In a perfect world a priest will be able to go to a village or isolated place and sit for hours hearing Confessions.
When a priest is helohopping as military chaplains in Iraq or Afghanistan did and has less than and hour for Mass, general absolution is possible and often required. In times of war a priest might get to Foward Bases once maybe twice a year as happened in the last war. Remember few priests are in our military Services.
Should men die without the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist?
I know of three situations when the Battalion chaplain was Orthodox and Catholics asked for and received general absolution.
What you describe as a "habituated" event is habituated by need, the Sacraments were made for men and women, not the other way around.
No one here is speaking of a suburban parish, with two priest and a mob of people waiting for Confession simply granting general absolution.
We are not discussing "cheap grace." We are talking spiritual solace and the salvation of souls.
No one is disagreeing with you.
The wartime case you proposed, where a priest cannot linger; where the mode of transportation is not even your own, where the bishop may be 4,000 miles away or more, where there may be no likelyhood of establishing a permanent parish community or it is threatened with destruction, where the individuals may come under live fire, was not mentioned in the article.
Those are exceptional factors that justify general absolution. Those unusual situations are noted in the 1972 letter by the CDF.
Not an single one of those extraordinary factors were even hinted at in the original the article.nor did I even remotely hint that such an extraordinary combination of factors would preclude general absolution.
The church does not teach the faith beginning with the most extraordinary of exceptions.
And yet ironically, if we are obliged to speak of exceptions, the exception you mention should be at the top of the list.
The theology regarding general absolution needs to be clarified so that we do not confuse a wartime, mission, or life or death situation, with other less extraordinary situations where general absolution is not the best response to a pastoral situation.
I think the canon quoted is sufficient and practical.
Everything cannot be legislated.
If a priest is lazy (or confused) and abusing the use of general absolution he is generally in an established parish. This is.the only.situation I have dealt with where general absolution was used. (He just decides there are too many people) This is rarely justified, if ever. His bishop is called to admonish him, and in my opinion should be made to announce his error and sit and listen to the Confessions of those he absolved through general absolution.
The article talked about general absolution in the case where one is on an airplane which appears to be about to crash. In that case general absolution is the best response.
The 1972 letter from.Cardinal Seper from the then CDF referred to General Absolution given by the then bishop Carroll Dozier of Memphis at two Masses in a colosseum in Memphis in the early 1970's. Paul6 and the CDF were, of course, not happy and Dozier was told not to attempt this again. The 1972 letter was sent to all hierarchies in an attempt to avert this abuse elsewhere.
Correct. When access to the bishop is not a possibility the priest decides that there is an urgent need and he makes the conditions known (if he has time) and absolves.
Your article stated this. Thank you.
This is regularly the case in Rural Australian parishes. I knew one poor priest who drove 400 km to say Mass for a remote aboriginal community and back. He didn’t that once a month during the dry season and in the wet, the roads were barely accessible by a big 4wd rig, and definitely not for his beat up Subaru. About a third of that 400 km out was unsealed roads with croc infested river fords. #strayamate
And when the bishop is not available for making that decision? The priest does what he is called to do, while some might call this an exception to the rule, but it becomes for those folks the rule (unfortunately, not enough priests is the issue as well). The people have a right to the Sacraments.
As you mentioned a Subaru is not gonna cut it, the priest needs a duckboat and even then...
10 confessions an hour lol. If people knew how to properly confess I would hope he could get through way more than that! But I get your point lol
6 minutes a confession is a pretty good clip.
maybe I just have a longer "sin list" than most!
If you go every couple weeks you can focus on the most obnoxious one until it's gone.
Well, yeah. You're a journalist, so this presumption goes without saying... I imagine it's only exceeded by the list of cloistered nuns.
Many of us do, and that is just our sins.
There are those folks (and some priests) who have to get over that the fact that the Sacrament of Repentence is not a counselling session. We have to be considerate and realize others desire the Sacrament as well.
If someone wants counselling they need to make an appointment with the priest.
Excellent stuff. Might I just make one suggestion: recall the Church's longstanding formula for individuals in mortal danger where no priest is present: yes, make an act of contrition but then be sure to ask Christ directly (as my God, King, and High Priest) for absolution and finish by reverently saying His name three times (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus) then end by making the sign of the cross. I do this at take-off every time I fly fwiw.
Probably should do that before every drive as well. There’s far more immanent mortal danger on the road than flying.
“Racking up frequent flyer miles…” 😁
The most famous example of a priest in such a disaster scenario was probably Father Thomas Byles aboard the Titanic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Byles
Wartime provides other examples. Father Francis Gleeson was immortalised in a painting giving General Absolution to the men of his battalion before one of the terrible slaughters of WW1. Catholic priests attracted favourable comment because they went out on the battlefield to absolve the dying, whereas Anglican chaplains were strictly ordered to keep off the most dangerous areas.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Gleeson_(priest)#:~:text=On%208%20May%201915%2C%20on,only%20200%20men%20were%20assembled.
Every Notre Dame alumn knows about Father (Fair Catch) Corby at the Battle of Gettysburg... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Corby
"God can work in and out of the sacraments, to forgive everyone [he] God wants. "
The confessional is there for those who think that God will not listen to them, who need help in asking for God to forgive. It is always available for sacramental grace.
"forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" does not mention a visit to the confessional.
Rejoice and Be Glad!
???
"Rad Trad" did a similar story, about the hypothetical need for general absolution on a plane crashing, in 2019. They also missed the mark.
In parish situations in the USA, and in Europe, general absolution has been repeatedly abused, decades before COVID, and after COVID.
I read of the same stories that I have heard of personally:
1) a priest hears confession in the confessional, - in a parish that is not in the Australian Outback - and then grants everyone else in line, at the end of the hour, general absolution.
2) clergy hold Lenten and Advent penance services in suburban parishes, where general absolution is granted.
3) laity tell a priest that they received general absolution last month or last year in a parish, and they were never told they had to confess their grave sins at a later date.
These are serious abuses (as Fr. Mike Schmitz has pointed out in a video last year), that should never have creeped in to parish life.
Catholics should be aware that individual confession, conducted properly, forgives mortal, grave and venial sins.
General absolution exists in a sort of twilight, where sins are forgiven, and yet the penitent is obliged (in cases where they do not die in the interim) to confess their unconfessed grave sins again. No one can conclude that general absolution is either an absolute moral equivalent of individual confession, or a proper substitute in a parish situation in most places in the US in Europe.
It's a dis-service to laity when we make light of the one in fifty million cases where it might be useful, only to fail to point out that general absolution is abused thousands of times a year in parish ministry in urban, suburban and rural parishes where other clergy are available.
Ironically, TLM clergy who hear confession daily have been booted out of parishes at the same time that the abuse of general absolution happens in other parishes.
Besides the important information provided in this article, two thumbs up for the Airplane movie reference and image/videos!