A priest from outside the territory, however, can be delegated to assist at a wedding there; in this case, he is being given the faculty to assist at the celebration. If a visiting priest were to assist at a wedding without the proper faculty, the wedding would be invalid.
We can see that when it comes to the sacrament of matrimony, the mere fact that a man has been ordained a Catholic priest is not enough! So how does the sacrament of penance figure into this equation? Catholics understand that the minister of this sacrament must be a priest c.
He must also possess the faculty to grant absolution to the persons who come to him for confession c. Without this faculty, he does not have the power to absolve them validly.
There are serious theological and pastoral reasons for this limitation. In the confessional, a priest ordinarily does much more than just utter the words of absolution over a penitent. A significant part of his task involves counselling, which may mean advising a person on how to avoid such sins in the future, or perhaps explaining to the penitent that the actions he has confessed are not necessarily sinful. Hearing confessions, in other words, requires a high level of theological knowledge, coupled with strong logical skills and a big dose of common sense!
A confessor who wrongly advises a penitent that his action was not sinful, or who erroneously gives his approval to activity that is morally wrong, is giving the Christian faithful who frequent his confessional misinformation that will put them on a dangerous spiritual path! This is where the diocesan bishop comes into the picture. The spiritual welfare of the people of his territory has been entrusted to his care, and he is answerable for it c. More specifically, canon It follows that the diocesan bishop needs to be sure that those priests, who are hearing the confessions of the faithful of his diocese, are giving them sound Catholic moral direction.
And if he somehow determines that they are not, he has the power, by virtue of his office, to protect the faithful by preventing these priests from administering the sacrament of penance. So how do priests get the faculty to hear confessions?
Well, for starters, all priests have the faculty to hear confessions of Catholics in danger of death, and are in fact obliged to do so c. But this emergency situation is hardly the norm. In order to hear the routine confessions of Catholics who seek the sacrament under ordinary circumstances, a diocesan priest is generally given the faculty by his bishop at the time of his ordination.
The rules about confessional faculties for religious priests, like Franciscans and Dominicans, can be a little trickier; but the general concept is the same. The diocesan bishop has the ultimate say in which priests can, and cannot, hear confessions of the faithful in his diocese.
According to canon , a priest should not be given confessional faculties unless he has been examined, and his suitability for hearing confessions has been determined.
Nowadays, the general practice is that when a seminarian successfully completes all his seminary studies, and is established to be sufficiently prepared for priestly ordination, his bishop accepts this as adequate indication that he is knowledgeable enough about moral theology to begin hearing confessions in the diocese.
Rather, it would be better to make a formal appointment so that the issues can be dealt with in-depth. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest rcspirituality.
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Bartunek Our Patron Saints Contact. Gospel Reflections Retreat Guides Videos. Q: I went to Mass this morning at my parish and asked the priest to hear my confession. I could sense that the priest was a little annoyed by my request. I had gone to this particular priest on several occasions after morning Mass. I know that he has to attend to some other duties after Mass. This happened before at another church near where I work. I never went back to that church. I am not going to ask this priest for anything going forward and may consider changing parishes.
I wrongly assumed that priests would be able to hear a confession, no matter the circumstances. I have to deal with a number of family issues and needed to make a confession today.
It is sometimes hard for me to go to confession on Saturday. I would like your advice. Do not be afraid. It is good when Catholics have memorized one of the many beautiful acts of contrition , which sum up all of the sentiments and resolutions a Catholic should have in coming to confession.
Most churches have traditional confessionals or reconciliation rooms with the option to confess either face-to-face or kneeling behind an opaque screen. In Church law, both the priest and the penitent have the right to opt for the screen if for whatever reason they find that more comfortable. You can go to any Catholic priest in good standing with the faculties to hear confessions.
You may find over time, however, that you will be helped more in your struggle against sin by a good confessor who has gotten to know you than by confessing to various priests, none of whom really know you.
You can confess your sins in any number of ways — many have confessed to bartenders and hairdressers over the centuries — but you cannot receive sacramental absolution via the internet or on the phone.
The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong, but do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance.
The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you would prefer to confess to a priest who has experience ministering to women who have abortions, please contact Project Rachel and they will put you in touch with such a priest. The same principal applies to all of us. If one has not committed any serious sins since his or her last good confession, then it is not necessary to confess before receiving the Holy Eucharist. If you are civilly divorced but have not remarried or were validly married in the Church after receiving a declaration of nullity for your first marriage, then, yes, you may receive the Sacrament.
If you have remarried outside of the Church or have entered into a cohabitating relationship, then those predicaments must be addressed before you can receive absolution. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church that is signified and effected by the Eucharist.
Reconciliation in the sacrament of penance, which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage.
A priest will normally try to do everything he can never to have to deny someone absolution. But on some rare occasions he will find himself in a situation where he has no choice. This occurs when the penitent lacks one of the three elements that make for a good confession:.
Grave necessity of this sort can arise when there is imminent danger of death without sufficient time for the priest or priests to hear each penitent's confession. Grave necessity can also exist when, given the number of penitents, there are not enough confessors to hear individual confessions properly in a reasonable time, so that the penitents through no fault of their own would be deprived of sacramental grace or Holy Communion for a long time.
In this case, for the absolution to be valid the faithful must have the intention of individually confessing their sins in the time required. The diocesan bishop is the judge of whether or not the conditions required for general absolution exist.
For practical purposes, outside of an imminent danger of death situation, these conditions would never obtain in our Archdiocese. Moreover, if a penitent sought to have recourse to a general absolution as a means of avoiding individual confession and absolution, the confession would be invalid. God, who created the sacraments for our salvation, is Himself not bound by them. Our sins are first forgiven, of course, through the sacrament of baptism.
For post-baptismal sins, the Church has always taught that, for example in a danger of death situation without the possibility of recourse to the sacrament of confession, God could forgive our sins if we pray to him with perfect contrition.
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