Australia passes law requiring priests to break seal of confession, bishop protests

Australia passes law requiring priests to break seal of confession, bishop protests 

A new law in Australia requires Catholic priests in Canberra to break the sacred seal of confession to report a child-sex abuser. The law, which has drawn fierce opposition from Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra, could result in faithful priests being jailed who refuse to comply.

The Art of Confessing PART 3 by Fr Henri-Charles Chery O.P.

The Art of Confessing PART 3 

by Fr Henri-Charles Chery O.P.

In this way, we are not likely to forget, as already mentioned several times, that in the sacrament of penance, the main merit comes from the purifying blood of Christ, not from the exhortation of the confessor, and this purification is obtained through our sorrow.

The Art of Confessing by Fr Henri-Charles Chery O.P. (Part 2 of 3)

The Art of Confessing  by Fr Henri-Charles Chery O.P.

(Part 2 of 3)

Accusation of sins

Here I am next to the confessional, beginning my examination of conscience.  Which sins am I going to confess?

Baltimore Catechism: On the Manner of Making a Good Confession

Baltimore Catechism: On the Manner of Making a Good Confession

SOURCE

LESSON TWENTIETH: On the Manner of Making a Good Confession

Q. 825. What should we do on entering the confessional?
A. On entering the confessional we should kneel, make the sign of the Cross, and say to the priest, "Bless me, father"; then add, "I confess to Almighty God and to you, father, that I have sinned."

The Art of Confessing – PART ONE

by Fr Chery O.P.

THESE WORDS are not addressed to the “big sinners” who come before Christ to relieve themselves of a great burden. They are not even addressed to Catholics who are making their annual Easter confession. But these lessons may be helpful for those people who have the “habit” of weekly, bimonthly or monthly confession.

Understanding the Sacrament of Penance

Understanding the Sacrament of Penance

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 The Author of the Sacrament of Confession is Jesus Christ himself, who said to His Apostles and all His successors: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them." (Jn.20:23)

About the word “penance,” some say that it derives from the Latin poenam tenere (to bear a penalty), because the penitent receives or imposes on himself a penalty in order to satisfy God. Others affirm its origin is the term penitus (deep within) that is, something intimate, deep, that afflicts the heart.

The Seal of Confession

The Seal of Confession
by Michael Muller, 1875

Our divine Savior assures us that the angels of heaven rejoice over you when you give up sin and enter upon a life of penance. He says that "there is even more joy in heaven over a sinner doing penance than over ninty-nine just who need not penance." Now if the angels of heaven rejoice when you come repentant to confession, will not the heart of the priest rejoice when he sees you humbly kneeling before him? As the heart of a mother rejoices on finding her long-lost child, so does the heart of the priest rejoice when he sees the poor lost prodigal returning home at last.

Francis urges priests to use exorcists if they hear confessions indicating demonic activity

Francis urges priests to use exorcists if they hear confessions indicating demonic activity 

SOURCE

Francis has advised Catholic priests “not to hesitate” in using professional exorcists if they encounter people experiencing “genuine spiritual disturbances.”

Saint Quote of the Day- Confession

'We come to confession quite preoccupied with the shame that we shall feel. We accuse ourselves with hot air. It is said that many confess, and few are converted. I believe it is so, my children, because few confess with tears of repentance. See, the misfortune is, that people do not reflect. If one said to those who work on Sundays, to a young person who had been dancing for two or three hours, to a man coming out of an alehouse drunk, "What have you been doing? You have been crucifying Our Lord!" they would be quite astonished, because they do not think of it. My children, if we thought of it, we should be seized with horror; it would be impossible for us to do evil. For what has the good God done to us that we should grieve Him thus, and put Him to death again -- Him, who has redeemed us from Hell? It would be well if all sinners, when they are going to their guilty pleasures, could, like St. Peter, meet Our Lord on the way, who would say to them, "I am going to that place where you are going yourself, to be there crucified again." Perhaps that might make them reflect.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Priest not pokemon: New 'GO' app locates priests available for instant confessions 

SOURCE

A new smartphone app has been launched in Spain, offering religious gadget users an opportunity to search "in real time" for their nearest available priest to confess their sins.

The app called 'Confesor GO' detects a sinful user's geolocation and opens a map that shows where he or she can find a priest "available at the moment (in real time) to listen to confessions," the developer's website says.

A priest giving absolution to a cuban before being shot by Fidel Castro’s firing squad

SOURCE 

“For his series of four photographs of a corporal, formerly of Dictator Batista’s army, who was executed by a Castro firing squad, the principal picture showing the condemned man receiving last rites.”

"Catholic" Church’s ‘Sindr’ app for those with an urgent confession?

"Catholic" Church’s ‘Sindr’ app for those with an urgent confession?

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Confession, they say, is good for the soul and, in some cases perhaps, the sooner the better.
Now, for those with a burning need to unburden themselves, one Roman Catholic archdiocese has launched what is thought to be the world’s first interactive GPS-powered “confession finder”.

Using similar technology to the dating hook-up app Tinder, it guides the penitent from their current location within the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh to the nearest church offering confession or celebrating mass. 

Story Of Padre Pio Refusing Absolution

The precise reason Padre Pio refused absolution to a woman who had an abortion and why he eventually granted her absolution 

SOURCE 

Throughout my adult life I've been surrounded by young female friends who tell me that they view me as a Latin Mass Catholic who takes sin and the sin of abortion in particular too seriously. They wear rictus smiles and claim it's not really so dire a sin when a woman employs a doctor to slaughter the little one inside her because she wants to prioritise her career or doesn't want a child with her current boyfriend. Or they reiterate the reason that I heard from the lips of hundreds of women when I was with them during their crisis pregnancies: that they can have a baby and provide for one, but they do not feel ready. 

The untold story of the Titanic’s Catholic priest who went down hearing confessions

Patrick Craine 

Amidst all the tales of chivalry from the Titanic disaster there is one that’s not often told.

It is that of Fr. Thomas Byles, the Catholic priest who gave up two spots on a lifeboat in favour of offering spiritual aid to the other victims as they all went down with the “unsinkable” vessel.

Fr. Rude: Most Souls Dont Have Mortal Sin Coming To Confessional

Fr. Rude: Most Souls Dont Have Mortal Sin Coming To Confessional

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Father Jim Rude doesn't believe that most people have mortal sins on their conscience when they come to confession

 Novus ordo theology at work

The following is from an article published in the September 2016 edition of Central California Catholic Life by Fr. Jim Rude, SJ, Co-Editor:
I’m getting to be an old man, brushing the mid eighties, and I find that in these past few years, I have been doing a lot
 of reminiscing, thinking of people, places, events.
I remember the theology we were taught in the early days, a theology that was rather simple, and in a way, rather sad. For there was not a great deal of explanation. I went to Mass every Sunday with my family, wouldn’t miss it, but it meant nothing to me religiously; it was just something we did. I made my Confirmation when I was in the eighth grade, but all I can remember from it was the Bishop slapping me — and all the others as well.

Quotes on Confession

 Quotes on Confession

"I appeal first to you brethren who refuse penance for your acknowledged crimes: you, I say, who are timid after your impudence, who are bashful after your sins, who were not ashamed to sin but now are ashamed to confess. Remember that confession extinguishes hell for you. And you may guess the intensity of hell from what is visible. Some of its chimneys boil away the greatest mountains by its subterranean fires. Etna in Sicily and Vesuvius in the Campania burn with unflagging balls of fire; and they will test us, sear us, devour us in an eternity of judgement, nor will they be finished after any number of ages." (St. Pacian of Barcelona, c. 392 A.D.)

The Saints Speak: Confession

The Saints Speak: Confession

Here is a great compilation of quotes from the Saints on Confession.

Prayers Appease God, and Avert from us the Chastisement

Prayers Appease God, and Avert from us the Chastisement we Deserve, provided we purpose to Amend.

"Petite et accipietis, quaerite et invenietis."
"Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find."--John, xvi. 24

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

He who has a good heart cannot but feel compassion for the afflicted, and wish to see all men happy. But who has a heart as good as the Lord's? He by His nature is infinite goodness, whence it is that God by His nature has an extreme desire to deliver us from every evil, and render us happy in all things, nay, even partakers of His own happiness. 

 

Thorough Catholic Examination of Conscience

SolemnCharge 

As we accumulate sins, whether big or small, our conscience becomes desensitized to them and we develop callousness about evil. Where once we were repulsed by it, after some time and a variety of venial sins, we may find sinfulness to be routine or even attractive. A thorough examination of conscience can help us reform our conscience and our appreciation for the gravity of our sins.

The following examination of conscience provides a foundation for reflection before going to confession. It is important to drop our defenses when examining our conscience. A spirit of total surrender and forthrightness is the only way to make a proper examination. This examination of conscience is based on the 10 commandments and the precepts of the Catholic Church.

Fr. Voigt, "THAT I MIGHT SEE!"

Fr. Voigt, "THAT I MIGHT SEE!"

 

Blindness is not simply a physical state of being; we can also be blind to the spiritual realities that surround us day after day.  Consider that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and He turns to you, who have proclaimed Him Son of God.  He says:  "The Son of Man will be betrayed, spat upon and killed as a thief.  On the third day He will rise."  Imagine the shock you or I might experience after we have witnessed Jesus healing lepers, opening the ears of the deaf and even raising the dead.  How can God die?  Why should He?