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CAN ONE GO TO CONFESSION OVER THE INTERNET OR TELEPHONE?

I have never heard Confessions remotely.

But I have to ask myself if the archbishop is right.

Remember the centurion from the Gospel. Jesus offered to go and heal his dying servant. But the centurion said that his house would be unworthy of the presence of Jesus. So Jesus healed the man remotely or virtually.

Was that not Jesus performing the Sacrament of the Sick remotely?

Through sacraments, we Catholics believe we receive God’s grace.

That grace comes to us from an infinite distance as God is both imminently present with us and infinitely distant from us.

If God’s grace can reach us from WHEREVER God is, can the grace of a sacrament not travel to us by sacrament from a distance of ten or fifty miles?

I remember John Shine in Waterford teaching us about Confessions. He said the sacramental grace of absolution could travel to us as long as we remained in the church building, but it could not follow us outside the building!

Grace exists in the eternal sphere.

Surely when we kneel down beside our bed at night and are truly sorry for our sins, we are immediately given fill forgiveness- and there is no priest present.

Could obligatory confession to a priest be part of the effort by clerics to bring all power, sacramental and otherwise under their control?

In Marriage, for instance, the ministers of the sacrament are the couple and the priest is only the witness?

12TH JULY – JIMMY YOUNG POEM

117 replies on “CAN ONE GO TO CONFESSION OVER THE INTERNET OR TELEPHONE?”

But What to do When the Sacrament Dispenser is injurious or Out of Grace or a part of an Corrupted Authoritarian Cabal himself ? Can Evil also be a vessel of God’s Grace ?
Should such a person or system even be dispensing that ? I’m sorry but some people or systems are just unfit and be reformed. 100 percent perfection ?? No.. But NOT 90 Percent Imperfection either.

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The other day, someone referred to the ‘clericalisation’ of the Sacraments, and pinpointed this as the time when the Church began the slide into the moral degeneration which, today, has brought the Church to the point where its collective conscience isn’t even slightly rippled by its history of raping and sodomising innocent children. I agree with this analysis.
Jesus never, ever, made the dispensing of grace dependent on the exercise of priest craft: on priestly ritual, and priestly slight of hand. In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews makes absolutely clear that priesthood is ineffective, futile, and redundant; and that Jesus himself had done what Levitical priesthood could not do.
Despite this warning, however, some in the early church placed a human barrier between God, and his children: namely, themselves, insisting that God could not come to his children except through a clerical elite: through their hands. These men stole God from his children; they are the descendants of the Pharisees, the very people whom Jesus condemned as ‘blind guides’, neither ‘entering the Kingdom of Heaven, nor allowing others to enter’.
Every time you have the misfortune to meet a priest, remember that he belongs to a historical caste and elite that not only made people dependent on them rather than God, but who have dragged the little assembly gathered by Jesus down into a stinking, moral quagmire.
They crucified Jesus again, these priests. And they keep doing so. Remember this when you have the utter misfortune to cross the path of any one of these men.

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Magna Carta commenting anonymously at 10:54pm alert! The hatred of priests is a giveaway. Also trying to rewrite church history. You’re talking through your hat. By calling apostles and disciples and sending them out, Jesus clearly identified a group of believers with very specific responsibilities. The very nature of worship calls for someone to lead, coordinate, preside. Divine worship, even in the Old Testament, was organised and regulated in a very meticulous and specific way. Clericalism is not the priesthood. The problem with some priests is their ego and sinfulness – not the priesthood per se. The priesthood is meant to be lived in great humility and selflessness. The fact that some make it “all about me” reflects upon them and indicates their sinful dysfunction. But there are many true priests who serve humbly and help people come close to God. We need one another. No one is an island self sufficient. That includes spiritually. I am very grateful for the true priests I have encountered who were wise and kind guides. The hatred spewed against priests on this website is pathetic and says a huge amount about the haters.

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I hope we don’t go down that rabbit hole of the supposedly banned person dominating the blog and the other comments are mostly comments on him. It’s so very boring and repetitive.

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You used to post here under a pseudonym. You were ejected. Your material is still the same ignorant waffle. Pharisees – you know nothing about current research on them.

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11.56, there is already up-to-date research on the Pharisees: it is in the Gospel. But perhaps you don’t believe the Gospel anymore.

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10.54: Your pejorative and offensive use of the words “these priests”, “these men” is very bigoted and insulting. I understand that much abuse and horrible acts of betrayal and cover ups have all undermined our trust and respect for the church and for priesthood. I struggle to reconcile my belief in God and in Jesus with the horrors of all abuses. The sacraments are moments of grace for God’s love, closeness, mercy and compassion but I also recognise God as Sacrament in all whom I encounter, in the witness of gospel living I see each day, in the blessings of every day. I don’t confine God to Sacraments only – I have a wider view of God’s graces than this. Neither have I ever stood in any person’s way in their journey to and with God, nor gave I ever said “no entry” to anyone seeking God’s mercy and love. I presume you include Pat in your insults when you use these pejorative words since he too administers all Catholic Sacraments!! Let us know…

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12:43 pm

Sounds like you might harbouring hatred as well as resentment. Not healthy on any level.

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I am the poster at 10.54, and I am not Magna.
It is amusing to see both the paranoia and defensiveness displayed every time someone expresses a nagative opinion of Catholic priests.
This has been said before, and clearly it must be said again: more than Magna had a very low opinion of Catholic priests.
Get used to the fact, guys; you are no longer held in universal esteem.

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4:14

Defensive paranoia, coupled with abusive nastiness, as well as an inability to rationally argue against an alternative view without descending to personalised pejorative attacks are features of many clerics posting on this blog. Some even consider themselves hard done by victims. I’m sure most of these characters consider themselves ‘ good guys’, professional Christians, as in, other Christs.

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Anonymous 10:54 pm ,,, the Pharisees, the very people whom Jesus condemned as ‘blind guides’, neither ‘entering the Kingdom of Heaven, nor allowing others to enter’.
—————————–
You need to read Matthew more closely; look at chapter 21 verse 45 and the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke – and all in the context of Jesus’s other criticisms of the teachings of the Pharisees.
Jesus’s criticism of the Pharisees was always about those who had too high ideas of themselves and who loaded into their teachings a mass of ;additional impediments to Salvation. – the yeast of the Pharisees.
Paul of Tarsus was most definitely a Pharisee. I am too. So are you if you believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting in the world to come.
Here’s a very good piece by Fr Hemer, one of the tutors at Allen Hall – http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/hemer/bewareyeast.htm
And here’s a video –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvTkEMrmAdk

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Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees was applicable to that sect. There may be one or two notable exceptions in the Gospel, but they are indeed exceptions, not the rule.

There is an attempt today to rehabilitate the Pharisees historically and morally, but it is driven more by conservative ideology than scholarship.

Traditionalists in the modern Church are the natural successors of the Pharisees, and it is they, or their sympathisers, who are attempting a false revision of biblical history. They will not succeed.

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It is my belief that the RCC hierarchy and clergy are the successors of the Pharisees.

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By Post Author

4:21
Alas you are not correct. The Pharisees were the radical liberals of their day. For most of the period of the OT there was no belief in an afterlife. From the 160s BCE that changed abruptly and the Pharisees were those most responsible. If it were not for them and this development, from where would Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection have come?

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11.07, you keep missing the mark, don’t you?

The Pharisees were the radical liberals of their day? 😅 How, um, liberal you are with high praise! But I suppose that’s one way of looking at dogmatic, authoritarian hypocrites who ‘strain a gnat, but swallow a camel’. According to Jesus, at any rate.

A pity Jesus didn’t share your enlightened view of the Pharisees, and a pity they weren’t liberal enough not to seek Jesus’ death, by hook or by crook (mostly by crook).

As for emerging belief, in the Old Testament period, in afterlife and resurrection, are you seriously suggesting that Jesus should be grateful to Pharasaism for knowledge of both, especially for resurrection? That had it not been for Pharisaism, Jesus would never have known of the Afterlife, that he had a father in Heaven, and that he would rise from death?

I’m going to treat you with kid gloves, because I’m softening towards you. Tell me: from whom did the Pharisees obtain this wisdom? From themselves? Or did God inspire them with this knowledge? In which case, to whom should Jesus’ gratitude really go? To the Pharisees, or to his Father in Heaven?

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5.29
You used to post here before you were removed. Your cover was also blown.
You wouldn’t be expected to have anything of substance to add.

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11.27, among those sent out by Jesus to preach, heal, etc would have been women, since Judaism would not have been receptive to intimate physical contact between, say, a sick Jewish woman and a Jewish man. So where are women today in the exercise of those ‘very specific responsibilities’, as you put it?
And where did Jesus confine those ‘very specific responsibilities’ to just a few? The gospel accounts are not in accord on this: Mark has him send out The Twelve, while Luke has him send out seventy (or seventy two, according to other manuscripts) ‘others’ among whom may or may not have been The Twelve. Mark was clearly making an ideological point about The Twelve: that they had, in terms of authority, primacy in the church. Luke, however, is clear that this authority extends beyond The Twelve, in fact, to the entire church.

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What a head tickler first thing in the morning hi. What is Grace anyway. I used to think it was grease when I was little. Came in a can like oil. So what is confession then; a product ; an experience ; a relationship…..

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Fly: It’s another self aggrandising con job by the clerical caste to elevate their status from nonentity to necessity. Anon @ 10:54, and others recently, nicely explain the RCC tactics.
And we still have deluded clerics here defending the “good priests”. Individual priests may be good and decent as men, but living a lie in a defunct and decedent parisitical institution.
MMM

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11.04: MMM – Mournie Maggie from the Mountain: your misspelling of two words – DECADENT and PARASITICAL suggest you are still on your car stool apart from the boredom of your repetitive, predictable diatribe. I ain’t no deluded cleric. Be careful what you say.

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Jesus did not judge, although HE could, when he stated the facts. “hypocrites”, “whitewashed tombs”, “I do not know you”. The facts are that we are all sinners and in need of mercy and forgiveness. We would be foolish to cover our inner reality with a false image of piety. The devil himself can present as an angel of light. On the other hand it would be wrong to boast about things we should be ashamed of. (eg tops and bottoms!). The focus must be on Jesus and making him the centre of priestly formation. The Cure of Ars wasn’t the smartest but he had faith. When the son of man comes again how will he be living and will we recognise him or will we condemn him?

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CATHOLIC TRUTH SCOTLAND EDITOR
Patricia, agree with you or not, I admire how you handle yourself.
I think, had you taken up Ladies Boxing you would have retained the world championship for decades 😃

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don’t try and lick our behinds. we are not on your side. there are only a handful of mutual objectives we share.

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She’s undoubtedly charmed you, Bp Pat, but wait till she and her Tena ladies/gentlemen turn up in Larne and perform a public Rosary outside the Oratory. This is her modus operandi.
Whatever you do, Bp Pat, don’t let them in, the place will be hummin for days.

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I think the Catholic Church is going to find that many of its previous adherents have come to a new, less hidebound, relationship with the Church and priests. Many have come to realise that they can live their faith outside of the bricks and mortar, without the intermediary action of the clergy, and discovering new ways of relating to those around them and new ways of prayer. I think this is going to have huge implications for the institutional Church and its clergy for the future, not just in terms of physical numbers but also in terms of attitudeSand relationships. People have tasted a new spiritual reality. They will not want to click back automatically in to the old ways. Discuss !

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At W(a)on(k)ersh each seminarian is appointed a priest that will hear the seminarian’s confession. The priest will then forward what he heard to the rector and staff

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A@10:26: Maybe, as in my seminary days, there’s an oul retired semi senile priest still “earning his keep” with Saturday night confessions. One who doesn’t know the students.
Or failing that, after some holiday “mishaps”, a trip well out of town to some Sat evening confessions slot before returning to college.
Been there, done that, but never got “the badge.”!!!!!

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Tbh I can’t see any reason why a parish priest wouldn’t make regulars eucharistic ministers then transubstantiate for them at a distance.
This would also stop that problem in Oxford mentioned the other day.

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Nonsense. The same man claims the sacrament ought not to take place outside a church inan oratory. How many of Jesus’ acts of forgiveness and reconciliation – including his last took place in a church?
All of God’s creation is a sanctuary.

The bishop has been infected with a Western, forensic understanding of sacramental theology.

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Oh, 05:02, are there different versions of the truth, depending on which continent you live? You must agree with Kasper that African bishops need to know their place. Talk about white privilege!!!

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I downloaded an app a number of year ago, I’m sure it’s still on the go, but you would tap which generic sins you had committed and the app would give you a penance.

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I’ve tapped a few generic profiles on Grindr and got a nice penance for my troubles 🙂

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You’ll end by having to wear diapers thru faecal incontinence.

God is not mocked.

Gay sex is unnatural and carries serious physical consequences.

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PSALM 109 – Dixit Dominus (The Lord said).
— The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool…
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies…
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Alessandro Scarlatti – (Baroque)

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There cannot be a unified “sacramental theology” because of the diifferent character of each. Confession is best seen as not connected to readmitting oneself to the smarties queue and of benefit fior oen’s developoment, in itself. Alongside that we must as you say learn how to get maximum benefit when it isn’t happening, as well.

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During the coronavirus lockdown, we couldn’t get confessions. I was wondering if its possible to ask God direct for forgiveness even now when confessions reopened here. Why the need to depend on the clergy for confessions? Is it dependency culture? In turn, some clergy extract our monies etc. In the Bible, jesus said your sins are forgiven without the penitent going their sins… Does it mean that there is no need for confessions??? Just wondering that’s all.
Also priests here on this forum needs to forgive MC as I would welcome him back with open arms. We all have flaws and faults as nobody is perfect.

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DG, I agree with you over 99 % but nobody is “back” or “not back”. The MC personage sometimes posted well but sometimes gave an impression he could be covering for someone that was covering for him (his attacks were suspiciously generic) as well as overly self-referential. He (as MC) got too unpredictable and it got insufficiently informative and too confusing. We should just not claim to be the same person if we’re not going to be so constructive as before, IMO.

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The practice of Confession has dropped away greatly.
I must say that during my 44 years as a priest I had some wonderful experiences as a confessor – where great healing happened.
I found this particularly to be the case in Lourdes.

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Loss of a sense of sin, universalism, poor catechesis, and priests too lazy to offer proper, scheduled times for confession have taken their toll.

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2 33: People – or more apt – goofs like you are still in your adolescent girlie state..Grow up, you imbeciles. The level of intelligence intimated in your comment is sub zero.

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3:38 pm
That is, according to clerical posters to this blog. ( Are they goofs, girlie adolescents, imbeciles with subzero intelligence, needing to grow up?- if true, that might explain much).
By all accounts on this blog, the happenings in the meadow in Lourdes is the stuff of confessions. I don’t know how popular confession is with clergy.
But, the meadow seems very popular.
This blog is highly educational. 😝

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How can the meadow be busy when the Shrine has been closed and no pilgrimages taking place. I hear Fr McCamley has been there very recently at his favourite hotel. The most expensive one of course.

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There is absolutely no reason why a meaningful celebration of the confession can not take place by phone, skype, or Facebook conference for example. Some of the most meaningful and heartfelt celebrations I have been part of having taken place in this way. If we change the emphasis from the Western approach to the Eastern where it begins ” Behold my child Christ stands here to receive your confession “, and we truly believe Christ is everywhere it gives validity to celebrate the sacrament in this way.

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What would LITTLEWANK do ? That is the question. And I think I know the answer. Confession in an old style confession box, with a lace cotta, with purple stole, wearing his biretta with some coloured pom-pom on top, and of course a MANIPLE – even though even he would know that a maniple is not part of the confessional dressing up kit. Oh, and I bet he is forensic and incisive with his confessional clarification, just so he can get the right weight of penance for the offences committed – something like “now, my child, how many times, with whom and did you take pleasure…?” Littletosser for Penitentiary Extraordinary of Southwark Archdiocese !

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Yes, the coloured pom-pom would come with an association with one of the equestrian orders, which I’m sure he’s been sniffing around so that he can dress up even more. Oh, and get the letters behind his name……

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Oh, you always say that when I talk about Littletosser……! Are you + Wilson ? I think maybe you are, protecting one of the few clergy who can still walk and talk (high pitched squeal more like it in Littleprick’s case), or is not in prison, or not missing in action, that you have to push around the chess board on a quiet evening when you are in your Archbishopric’s Palace in Southwark.

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If Paul Taylor does not find a conscience, I shall begin an independent Blog to print fact about Dublin clergy and their WEB,
It has been entirely researched …I was supplied with a two word conjunction …I have never used it…
All attack on the preceding statements will be identified…if these sentiments are not published, I shall know where Pat Buckley actually stands.
I shall publish only fact…..but entirely relational ….beginning with Father Paddy Mohahan and his accompnnimentt of Mary Harney to State Dinners and Events….all on public record.

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i shall begin with Leinster and Lady Balbriggan to Dermot Martins delight…..short lived…
I am not in a hurry …..a very slow burn….

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Bring it all on Bee-leen man-yeen. Feckin eejit. And write in plain English – not your usual pidgin Yoda.

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‘Only source clerical gossip’
Did he give Gannon, Byrne, Harney, Doyle the benefit of the doubt? I hope Paul Taylor sells him out. Hypocrite.

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@6.34pm Is McCamley on the prowl again? The hotel you mention probably gave him free lodgings because he gave them good business bringing Sean, Eamonn there and many from the diocese there over the years. Just a stroll to the meadow also. Mind you most Bishops stay there including Elsie who likes to sit behind a curtain at breakfast.

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Elsie does indeed have her breakfast in a private room at The Grand and behind a curtain with a few select Clergy. A young lay helper was told to shoo a few years ago when he gained access past the curtain to ask Elsie to sign a Mass Card for a sick relative. Elsie was very unimpressed as it was a late breakfast.

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Last week I watched a touching movie about a troubled priest who finds himself questioning his calling.
He journeys home, abandoning his parish while he sorts his life out with lots of prayers and good friends.
The end was just so sweet and touching, the priest returns with true joy to his church and the confessional.
Such a wonderful and tru catholic story about being true to God’s calling and the importance of confession.
“A Priest’s confession” from 2013 with Jimmy Franz as Father Daniel.

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Pat please can you comment whether 7.17 and 11.49 are distraction / diversion postings by a supporter of Paul Taylor (who is of a more senior rank than those being reminisced about)?

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Finally a movie that so clearly shows how many priests now a days deal with their stress and troubles:
They don’t just watch porn, they live it to the fullest.
Thank you for suggesting such excellent, descent and catholic movie, Gustavo!

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You watch your back, Pat. If you’re not careful Barking Billy could be gritting and grinding his sharp little teeth at you next. 😛

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My most recent contributions should for you define threat: in particular to Bottle Shop owners in Dublin.

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It is useless to ask this man to stop speaking in riddles. He’s incapable of making sense but the sad thing is that he believes he is perfectly lucid. Believe me… I know.

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The priest in the video insists on physical presence for sacramental effect, which is not true. Even the catechism teaches that a person is obliged to confess only mortal sin: he is not obliged to confess venial sin. So how is venial sin forgiven? Simply by appealing directly to Christ. No priest necessary here.

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Pat, why are you giving Mr. Threat Mulvihill a platform for his bizarre behaviour? We witnessed his public breaking apart before with similar craziness: we don’t need a repeat. Please. Life is too short and precious.

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Standard of this blog has gone downhill, degradation with no constructive or meaningful comment or something we could learn from. No wonder I stopped contributing for a good while until yesterday.
What’s the state of rcc here right now?

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The threatening noises frim Mukvihill are very worrying – not for his victims but for his own psychological well-being. A maniac on the loose!!

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Paul Taylor cleaned out N B and sister was not best pleased. Taylor, ruin me ! That’s an imperative you impotent power.

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In 1990, McKinnon was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal and in the 1991 Queen’s Birthday Honours he was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for community service.[6] In the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours, McKinnon was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education and the community.[7] He was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1992 and is a Justice of the Peace.

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Pat, was William Mulvihill always this bizzare and incoherent? Do you know more about him than the rest of us? Is this why you are allowing him to post so often?
Why was he ordained? He can’t post a single, lucid comment. How on earth was he able to write a single coherent essay in seminary?

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