Posted on 08/18/2011 7:18:16 AM PDT by marshmallow
So why is the seal of confession inviolable? Why does the seal bind under such a grave obligation that the Church excommunicates any confessor who directly violates it? (See: The seal of confession: some basics)
There are two principal reasons why the priest must preserve the seal: the virtue of justice and the virtue of religion. The motive of justice is evident because the penitent, by the very fact of entering the confessional, or asking the priest to hear his confession (we’ll deal with “reconciliation rooms” another day) rightly expects that the priest will observe the seal. This is a contract entered into by the fact of the priest agreeing to hear a person’s confession. To mandate the violation of the seal is in effect to prohibit the celebration of the sacrament of Penance.
Much more grave than the obligation of justice towards the penitent is the obligation of religion due to the sacrament. The Catholic Encyclopaedia gives a brief explanation of the virtue of religion which essentially summarises the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas. (Summa Theologica 2a 2ae q.81) Religion is a moral virtue by which we give to God what is His due; it is, as St Thomas says, a part of justice. In the case of the sacrament of Penance, instituted by Christ, Fr Felix Cappello explains things well [my translation]:
By the very fact that Christ permitted, nay ordered, that all baptised sinners should use the sacrament and consequently make a secret confession, he granted an absolutely inviolable right, transcending the order of natural justice, to use this remedy. Therefore the knowledge which was their own before confession, after the communication made in confession, remains their own for every non-sacramental use, and that by a power altogether sacred, which no contrary human law can strike out, since every human law is of an inferior order: whence this right cannot be taken away or overridden by any means, or any pretext, or any motive.
The penitent confesses his sins to God through the priest. If the seal were to be broken under some circumstances, it would put people off the sacrament and thereby prevent them from receiving the grace that they need in order to repent and amend their lives. It would also, and far more importantly, obstruct the will of God for sinners to make use of the sacrament of Penance and thereby enjoy eternal life. The grace of the sacrament is absolutely necessary for anyone who commits a mortal sin. To mandate the violation of the seal is in effect to prohibit the practice of the Catholic faith. Some secular commentators have spoken of the seal of confession as being somehow a right or privilege of the priest. That is a preposterous misrepresentation: it is a sacred and inviolable duty that the priest must fulfil for the sake of the penitent and for the sake of God's will to redeem sinners.
A possibly misleading phrase in this context is where theologians say that the penitent is confessing his sins as if to God "ut Deo." (You can easily imagine secularists deriding the idea that the priest makes himself to be a god etc.) In truth, the penitent is confessing his sins before God. The priest acts as the minister of Christ in a sacred trust which he may not violate for any cause - precisely because he is not in fact God. By virtue of the penitent’s confession ut Deo, the priest absolves the penitent and, if mortal sin is involved, thereby readmits him to Holy Communion.
There will be more to follow on the sacrament of confession. As I mentioned in my previous post, this series is not intended as a guide for making a devout confession but rather as an introduction to some canonical and theological questions regarding the sacrament which have become important recently. (For a leaflet on how to make a good confession, see my parish website.)
I have been told that the threat in Ireland to introduce a law compelling priests to violate the seal of confession has been withdrawn, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, I will continue with these posts because I think that the Irish proposal will be picked up by other secularists and may pose a problem for us. Further posts will look at the proper place, time and vesture for hearing confessions, one or two more particular crimes in canon law, the question of jurisdiction and the much misused expression “Ecclesia supplet”, and, of course, what to do if the civil authority tries to compel a priest to break the seal.
Actually, unless your confessor is Jesus Himself, you've just wasted your time.
Nobody can receive grace to enable a spiritual act from another human being. It comes from God alone.
Show me the verses the support PENANCE.
Not repentance, which is not the same thing. Penance, the works and deeds assigned to someone by a priest to be completed to receive forgiveness.
I repeat: "So, then, by the grace of God my Savior freely given to me etc." Where did I say I received grace from another human being? Nowhere.
So, penance cannot be voluntarily conceived and performed by a penitant, without it being "assigned by a priest"?
Exactly. And why would I trust you, a possessor of such a deceitful and desperately wicked human heart, to tell me anything about scripture, confession, salvation, repentence, penance, Christ?
I myself have such a wicked heart, and depend on the Catholic Church, instituted by Christ Himself, my Savior, to teach me the way, the truth and the life. Not a self-acknowldedged fallible, sinful, wicked, human woman who interprets Holy Scripture for herself and criticizes others' faith.
We are talking text interpretion which is a view. It is amazing that you call it mind reading. I do not mean to come across in a bad light. I will try to understand better. It was not to disparage a person. But I will try to weigh the words in the future. Thank you for the warning.
Agree...but catholics do "believe" otherwise as we know. It's as though they have all these other venues becuase the finished work of Christ is not enough for them. So in reality it's a denial of Christ.
Jesus set us free.....catholics see themselves yet in bondage to the law by the rituals and various do or do not "clauses" their church has implemented via the vatican, so it's definately a stronghold.IMO. ....and their leadership desires that they remain that way.
Wait - (what is an RCA) How do you know they were praying for idolators? Maybe they were just praying
Pure reason — Heaven is composed of the perfect and perfected. How many of us are perfect when we die?? There is a place of purification. It must exist or we would be praying for the dead in Hell, which is absurd.
Wrong! The finished work of Christ is enough for the whole world for all eternity.
When you post rank falsehood like that, does your conscience smite you? If not, perhaps you should pray for the grace of a conscience!
RCA-Roman Catholic Apologist.
As for how i know they were praying for idolaters, did you not read the text? It says that that is why they died.
“There is a place of purification. It must exist or we would be praying for the dead in Hell, which is absurd.”
That is the point, and a reason why their belief was not the same as purgatory, as Rome holds that impenitent idolaters do not go to purgatory, but to Hell, as that is a mortal sin. You can only assume they repented.
As for the need to go to purgatory, you are washed, sanctified and justified the moment you are born again, (1Cor. 6:11; cf. Acts 15:8,9) and are positionally in the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:23) and Heaven already. (Eph. 2:6; Phil. 3:21)
That would not be possible if perfection on a practical level was necessary to be in Heaven, though true faith must be one that will evidence fruits which correspond to faith in the Lord Jesus.
Thus wherever the postmortem state is most clearly spoken of for actual believers, it is with the Lord. (Lk. 24:43; 2Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:23; 1Thes. 4:17) See link for refutation of texts used to support purgatory.
Correction; Lk. 23:43
Worthy points.
*sigh* I didn’t say that YOU said it. Read the quote I posed twice now. It’s in italics.
It says that someone has to go through another human being and do something to receive grace.
That’s just wrong. God gives grace freely, no strings attached.
There is no need for penance. There’s no precedent for it in Scripture. Find some verses and show me where we have to perform certain deeds or acts or prayers, or anything else assigned by a priest, in order to receive forgiveness from God.
Why do you depend on such wicked, deceitful, and fallible men such as are found in the Catholic church to teach you then?
Because the priests in the Catholic church as surely no less human than the rest of us, and they’ve demonstrated that plenty with their actions in the past.
Exactly. All there is is fear.
Fear of slipping up.
Fear of never making the grade, no matter how much you try, hoping against hope that at the very least you’re only looking at an extended stay in purgatory instead of hell itself.
There is no freedom when your entire eternal destiny is based on your perfect performance, which no one can possibly achieve anyway.
Exactly, which is why unless we have Christ's righteousness imputed to us, we have no hope. Then we are perfect IN CHRIST, clothed in HIS righteousness which comes through faith. God sees us as perfect in Him through faith, not having a righteousness of our own.
There is a place of purification. It must exist or we would be praying for the dead in Hell, which is absurd.
Not so. Forgiveness precludes that. When you are forgiven, there is nothing left to be purified from.
God wipes the slate clean. Our sins are not credited to our account. If we are not perfect positionally when we die, it's too late. The only fire we face is the fire of hell, not one to *purify* us from sin. If there's sin left, all that means is that Jesus sacrifice was not enough, was not adequate to complete our salvation.
It never ceases to amaze me how so many completely ignorant and borderline illiterate dipsticks spend so much time distancing themselves from Catholicism and then claim to speak on behalf of Catholics and Catholicism when it suits them.
Its called "expiation", a means of atonement.
"Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people." - Hebrews 2:17
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