Archbishop (Ottawa, Canada) Ends General Absolution

Archbishop to faithful: Confess in person only
Ottawa's Gervais puts an end to group absolution

Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais has clamped down on what the Pope says has become an all-too-common practice: the abandonment of individual confessions in favour of group absolution.

In a letter to the archdiocese's clergy and faithful, the archbishop said John Paul II "insists that general absolution should be restored to its original purpose as an extraordinary means of receiving absolution (of sins)."

Archbishop Gervais is just one of several Canadian bishops trying to curb the trend toward overuse of general absolution.

However, that doesn't mean an end to communal reconciliation services, followed by individual confessions, he said. Archbishop Gervais said he wants to encourage these communal services.

"I would hate to see these gatherings disappear. They have been very well prepared and enthusiastically received. I would be very happy if you chose to continue to have these communal celebrations," he wrote in his letter.

In general absolution, a priest absolves the sins of a number of believers at once, without each one confessing his sins individually. It is intended to be used only in cases of what the church calls "grave necessity," such as the danger of imminent death, or in isolated communities where a priest seldom visits and cannot hear all the would-be penitents in the time available.

In one of the best-known and correct uses of general absolution, Catholic firefighters were granted absolution of their sins before they headed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Experts say that among the reasons why general absolution came into regular use in Canada were a shortage of priests in francophone parishes and a general decline in the number of Catholics going to confession.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, of Halifax, said that when he was teaching at the Atlantic School of Theology in the 1970s, "it was obvious that things were changing in the culture, and in the way people looked at sinfulness.

"At the time, I was quite open to using general absolution, because it presented an opportunity to invite people who had not had the opportunity or time to make a private confession."

But in 1999, when he and other Maritime bishops made their once-every-five-years visit to Rome, Vatican officials urged them to stop general use of the practice.

"We were losing the faithful. People were not going to confession," said Archbishop Prendergast. He said Maritime bishops have abandoned regular use of general absolution, and it has paid off.

"In Halifax, there are much larger numbers coming to confession now. Sometimes there are lines at the cathedral like there were in the past," he said.

Although the church's catechism and its canon law have long made it clear that general absolution should be a rarity, and Australian bishops were forced in 1999 to publicly agree to stop its general use, the Pope felt it necessary to hammer home the point last May.

In an apostolic letter, Misericordia Dei (the Mercy of God), he wrote that general absolution causes "serious harm to the spiritual life of the faithful and to the holiness of the church. In some places there has been a tendency to abandon individual confession and wrongly to resort to 'general' or 'communal absolution.' "

John Paul said the normal forms of confession are individual confessions or a communal reconciliation service followed by individual confessions.

Last fall, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops revised their guidelines on the use of general absolution. They are now in Rome, awaiting approval from the Vatican.

Cathy Clifford, a professor of sacramental theology at Ottawa's Saint Paul University, said one reason for the decline in the number of Catholics going to individual confession in western countries is a change in their sense of sin and spirituality.

"Whenever there is an opportunity for a communal celebration, people are drawn to this. It speaks to them about the social and communal aspect of sin as well," Ms. Clifford said.

"Our understanding of sin has broadened out from understanding it as the individual isolated act of a person to an understanding of the complex circumstances around that, and the fact that the consequences of our decisions and actions are sometimes very broad," she said.

She said many Catholics may also not understand that if they are guilty of serious sins, they are still responsible for making personal confessions.

Rev. Paul Cormier works with Opus Dei members, some of the more devout Ottawa Catholics, and hears as many as 250 individual confessions a month. He says it is well worth a Catholic's time.

"Aside from the forgiveness of sins, there is also the aspect of sacramental grace, that special help you receive from God. If you confess that you are a glutton, or you tend to lose your temper, then afterwards you receive special grace to help you in that struggle," said Father Cormier.

What's more, he says "I never just listen to the sins and apply a penance. I always give some advice as well."

I'll second that! One thing I thought I could never overcome was a years long habit of using salty language. With the grace of God, I no longer have that problem and I am no longer tempted in that direction.

General absolution is one of the things that is being pushed by the AmChurch and it is very widespread. Most Catholics I know believe you can confess in your own mind and be absolved of all your sins.

If every Catholic took advantage of this biblical sacrament, I don't think Catholics would be dishing out big $$$ for shrinks.

Of course, part of the problem is that many Catholics just don't take sin seriously - and many in the Church do not work very hard to change that either. As a Catholic, it is a true rarity when I hear a homily directly focus on sin and its consequences. It's unpopular, and much of our Church is unwilling to focus on the unpopular and topics of sin - abortion, pride, homosexual acts, pre-marital sex, divorce, pornography, immodesty, foul language, drunkenness, etc. etc. One tires after many years of the feel good homilies that have little to do with the temptations that society puts out before us and our children, or which skirt around politically correct issues. One hopes for some steel in messages we get from our priests - especially for the sake of our children.

"We were losing the faithful. People were not going to confession," said Archbishop Prendergast. He said Maritime bishops have abandoned regular use of general absolution, and it has paid off.

"In Halifax, there are much larger numbers coming to confession now. Sometimes there are lines at the cathedral like there were in the past," he said.

Padre Pio was a martyr of the confessional. Sometimes he would hear confessions as long as 18 hours a day. He wrote to a friend: "I am well but I am very busy day and night hearing hundreds of confessions daily, I have not a minute left but praise to Christ, who powerfully assists me in my work." He treated every penitent in a different way. Some he received with open arms. To sincere and open souls he could conclude the confession with "Go, Jesus loves you." Still others, he refused at first, sure that he would see them again later when they were sufficiently prepared for absolution. When asked why he did this he said, "Do you know the pain it caused me to shut the door on anybody? But the Lord has forced me to do so. I do not call anyone nor do I refuse anybody either. There is someone else who calls and refuses them, whose useless tool I am."

To a woman who did not know what to say in the confessional, Padre Pio said, "Hurry down to the pond, look into the water, and then come back again. In the pond she saw her baby which she had murdered and thrust into the pond 19 years before. All aghast, she confessed her great guilt to him.

A murderer, whose conscience did not leave him at ease, arrived one day at Father's confessional, hoping to regain his peace of mind by his absolution. He confessed several sins of his life, but in spite of his good intentions he could not find the courage to confess the sin of murder. After his imperfect confession, Padre Pio led him along a row of seats alongside of his confessional where men were sitting. Suddenly, the man screamed and lost consciousness. When he recovered, Padre Pio took him back to the confessional. After awhile, the man exited the confessional with a radiant face. He had been absolved of all his sins. He explained to people that through Padre Pio's prayer, he had seen the murdered man sitting there in the pew. That sight had brought the atrocity of his deed to his mind so vividly that he had found the courage to confess the grave sin.

Another time a blind girl was led to his confessional. She needed the assistance of someone to guide her. In the confessional she told Padre Pio that she, as well as her four sisters were blind. She asked him to pray for her. They prayed together, she folded her hands in prayer and he placed his wounded hands over hers. She suddenly cried out, "Father I see." She sobbed and when she calmed down she quietly left the confessional with no aides. The people who witnessed began to cry out "I believe, I believe."

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