Posted on 02/12/2016 3:00:24 AM PST by SkyPilot
Dubbed 'super confessors', for one year only they can absolve sins usually only pardoned by the pope himself.
And on Wednesday over 1,000 of these "missionaries of mercy", handpicked by Pope Francis, were sent forth to win back the hearts of those who have left the Catholic Church and open the door to repentant sinners across the world.
There are certain evils the Vatican ranks above other sins, from attempting to assassinate the pope to defiling the Eucharist -- the rite of consuming consecrated bread and wine in Church -- by spitting it out or using it in a Satanic ritual.
Since the 12th century, those guilty of these so-called "reserved sins" had their cases evaluated by a secret tribunal in the tiny Vatican city state before they were sent before the pope, who would determine an appropriate penance.
Now, 1,142 priests and monks from around the world have be given the power, for the Vatican's Jubilee Year, to forgive sinners in their flocks -- and possibly fellow priests as one of the special sins is breaking the seal of confession.
Maltese Franciscan Marcello Ghirlando, 53, told AFP he thought giving the 'super confessors' authority usually reserved for the man in white was "a symbolic gesture" to show people the Church is ready to wipe slates clean.
"I think the pope wants to insist that 'listen, God is always going to forgive us if we turn to him with a clean heart, with a repentant heart'," he said with a grin, adding that he was relishing the challenge of bringing people back to church.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
You mean the people can absolve sins and pass that power to anyone? Who needs Jesus eh?
Wow.. even our forth graders know the Romans road. How in the world was Saul ever converted without Socialist relativism?
I’m a lapsed Catholic and I did not learn about this. What exactly happens? If you go in the confession booth, does the priest say, “I’m sorry, you have to take this matter up with the pope or a superconfessor?”
Well, basically, even just going into a confessional isn’t something one should do. My point was so man pope or otherwise has the power to forgive or absolve sin. Jesus does himself, hence the death on the cross and all the rest of it.
Jesus’ death on the cross was perfect and complete, there is nothing else you can do except accept his gift of salvation.
It’s the return of medieval Dispensation’ where the suffering of souls in limbo could be abated by a cash payment.
Also could be used to forgive moral sins that are supposedly unforgivable
I was wondering what the Catholic position on the question was.
I imagine child molestation, if done by a priest, has been put into this category. I further imagine that the rules on confession booth secrecy do not apply?
At this rate, the Pope is going to hand over the keys to heaven to the gay Episcopalians.
I haven't heard of any Papal assassination attempts recently -- certainly not 1142 of them -- so I'm not sure what "evils the Vatican ranks above other sins".
Maybe it's sins like failure to believe in anthropogenic climate change, or voting against Socialists like Bernie Sanders. (I'm guilty and unrepentant, so I could never come back to the Catholic Church).
Yes, it’s in the Gospels that Jesus gave disciples the power to forgive sins. It’s impossible for a disciple (for our time, passed down to a priest) to forgive others’ sins unless they hear them first and remorse is shown.
Hocus-Pocus in its full glory.
Church needs more members and money and power...simply send out the special confessor army and get some.
Bottom line is that it is all about money and power.
Will superconfessor’s be specially trained to handle the sexual and psychological abuse the “church” has rained down on the children?
huh! Never heard of ‘reserved sins’ that must be taken up by a committee before.
Sounds like the pope just created the vatican’s very own Federal Court of Appeals.
Amen brother! Far too many get so balled up in their religion that they forget that the whole purpose of the Old Testament/Law/Commandments was to illustrate how unworthy we are and that only He can make us worthy - it's a Supreme Gift and we need to revel in it int=stead of ;pointing fingers at those who "don't measure up" to our inflated egos.
I never understood praying to dead mortals either since He gave us a direct line to the Father and even supplied the perfect prayer to use ....
Super confessors? What utter tripe Roman Catholicism is. There is only ONE super confessor. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ.
As he explained it, and I understand it, this is about the difference between something just being a sin and it being a 'crime' as far as the Catholic Church is concerned. Sins are forgiven by God and in the Sacrament of Penance, the Priest merely acts as an intermediary for the forgiveness of sin - but the sacrament also involves reconciliation with the Church, and that part of it is done by the Priest.
These very serious offences involve a violation of Church law to such an extent that a normal Priest is not considered qualified to decide whether the person has reconciled with the Church. The sin is forgiven - that's between the person and God - but whether the person is reconciled with the Church requires an expert to question and satisfy themselves that the person understands the Church law in question.
If a person confesses one of these special class of sins to a 'normal' priest, the sin is forgiven as any sin is forgiven by God - but the Priest should refer the person to a higher authority to resolve the question of whether they are following Church law.
The breach of Church law is less important than the sin, but may be more complex to resolve. God forgives simply because a person sincerely repents and there is nothing complex about that. But the Church is not as perfect as God.
I hope I've done justice to what I was told. It seemed to make sense to me at lunch.
Your incorrect on stating “mortal” sins as unforgivable. Mortal sins result in damnation if not repented. There is only one unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
This isn’t an indulgence either.
You mean the Pope has finally provided someone who can hear my confession of thinking impure thoughts while reading Playboy?
;^)
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