Let women hear confession and grant absolution, says bishop

Telegraph.co.uk ^ | 28/08/2003 | Jonathan Petre

[dsc]

Women should be allowed to hear confessions and absolve sinners, a Roman Catholic bishop has suggested.

Bishop Vincent Malone, auxiliary bishop in Liverpool, said that the Church should consider choosing lay women to be confessors because some people might prefer disclosing their sins to a woman rather than a man.

Writing in a new book, he also said that other sacraments reserved for the all-male clergy might be opened to lay people, including the annointing of the sick.

Bishop Malone said he was merely raising questions rather than "starting a revolution", and stressed that any reforms would have to be agreed by the whole Church before they could be implemented.

But his radical views will challenge the traditional image of the male priest hearing confessions and reignite the debate over the role of women in the Church.

Bishop Malone's comments will carry particular weight because he is the liaison between the English and Welsh Bishops' Conference and the National Board of Catholic Women.

In his contribution to Healing Priesthood: Women's Voices Worldwide, he said the Church's tradition "may sometimes seem only to inhibit the freedom to engage with difficult questions".

But some practices could be varied. Although the Pope had ruled out women priests, the Church had "not so ruled in other areas which might yield surprising fruit".

He added: "It is not difficult to conceive circumstances in which a female minister could more appropriately than a man be the receiver of the humble confession that opens a soul to hear the glad words of the Lord's forgiveness.

"Common practice in our society today would expect equal access in many professions to either a man or a woman at the client's choice. It would be an unusual medical practice that did not have both male and female practitioners. Similarly with a firm of solicitors or a team of counsellors.

"Has the time come to expect a similar availability in even more sacred areas of our lives - without thinking that this is impossible without the ordination of women?"

The bishop argued that the Church broadly decreed that only priests could administer the sacraments, and yet lay people were involved in the sacrament of marriage and, in cases of necessity, the sacrament of baptism.

He told The Catholic Herald that he was "not banging a drum" or trying to prompt disobedience among Catholics, but was merely issuing a "gentle invitation to reflect".

Such reforms might "in part answer the complaint that women can't do anything" in the Church.

But while liberals, including fellow bishops, will welcome his ideas, the newspaper said in an editorial: "The simple answer is that the time has not come for such a thing."

The bishop's comments follow the decision by some churches and cathedrals to introduce glass-fronted confessionals after a series of sex scandals in the Church.

The aim is to allow others to see what is happening, protecting children and adults from any risk of abuse by priests and to protect priests from false allegations.

[fortunecookie]

LOL. Sad but true. And let's not forget drive thru windows or ATM style machines, complete with print out penance for when one is away from one's computer. But, shhh, let's not give anyone ideas...

[FormerLib]

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath...

Do you have any photos of your loved ones at home?

Ooopsie.

[dangus]

>>1 John 1:9 [He even gave us it in writing!]

1 Jn 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Yes, but of course, no concept of "confess" prior to the Reformation ever considered that the word meant speaking to no corporal entity.

(Yes, Jesus is a corporal entity... His body is the church, and he commissioned the apostles to forgive sins in his name... which means they - or in turn, their appointed followers - must HEAR the sins to forgive them.)

[SoothingDave]

Do you have any photos of your loved ones at home?

One could argue that these little pixels on your screen are images that are meant to represent all kinds of things in heaven and on earth.

SD

[CCWoody]

Jesus Christ, who claimed that he hadn't lost anyone that was his, was betrayed by one of his best friends. ~ eastsider

So, are you calling Jesus a liar or pointing out for all of us that Judas was never His? I'm a bit confused on your point.

Woody.

[FormerLib]

Do you have any photos of your loved ones at home?

The amusing thing is that the iconoclasts never answer that question.

[dangus]

>>1. When Simon of Samaria sinned after being baptised he was told to pray to God for forgiveness. Acts 8:22.
Yup... just like in the sacrament of reconciliation. It's called "pennance."

>>2. The apostles never heard confessions. Where does it say that? Quite the contrary, they commanded people to tell their sins.

>>3.-4., Peter never forgave...Peter never forgave...
Doesn't say that. Quite the contrary, Jesus ordered Peter to forgive seven times seventy times, so we can safely presume Peter DID forgive Cornelius.

>>5.Only God can forgive sins. "Who can forgive sins but God only." Mark 2:5-11

Umm, wow, thus spoke the PHARISEES and SCRIBES, not JESUS! That's such a breath-taking misuse of a bible passage, I am actually stunned, amazed.

The passage means the exact opposite; that God, through Christ, grants Man the power to forgive sin!

Next you're going to be treating the Pharisees as if they were Catholic priests or something! (ominous foreshadowing...)

>>6. When Peter sinned by denying Christ, he confessed to God and was forgiven.
Actually, Christ forgave him in person. Three times. Once for each time he denied Christ. It was only then that Jesus told Peter to "feed his lambs."

>>When Judas sinned by betraying Christ, he confessed to some priests and then committed suicide. Matthew 27:3-5.

Umm, when did the Sanhedrin convert to Catholicism? Did I miss that?

[ArrogantBustard]

Do you have any photos of your loved ones at home?
The amusing thing is that the iconoclasts never answer that question.

Actually, in some cases the answer is "no". Some Mennonites and Amish, for example, eschew photography of persons on the grounds of not making "graven images". I disagree with them, but I admire their logical consistency.

You won't find many of them posting on internet discussion forums, though...

[FormerLib]

Some Mennonites and Amish, for example, eschew photography of persons on the grounds of not making "graven images".

Quite correct, at least they are being consistent.

[SoothingDave]

You won't find many of them posting on internet discussion forums, though...

They would bring a unique voice to the debate, one that is missing.

SD

[moondancer]

As a woman I totally disagree with this idea. Id much rather have a man to confess to. after listening to confessions all day hell simply check out at the end of the day and probally not remember my "specifics" a woman on the other hand remembers everything;)

[ican'tbelieveit]

Actually, I don't, but there are other reasons for that.

[dangus]

>>In the Bible, all ministers are called elders, bishops or pastors, all referring to the one office, but there is no office of "priest".

Um, wrong... The greek word is "presbyter." It's all over the New Testament.

[ican'tbelieveit]

As long as you have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, enjoy worshipping as you do. But that is the one criteria that must be met to enter into Heaven.

[ican'tbelieveit]

I answered it. I am not afraid to.

[Salvation]

**Bishop Malone's comments will carry particular weight because he is the liaison between the English and Welsh Bishops' Conference and the National Board of Catholic Women.**

If this is happening in Wales, what is happening in the U. S.?

[dangus]

Am I wrong or did someone in the Vatican already try this? I think the higher-ups squashed the idea.

[Loyalist]

What is impossible today, will be standard procedure tomorrow.

[eastsider]

But some practices could be varied. Although the Pope had ruled out women priests, the Church had "not so ruled in other areas which might yield surprising fruit".

Perhaps lap dances, to stir the soul to repentance ...

[dangus]

As for infallibility...
"whatever you declare bound (law) on Earth, is bound in Heaven, and whatever you declare loosed (free) on Earth, is loosed in Heaven. Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock, I shall build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not withstand against it."

As for idolatry...
The word means worship of false Gods. Since Mary is not worshipped and is not a God, where's the idolatry? It's idolatry to ask someone to pray with you? (The Hail Mary's petition: "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.") Doesn't the fact that we ask her to pray for us signify we don't consider her a God? Why would God pray to God? Don't you ask people to pray for you?

I always hear back: Yes, but Mary's dead.

How patently offensive! She's in paradise, with the theif who shared in Christ's crucifixion, the martyrs, and all the saints.