Delaware judge: priest-penitent privilege may be unconstitutional

[benedictaoo]

I suppose that some of the time the person getting the bad advice might keep it to themselves and therefore no one would be able to try to correct the priest. But I think a women getting abused would seek further counsel if a priest gave such terrible advice. The person that hears of such a thing should do what David says, check the Canon law or other sources to make sure of the Church's position, then check into what the appropriate way to approach this issue should be. I think in the 50's one of the problems we had was the priest on a pedestal (you could extend this to a lot of professions) view. Authority was seen as irreproachable and so in instances where correction should have been pursued, things just kept rolling along.

I've heard similar stories and have seen people who knew of the situation from hearing from the abused person that have taken it upon themselves to talk to the priest directly and tried to counsel the priest on a better course of advice.

Well, cannon law is the problem if you want my opinion. I can see why, have empathy for those who don't want anything to do with the Church when they experience something of this nature. Personally for me, it is a sexist thing with the priest and that is just a pure human thing. Men just see things differently than woman so I can sorta kinda get why woman think we need woman clergy but I now theologically that ridiculous, so we are left with what we are left with.

 

[Cos-play]

This isn't about the context of this thread. This is about penance. Penance does not make up for sin.

Maybe to you but to me, as a actually poster in that particular conversation, it was about the context of murders and appropriate penance.

She's wrong on that.

You can say that and I can't assail the statement. Mainly because given the seal of confession neither of us knows whether she's wrong or not.

What he did in the world isn't relevant to his confession, absolution, and penance. What matters is the interior, only.

Outward appearances matter. From the outside looking in I think you can see that to some people this could easily look like a murderer 1) getting out jail free because he cut a deal and 2) getting out of hell free because he cut a deal. It's easy to be contrite and stuff when you know that you're not going to have face any real consequences for your actions.

I don't think that's an injustice nor do I think the two are related.

I do and I'll tell you why:

I was taught you can't forum shop when you go to confession. You can't go to one priest, then go to another with the same confession looking for a better deal. This guy did just that. He waited until he had to face the least amount to consequences possible.

That is going to be seen as unjust by reasonable people. I'm not calling you unreasonable but I think can understand why reasonable people might see it as unjust.

If a person murders, feels sorry for it, and does penance to heal himself, then Heaven is his.

Especially if you've cut a deal and forum shopped the confession

That's a completely separate matter from a couple that continually engage in what they consider sinful and do so willfully.

It's especially easy to give up murdering people when you're in the federal witness protection program. I would feel completely differently if he had had the little epiphany while he was still in a position to actually give up murder on his own.

The issue is between one who commits a sin and repents, and those that commit an act and do not repent. What do you wish to compare, a person that murders in his youth and lives a life of piety versus a man that lives a life stealing without violence? One is repentant, the other is not. The severity of the sin is not as important as the contrition.

Well, you and I will no doubt disagree but the context of the contrition is going to be matter for taken into consideration by some reasonable people. Its easy when it's easy.

The real question at stake seems to be taking things as sins that we don't really consider them to be. Some people get to a point they stop taking the men in pointy hats seriously. They realize the bible is art, not a book of commands and literal truths. They discover the north of their moral compass is not found in doctrine, but in shared life experiences.

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say here.