ASK FATHER: In the confessional Father said the Holy Spirit is a woman.

QUAERITUR:

Father during confession said in his opinion, the Holy Spirit is a woman. “She gives us birth in baptism, she will help you.” [Jackass!] His other remarks were well taken but I was so appalled I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Not to mention, it was face-to-face and no other option — just two chairs at one side of the sanctuary. He also stopped me saying the act of contrition because I was being rote. [Jackass!]
I think his words of absolution were correct but I still wonder. Do you think I am absolved? Is he actually a heretic?

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I’m reminded of one of the Martyrs of Gorkum, who were killed by Calvinist Protestants because they refused to deny transubstantiation. One of them, a priest, was an infamous rake and fornicator. They expected him to cave in easily. But when he was challenged to denounce his Faith he said “I was a fornicator, but I’m not a heretic” and they killed him.

The 19 Martyrs of Gorkum are invoked especially for relief from hernias. It seems to me that that jackass priest in that confessional has a brain hernia, cutting off part of his intellect.

Pray for him to the Martyrs of Gorkum.

Is that jackass a heretic? It depends. Heresy is the persistent denial or doubt of a revealed truth of Catholic doctrine. Putting aside the obvious point that God the Holy Spirit transcends physicality, based on biblical texts the gender of the Holy Spirit as male is a core tenet of Catholic belief. Denying it would heresy.

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