From a reader…
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?
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.
If he said it in the confession, my guess is that this is part of his schtick. Draw your own conclusion.
While Holy Spirit’s power and influence is often expressed in Scripture with feminine imagery (e.g., the word “ruach … spirit“ in Hebrew is feminine), Scripture consistently refers to the Holy Spirit using masculine pronouns. Jesus himself referred to the Holy Spirit as “He” (Greek ekeînos as in John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13).
Stopping you during the act of contrition… GRRRRR. That old garbage. Apparently we can’t sincerely mean what memorized prayers say. The classical, memorized form has all the necessary points that must be manifested for the priest to give absolution. Stick to your guns.
About the absolution. I can’t say much about that since I don’t know what form he used. Even if he is a heretic, were he to have used the proper form, you would have been validly absolved.
What a jackass. What jackassery.
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For Holy Church and for Priests
O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of of the whole Church, grant it love and the light of Your Spirit and give power to the words of priests so hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord.
Lord, give us holy priests. You Yourself maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares which are continually being set for the souls of priests.
May the power of Your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests, for You can do all things. I ask You, Jesus for a special blessing and for light for priests before whom I will make my confession throughout my lifetime. Amen. ~ St. Faustina
By happy contrast, the local priest I made my confession to yesterday was straight, to the point, and mercifully brief.
Re.Learning words by heart: If someone got up at a parish social and sang a well known song, would that priest interrupt them and tell them to write one of their own, otherwise they are being insincere and just going through the motions.
The classical, memorized form has all the necessary points that must be manifested for the priest to give absolution.
I would greatly appreciate some clarification on this, Fr. Z: When I was trained up to receive my first confession and first communion, the nuns of course made sure we knew the Act of Contrition, along with other prayers. But nowhere was the Act of Contrition said to be part of Confession. This was after Vatican II but before the Novus Ordo was issued. And nothing about their approach sounded like “this is new procedure”, the nuns appeared to be teaching us the very same stuff they taught my older siblings before VII. And it appeared to be fairly uniform around the diocese, as I went to other parishes for confession on occasion. It wasn’t until when I moved far away, for college, that I ran into the common procedure of “now give me your Act of Contrition” in confession. Now, some 55 years later, I still run into priests on occasion who tell me that I need not say the act of contrition, and give me absolution – probably more often when there is a long line, but not solely then.
What I have read in canon law leads me to understand that the priest is supposed to form a judgment of the person’s contrition / repentance, and I suppose that the Act of Contrition supplies explicit evidence in favor of that. However, I am sure that a careful, detailed confession can also satisfy for that in many cases also, even if is more indirect or implicit. So, my question is simple: is the act of contrition (or a similarly explicit act / statement) a necessary part of confession?
Even if it is not, this says nothing about whether it is useful or prudent to have penitents say it, or whether it has been made the subject of local law, I suppose. I am always happy to say it in confession, as it always expresses my intention. I have run into a priest who objects to it on the grounds of “as if we, mere finite creatures, could possibly ‘offend God’! “, and I try to avoid such priests.
TonyO says: is the act of contrition (or a similarly explicit act / statement) a necessary part of confession?
Strictly speaking, no. What is strictly necessary are the matter (confession of sins) and form (words of absolution).
However, in rite as described in the pre-Conciliar Rituale Romanum, the priest is enjoined to deny or to postpone absolution of those who do not express signs of sorrow for sins or purpose of amendment. The classica “act of contrition” expresses these.
In the newer, post-Conciliar rite, we find:
There is a model, at this point in the rite, for an “act of contrition and a note that there are others in the appendix. There are always options in the Novus Ordo, after all. As far as “these or similar words” are concerned… sometimes when people try to make up their own act of contrition (because they were told that they shouldn’t memorize, it should come from the heart blah blah blah) what they produce is a train wreck. It’s better to memorize a good one and use it.
So, yes and no. STRICTLY an “act of contrition” is not NECESSARY for the sacrament to be administered. However, it is so bound up practically with the liturgical rite that is a sacramental confession that it is virtually obligatory for the sake of the priest being moral sure that the person is properly disposed and as well as for the penitent himself, who has to hear himself say those powerful words.
Thanks, Fr. Z, that is very helpful! As usual, you are very clear about it, giving both the basic minimum AND the why’s and wherefore’s that explain the details. So helpful.