Ireland: priests will refuse to break seal of confession if proposal becomes law

Posted on 19 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In Ireland

From CNA comes:

Irish priests will refuse to break seal of confession if proposal becomes law  [Really?]
By Katherine Veik

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 18, 2011 / 08:03 pm (CNA).- Catholic priests in Ireland are prepared to “strongly” resist a proposed law that would require them to disclose information learned in confession. [Strongly to resist = refuse to obey an unjust law.]

“More than any other issue, it is probably the one that will unite both the liberal and conservative wings of the Church,” said Father Tony Flannery, a priest with the Association of Catholic Priests, in a July 18 e-mail to CNA.  [If only that were true, then the persecution would be worth it.  It has been in the past.  Or am I wrong?]

“If even one exception was made to the seal of Confession, then the whole Sacrament would collapse,” he stated. “The truth of faith that this Sacrament is meant to convey is central to Christian teaching.”

The legislation, proposed by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, [I wonder if Enda is pro-abortion.] would put priests in jail for up to five years if they failed to tell authorities about sexual abuse crimes disclosed during confession.  [I am exercising heroic self-editing.]

Fr. Flannery said that the Association of Catholic Priests has not taken the proposed law very seriously, because it is simply not “workable.” [I hope his analysis is better than that which they have given to the new translation.]

“When a person confesses in the confessional box, the priest would not normally know who they are, or indeed be able to see them,” he explained. “So how is he to report them?”  [Two words: FIXED GRATE.]

It is also “unlikely” that a person involved in abuse would go to confession, Fr. Flannery pointed out. [I wonder….  but that is not the point.]

“In my forty years of priesthood, I don’t ever remember someone confessing that they were currently abusing someone,” he said.  [So. What? ]

He noted that the prime minister’s bill also fails to address implications for other professions, and things that are said in other privileged situations of confidentiality.

It also opens the door for other crimes becoming exceptions, requiring further breaches of the confessional seal.

“Why make this one the only crime to be reported?” Fr. Flannery wondered.

The priest contends the proposed law is a “total over-reaction” to the recently released Cloyne Report, a study that found the Diocese of Cloyne failed to report nine cases of sexual abuse between the years 1996 and 2005.  [Nooo.. the Cloyne Report was just the occasion.  The true intention is to intimidate the Church into silence on moral issues, such as abortion.]

Fr. Flannery predicted lawmakers would be “more calm and reasoned about all this” after a few months have passed.

But he made clear that “if this does come to law – which I do not expect – priests will resist it strongly.”

Too much Flannery, not enough reporting.

How about more reporting on this.

In the meantime, remember that this is not at this moment about sexual abuse of children.  Sexual abuse of children is merely the excuse.  The real agenda is to silence the Church’s moral teaching.

Good luck Ireland.

Unless you do what the Holy Father proposed in his letter, you are done for.

Posted in Clerical Sexual Abuse, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged , , ,
22 Comments

Great animated movies

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tonight I caught a few minutes of The Incredibles.  This is a fun movie.  This movie has it all, for adults of a certain age.  I’m a sucker for super-hero movies anyway going way back.  I had my own Superman cape when I was five.  And I used it, when I wasn’t killing fish or riding a horse.

I suspect that parents of young children would find movies such as The Incredibles more amusing than their children.  Isn’t that often the case with animated movies today?  The combination of “supers” being sued for saving people and their middle-age spread and parenting problems was unbeatable.

Whenever I see anything of this movie, I always think of my friend, the great Roman Fabrizio and his wife and kids.

Moreover, The Incredibles has one of the funniest characters in all these digital animated features.

Almost as funny as Skrat.

If only I had cool music like The Incredibles for PODCAzTs… I might do them again.

On the other hand, I think Toy Story is the saddest movie ever made.  Wall-E might have been third… right after Toy Story II.

So… a question leading to an eventual poll.

What are your favorite animated movies (sad or not)?

Make some suggestions and maybe I can put a poll together.

Parents… you know far more of these movies than I do.

Just a bonus… here is Edna Mode from The Incredibles on super hero capes.

The campy voice is, I understand, from the male director of the film.  As a male it gives you the creeps, but as Edna Mode it’s just right.

[wp_youtube]M68ndaZSKa8[/wp_youtube]

And can we forget one the best scenes?

[wp_youtube]x2qRDMHbXaM[/wp_youtube]

Did you see the Hai Karate?  Only men… and alas women (s0rry) of a certain age…

And for the trads…

[wp_youtube]OuxCIaczUa0[/wp_youtube]

UPDATE:

I just realized how seriously out of my depth I am.

I think readers better help me organize this list.

UPDATE:

One of the readers was kind enough to send a possible list for a poll.  She wrote:

Here are the animation polling results from the comments as of 8pm EST.  I tried to accurately record the number of mentions for each film and then tallied the highest number of mentions in comments for the following categories.

Poll Categories:

Full Length Animated Film

The Incredibles
Finding Nemo
Kung Fu Panda
The Lion King
Pinocchio
Tangled
Toy Story
Up
WALL-E

* The above films had at least 6 mentions in the comments.  If we expand to at least 5 mentions we would then also include:

Bambi
Dumbo
My Neighbor Totoro
Ratatouille
Spirited Away
Toy Story 3

** Expanding to include those with 4 mentions:

Beauty and the Beast
Bolt
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Despicable Me
Fantasia
Monsters, Inc.
Princess Mononoke
Shrek
Toy Story 2

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged
102 Comments

Happy Anniversary, Magnum Incendium Romae!

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 64.

I’m just sayin’…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
5 Comments

QUAERITUR: Deacons receiving Communion more than twice a day – Fr. Z rants

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a transitional deacon:

Is it lawful for a deacon to communicate more than twice on a Sunday, or any other day, for that matter?

I am currently a transitional deacon, and I am unsure if deacons can receive more than twice on a Sunday (given the canon that allows for a person to receive no more than twice per day). I know that a priest must receive the Eucharist at each Mass he celebrates or concelebrates, but I do not believe it is necessary for a deacon to do so, but I also wouldn’t want to cause scandal to the people if I do not receive when I am assisting at Mass. Any help that you can provide me would be greatly appreciated.

You identified the proper point after you asked your question.

The celebrating priest – no one else – is the only one who must consume the Eucharist during the Mass.  If he says Mass, for one reason or another, more than twice in a day, he still may receive Communion more then twice be he must receive more than twice.

A deacon is not a celebrating priest.  The CIC 1983 can. 917 applies to deacons as to every other member of the Latin Church.

Deacons are not obliged to receive Communion at any Mass, by the way, any more than any other member of the faithful is obliged to receive.  If the deacon is not in the state of grace then he had better not receive.  Consider: 1 Cor 11:29.  In the Extraordinary Form it is often assumed that the man who has the deacon and subdeacon role do not receive, or at least it is no surprise when they don’t.  Often the deacon or subdeacon is a priest who has already said Mass, or the deacon and subdeacon have already been to Mass and received earlier.  Under the 1983 Code they could receive again, iterum, of course, as its pleases them to receive.

The point is: if you are not the priest, don’t assume that you are obliged to receive just because you are at Mass. And that goes for everyone in the pews, too.

NB: If during the deacon’s third Mass on a Sunday he falls down in a heap from a severe case of the marthambles and is in danger of death, he may in that instance receive the Eucharist as Viaticum as part of Last Rites.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , , , ,
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QUAERITUR: Confirmed or ordained but not in the state of grace – Fr. Z rants

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

My question is regarding confirmation. Do those who receive the sacrament have to be in a state of grace in order for it to take? (the answer, I assume, is yes). I ask this because I am not sure I was when I was confirmed. I happen to have a terrible memory and can remember wanting to go to confession before the mass and not being able to do so. However, I have reason to doubt that said memory is accurate.

Should I be worried? Is there anyway to get a provisional confirmation like there are provisional baptisms for those who convert from other Christian denominations? Does one have to be confirmed in order to receive holy orders?

Should someone with these questions even consider holy orders?

Quickly, three sacraments confer on the recipient an “indelible mark” which they never lose forever and forever and forever, in hell or in heaven: baptism, confirmation, Holy Orders.   Baptism forgives all sins, Original and actual, so you obviously are not in the state of grace when you receive it.

If you are confirmed or ordained and you are not in the state of grace, you are nevertheless confirmed or ordained.  The sacrament has really been conferred.  You are thereafter a confirmed person or ordained man.  However, you may not have the advantages of the graces from that sacrament until you are in the state of grace.  The same goes for marriage.  Two people can be married validly even if they are aware of un-confessed mortal sins.  If they are baptized members of the Church who are free to marry, they have the right understanding and intentions, and the proper form is used before a duly appointed minister of the Church, etc. etc., they are truly marriage even though they may be wicked she might be a wicked ne’er-do-well and he a blaggarding rapscallion.

It is as if the sacrament is dormant in a person until she returns to the state of grace, when it wakes up and starts to function again.

In the meantime, if a priest says Mass, the Mass is valid.  If he forgives sins, the absolution would be valid if he has faculties, etc.

To be ordained the ordinand must be male and baptized.  If the man is baptized but not confirmed the ordination would be valid but, according to the way things are done now, illicit.

And, yes, a man who has these questions can still consider seminary.  If you hadn’t been taught these things before, you are inquiring now.  You may have a lot to learn or relearn through no fault of your own.  Get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for a start and begin reading.  That is a first good resource.  Man thinking about priesthood have to start somewhere and we all have different paths.

But I promised a rant, and here it is.

When an engine has a bad spark plug, it doesn’t work as well as it should.  If you are not in the state of grace, you are not operating as well as you should.

When you are not in the state of grace you are, to one degree or another, a drag on the whole Church.

We need you to clean up and fulfill your vocation because we are all in this together.

Mortal sin – bad spark plug.

If a ship at sea in a storm has crewmen who won’t report or can’t do their jobs properly because of scurvy, when a mast goes by the board, that ship is in peril.

Mortal sin – spiritual mutiny and scurvy.

So… you confirmed people out there.  Examine your consciences carefully and, for the love of God GO TO CONFESSION and confess EVERYTHING in both kind and number.

You married people out there.  Examine your consciences carefully and, for the love of God GO TO CONFESSION and confess EVERYTHING in both kind and number.

You priests and deacons out there.  Examine your consciences carefully and, for the love of God GO TO CONFESSION and confess EVERYTHING in both kind and number.

Simply baptized? …. need I repeat myself?

It’s all hands on deck these days, friends.

Thus endeth the rant.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , ,
9 Comments

QUAERITUR: Can I make the Act of Contrition in Latin?

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader, edited:

Would it be acceptable, when in the confessional, to recite the Act of Contrition in Latin?

Over the past several years I have become proficient in a fair number of Latin prayers, including those of the Rosary, simply because I feel more reverent using that language for praying. However, those are personal prayers used in private with no one else hearing them. The Act of Contrition, in contrast, would of course be heard by the priest. So my concern is that it could be perceived as (or perhaps actually would be a sinful act of vanity and pride although that would certainly not be my intention.

I’m sure your first answer will be the obvious one: ask the priest before saying the prayer. I plan to do so but only if you think the question is even worth asking. If not, I will stick to the common English version….

My first response has nothing to do with the sensibilities of the priest.  In my opinion, the confessor – the priest – can just sit there and listen to which ever act of contrition you desire to say, so long as you make it clear to him that you

a) are sorry for your sins
b) you intend not to sin again
c) will amend your life.

Ask yourself: Is that more easily communicated to the priest in Latin or in English?

Is is “acceptable” to say the act of contrition in Latin?  Of course it is.  Latin Church Catholics can use the language of the Church for the celebration of their sacraments.

But there are some considerations.

While the form spoken by the priest has a stronger impact on the validity of the absolution, your act of contrition also plays its role.

The confessional is like a tribunal,  a court room, in which you are simultaneously the accused and the prosecutor.  You present your case and then you beg for mercy from the just judge who also willingly and with love gives mercy and forgiveness and then heaps upon you additional graces besides.  There is a formal dimension to making a confession, and the sacrament as certain elements to be preserved.  Those elements include the penitent making it clear, one way or another mind you – there doesn’t have to be rigid uniformity in this – that there is sorrow for sin and firm purpose of amendment.  If the priest doesn’t have that sense from you, he must not give you absolution.

Since we are in an age in which many priests don’t have a clue what you would be saying were you to say the act of contrition in Latin, you might want to use English, just so that there is no doubt left as to what you are saying.

That said, I have absolved many a penitent who spoke the act of contrition in some African language or Asian language I cannot understand.  But I am used to dealing with all sorts of languages and tend not to freak out.  Also, I have found that Catholics from third world countries tend to make very sound and complete confessions according to the traditional style.  They do a far better job than many of Catholics from more privileged places, as a matter of fact.  Therefore, even when the act of contrition is, for example, spoken in Kinyambo, I have already arrived at the conclusion that the penitent is squared away.

But I digress.

Sure.. Go ahead and use Latin if you want, but check your motives and think about the confessor when you do.

Sure.  Go ahead and ask the priest if he minds.  I wouldn’t… but I deal with Latin all the time.

FWIW… I use English when the confessor is an English speaker.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged , , , , ,
13 Comments

QUAERITUR: Validity of baptism when water touches only the hair – Fr Z rants

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a deacon:

I was wondering how safe it is to assume that water flowing over the hair along with the correct words constitutes a valid baptism. I ask because there were just 12 babies baptized in my parish and some of them didn’t get it on the forehead (some kind of just on the crown of the head). I assume they are valid because babies don’t have that much hair anyway!

I wrote on this issue here.

To recap and address the immediate question, in baptism conferred in the rites of the Latin Church water must touch some part of the the head, even if it runs only on the hair.

If it runs on the hair of the head, the baptism is valid.

That said: Perhaps bishops would do well to quiz priests about how to baptize.  Some might find this insulting, but I have heard some pretty crazy things.  It may be that men trained – this includes permanent deacons, by the way – in certain places in certain years cannot be assumed to know how to baptize properly.

I mean … how hard is it, guys, to do it right?  To do it in such a way that there can be no doubt in the minds of those watching that it was valid?  How hard is it?

For all love, if priests and deacons can’t do these basic things right, say the black and do the red, they should be sent to some… I dunno… remedial summer camp.

No air-conditioning or screens on the windows until they can demonstrate that they know the words and actions.

Puir Slow-Witted Gowks!

Slubberdegullions!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Puir Slow-Witted Gowk, Slubberdegullions, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , , ,
20 Comments

Soap Sisters Summer Sale

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Perhaps you will remember the Soap Sisters about whom I have written a few times.   The fine Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ, produce Seignadou Soap to help keep life and limb together.

As this hot and humid summer goes on, keep stocked up on Mystic Monk Coffee and Tea and also on Seignadou Soap from the Soap Sisters!

They have a summer sale going on right now… and that’s why I am posting this.

Posted in The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , ,
3 Comments

Kindling your interest in a new way to devour books

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I like listening to audio books.  They allow me to do other chore-like things which don’t in themselves require intense concentration.  They are great for long road-trips in a car or on an airplane.

I have also enjoyed – for more than I thought I would – my Kindle.   They are especially good for books which you might not need long-term on your shelf.

But did you know that you can listen to books by using your Kindle?

Yes, we have talked here before about Kindles, but I found something new that they can do.

A priest friend in the Archdiocese of Detroit clued me in to the “text to speech” function I hadn’t known about.  Once I found it and tried it I have used it to great effect.  You find the option in the text size menu.

I plug it into my book shelf stereo system through which I also made a poor man’s sound-system for my TV and to which I also hooked up an old laptop for when I want to stream the audio of radio programs.  I have also plugged it into my car’s speakers through one of those old cassette thingies (I have a rather old car).

Mind you, the “text to speech” reading is mechanical.  It is not as smooth as a real person, but you can switch between a male or female reader.  The pace is mechanical: it keeps moving at exactly the same clip depending on the speed you chose.  The pronunciation of some words can be distorted and some faux-words wind up being spelled out, which can be amusing.  All in all, however, it isn’t bad at all once you get used to it and vastly-better-read real audio books can be expensive if you don’t get them from the library.

Not all books via Kindle have the “text to speech” function, but many that I have seen do.  I just finished this morning listening to my second book this way.  Alas, there is no text to speech for the new Laura Ingraham and EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo book, which I will constrain myself to read.  No review copy for me… which was a serious oversight on their part.  But I digress.

Current topics books are evanescent.  They are great candidates for Kindle, because they aren’t lying around afterward.   One of these days I will have an enormous Nuremberg-rally-style bonfire for volumes not even the most desperate used-bookstore would take.  Perhaps I will include the lame-duck Sacramentary.  I may invite all the priests I know to pitch in and then have a BBQ.  But I digress again.

Back to listening to books on your Kindle.

The Kindle is not as small, of course, as an mp3 player, but your mp3 player won’t do what Kindles do.

A few points in favor of the Kindle.

  • the battery life is amazing
  • you can synch it between several devices, including your phone and laptop/desktop
  • you can use wi-fi or 3G
  • they can store a large number of books
  • Kindle editions are cheaper, and they don’t gather dust
    many classics are free
  • You can make notes and highlight, though that is easier on an iPad app or computer version
  • You can subscribe to newspapers and blogs, though they can be a little clunky
  • they are very light, which means you can simultaneously hold your WDTPRS coffee mug filled with you-know-what

A few points against the Kindle.

  • It isn’t really a book, is it!
  • No electricity, no workie
  • You can’t read it in the dark, as you can the laptop or iPad version
  • There is no easy print function
  • Not all books have text to speech.

In any event,  I am having a great time with my Kindle.

Right now they have one for US $139 which has wi-fi, 3G which works anywhere in the world, though it has sponsored screensavers, which you never look at anyway.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool | Tagged , ,
25 Comments

The next Archbishop of Philadelphia, gossip, and my proposals to readers

Posted on 18 July 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

We may read soon about a nomination of a new Archbishop of Philadelphia.  Philadelphia has long brought elevation to the cardinalate.  So once did St. Louis and Detroit.  Conditions change.

The main candidate I have heard about for Philadelphia is Archbp. Chaput of Denver, but until the actual announcement is made, speculating might be fun but it is effectively empty.

People had been saying that, before TSHTF in Philadelphia, perhaps Card. Rigali might be able to take over the post that the ailing Card. Foley had, thus re-moving Card. Rigali to Rome.  But that would be Card. Law 2.0 and, therefore, a p.r. disaster, no?

PROPOSAL 1: May I recommend that you stop, now, and say a prayer to the guardian angels of those who must make this decision?

The priests and people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia must really be anxious these days and the appointment there mustn’t be reduced to the nattering of teens on the telephone.

Include the Holy Father in your prayers, for this appointment must perforce have his direct involvement.

Whether the appointment comes swiftly, as I suspect, or slowly, which is possible, your prayers will not be in vain.  I think they would be appreciated by our brethren in Philadelphia and also in the Congregation of Bishops.

These are difficult times.  The devil is abroad and has great wrath.  The appointment of bishops is always very important and difficult.  The bigger the see, the more important the choice, as we have seen to our great consternation.

PROPOSAL 2: If your diocese is presently “sede vacante“, for each minute of gossip – which will go on anyway – spend 10 in prayer.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged
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