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[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] Fr. Jan Kobylowicz: Living Martyr of the Confessional Seal The sacrament of Confession has been under attack in Australia since the conclusion of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in December of 2017. Several states have now passed legislation that requires Catholic priests to violate the confessional seal in cases where child sexual abuse is revealed in confession. The Queensland Labor government has announced its intention to table a similar bill in the coming weeks, making it the latest Australian state to openly attack the Catholic Church and her sacraments by use of the...

Dead Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and another man — who was killed by the FBI on Wednesday — murdered three people in Massachusetts after a drug deal went wrong in 2011, law enforcement sources tell NBC News. Sources say that what began as a drug ripoff ended in a triple homicide when Tsarnaev and friend Ibragim Todashev realized their victims would later be able to identify them. Todashev was killed by a federal agent while giving a statement on his role on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla. The man who was shot, Todashev, 27, allegedly attacked an agent with a...

Do leftists ever think through the implications of their bright lightbulb poppings?One of their latest stupidities, via Glen Reynolds of Instapundit (who has a fine curation), came a couple days ago from the Presbyterian side of things, with seminarians at New York's Union Theological Seminary offering up their 'confessions' to plants, an act than makes even less sense than trying to talk to a goat. According to the Washington Examiner, they tweeted: "Today in chapel, we confessed to plants," the nation's oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. "Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow...

Bishop's ColumnBrothers and Sisters in Christ, I am all in favor of laws that protect all our children from any form of abuse. The Catholic Church has been working hard to be a leader in Safe Environment training, vetting of clergy, employees and volunteers and reporting allegations to police authorities. However, a new law being proposed in the California State Senate is misguided and does nothing to support our efforts. It aims to strip confidentiality from the Sacrament of Confession. If passed, it would require priests to report certain sins they heard in confession to the police. This is a...

A new bill in California seeks to intrude on one of the most sacred relationships—that between clergy and penitent in formal confession. Currently, clergy members are already mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, but sins confessed specifically in confession are exempt under current law from mandatory reporting. Bill 360, introduced by Democrat state Sen. Jerry Hill, would “delete that exception for a penitential communication, thereby requiring clergy to make a mandated report even if they acquired the knowledge or reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect during a penitential communication.” This is an egregious overreach of secular authority, stepping...

De Mattei: Martyrs and Violators of the Confessional Seal Roberto de Mattei   Corrispondenza Romana December 29, 2018   The inviolability of the secrecy of the confessional is one of the pillars of Catholic morality. The new Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents' lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the "sacramental seal," because what the penitent has...

Join Freepers throughout the world to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. —1 John 5:14 Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us in prayer today for mercy and healing for our nation.

September 28, 2018 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico In 279 BC, the vast army of King Pyrrhus of Epirus was met by Roman forces at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy, in what would be one of the costliest military engagements of ancient history. Pyrrhus fancied himself the second coming of Alexander the Great and believed that he was a descendant of Achilles. Many of his peers and contemporaries believed Pyrrhus to be the greatest military commander of all time. His exploits were legendary. And when he set sail for Italy in 280 BC, the Romans did not underestimate him....

DUBLIN (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Irish priest was abruptly transferred from his parish, and some say he is being punished for upsetting people with a pro-life homily. Father James E. Larkin is a priest in the archdiocese of Dublin, headed by Abp. Diarmuid Martin. Formerly of the parish of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Clonskeagh, Larkin was unexpectedly reassigned last week to a chaplaincy with the Sisters of Loreto in Rathfarnham. Sources say that backlash against Fr. Larkin's pro-life advocacy is what led to the change in assignment. A local pro-life canvasser who wished to be called "Anne" told Church Militant in an email that Fr....

SYDNEY, Australia - Laws requiring Catholic priests to break the seal of confession in some cases passed the Australian Capital Territory’s Legislative Assembly in Canberra June 7.The purpose of the Ombudsman Amendment Bill 2018 was to expand the Reportable Conduct Scheme governing allegations of child abuse and misconduct to include religious organizations.The legislation passed without amendment. The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has nine months to negotiate with the government on how it will work before the start of reportable conduct requirements.Writing in The Canberra Times June 7, Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra and Goulburn said he supported the revised...

With Fear of God and Faith and Love Draw Near By Bishop THOMAS (Joseph), Peter Schweitzer, and Marshall Goodge These are the words proclaimed by the priest as he translates the holy Gifts from the altar table to the faithful. They are instructive for each us, for they both are a command and reveal the disposition with which we commune the holy Gifts. I will address the command first - “Draw Near.” Many holy fathers encourage frequent communion as it is the path to repentance, illumination, and deification par excellence. Saint John Chrysostom writes, I entreat you: a royal table...

Preparing for Judgment Msgr. Charles Pope • November 12, 2017 • This is the sixth in a series on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.In the past two articles we have recalled the reality of the judgment that is upon us when we die and we have surveyed the parables in which Jesus urgently warns us of it. In this post we consider something of a plan to prepare for judgment.You are going to die and you don’t get to say when. This should inspire a sober, urgent, and daily preparation for death and judgment. Yet...

Bless me, FatherMsgr. Charles Pope Question: In confession recently the priest told me I should not say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned”; instead I should say, “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.” Is he right?— Name, location withheld Answer: The opening of confession with the expression “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned” is a widespread custom in the United States and in some other regions. In different parts of the world, there are other expressions used to begin the confession.The insistence that you should say “Forgive me, Father” is puzzling and requires something of you that...

Confession of sins We are to name and number our mortal sins during confession, which has its roots in sacred Scripture Msgr. Charles Pope 9/27/2017 Question: As a child, I was taught to confess my sins individually by name and the number of times committed. Is this practice legally required? Some confessors say this amount of detail is unnecessary. Also, how did the confession ritual of the Church get established? There is no biblical record that I know of.— Glen Morton, Peoria, Illinois Answer: Confessing sins in kind (by name) and number is required only for mortal sins. For lesser (venial) sins...

A Humorous Call to Confession Msgr. Charles Pope • December 15, 2016 • Sometimes our pets teach us a lot about ourselves. The video below shows various dogs resisting the taking of a bath. Some hide; some go limp and become passive; others get feisty.I see here a similarity with Catholics when they hear that it is time for Confession. Advent is an important time to go to Confession because we are preparing for the birth of our Savior. He is called Jesus (a name that means “God saves”) because He will save us from our sins. It would...

Several years ago, when it was becoming increasingly common for adults to allege childhood sexual abuse long past based upon so-called repressed memories, one of the most esteemed pastors of a local diocese was accused of sexual abuse of a child while hearing his confession. The attorney representing the alleged victim did much grandstanding in the media in preparation for the trial, only to have the case thrown out of court when it was determined that the abuse alleged to have occurred decades ago would have been physically impossible, since confessionals physically isolated priest and penitent back then. The conventional...

Full Title: Accused Russian Hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin Claims The FBI Offered Him Cash, An Apartment, An U.S. Citizenship If He Confessed To Hacking Hillary's Emails On The Orders Of Donald Trump Accused Russian Hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin, a 29 year old Russian citizen currently held in the Czech Republic and wanted on extradition by both Russia and the United States in connection with separate hacking incidents, claims that the United Sates FBI visited him and offered him cash, an apartment, and U.S. citizenship if he confessed to hacking Hillary's emails on the orders of then candidate Donald Trump. (Note: When it...

Have been attending a Latin Rite parish for about four months now. The last time I went to confession the priest suggested I make an appointment to make a general confession because I admitted to feeling overwhelmed by all the sins of my past life since I had returned to the faith later in life and didn't feel like the priest at my previous, Novus Ordo parish took such matters seriously enough. All such suggestions will be much appreciated. I'm going through an unpleasant time but I know it's because taking my faith more seriously has served to show me...

“The Catechism in Six Parts: Confession” Tonight we come to the part of the Catechism that is probably the least known to us today, and that is Confession. The practice of Confession may be unfamiliar to you. Confession is unfamiliar to most Lutherans these days, even though it has been around for as long as the church has been around. It is a church practice that the church doesn’t practice much anymore. It is infrequently used. Tonight I want to dispel some myths and some fears about Confession, so that we’ll feel more comfortable about it and maybe put it...

Along with Friday fish-fries, the weekly Stations and giving up something (or doing something more), recent years have brought a new tradition of Lent: the Pope going into overdrive to plug his favorite sacrament. Yet even as The World's Most Coveted Pitchman again devoted the better part of a week this month (and amid the high exposure of his election anniversary, at that) to another round of all-Confession, all-the-time messaging – topped as usual by taking his own turn as a penitent during the season's annual penance service in St Peter's – in at least a hefty chunk of the trenches,...