www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall DID POPE JOHN PAUL ABROGATE THE SEAL OF CONFESSION?

I read on another board that pope John Paul had allowed for the seal of cenfession to be broken if a priest thinks the matter is serious. I cant tell you how scandalized I am if this is true. I think the sedevacantists have been right all along if this is true. That or christianity itself is all its enemies have always said.

Total B.S.

I thought so but I dont always catch all the news.

On the other hand, the Pope can do so. The so-called seal of confession is not a necessary part of confession, and it is a pastoral discipline to help people come to confession. It can change, as historically the process of confession has changed. Once it was REQUIRED to be public, not private. Now it is private. It can be public again if a Pope wants.

Henry,

Very good point. Very good.

Joe

Dear Friends,

In fact, historically, St Charles Borromeo ORDERED his priests to report anyone to the authorities who, in Confession, admitted to being a heretic.

I think the sedevacantists and others of that ilk accept St Charles Borromeo, do they not?

Alex

Dear Henry and Joe,

The Old Believers do, in fact, keep both the private and public aspects of confession in tact through the public rite of mutual confession that they practice three times daily - after the Hours, after Compline and after the Midnight Hour.

For those attending Communion, it is not enough to simply go to private confession - they must also attend to the triple Rite of Forgiveness.

It is practiced in our Church after the Midnight Hour alone.

Alex

Best answer.

There is a huge difference between could and would.

Paul

CHRIST IS RISEN!

As has been pointed out, it is theoretically possible for the Pope to alter the seal of Confession, since the seal is not an apostolic tradition and the canonical legislation has varied over the past two millennia.

HOWEVER the Pope is bound by the moral law, and moreover may never use the primacy to act "in destructionem ecclesiae". The very least that this means is that, since all Catholics are taught firmly that the seal of Confession is inviolable, the Pope could not alter it without giving universal and ample notice of the matter and most certainly cannot alter the seal retroactively - so as to authorize, let alone compel, the priest to reveal what you or I confessed yesterday.

Incognitus