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I regularly attend a Byzantine Catholic Church and want to receive the sacrament of confession here. I came across this from a Vatican document. What exactly does it mean?

"14. All Eastern Rite priests, either in conjunction with Baptism or separately from it, can confer this sacrament validly on all the faithful of any rite including the Latin; licitly, however, only if the regulations both of the common and the particular law are observed.(15)"

Should I be worried that the priest needs to know I am Latin Rite and somehow follow any sort of Latin regulation? I do not know what these terms mean? What would be the regulations of the common and particular law mean and how will I know they are being complied to?
Is there any reason to think I should keep receiving this sacrament in the Latin Rite until I formally change rites to avoid confusion. I am a someone who worries a little bit too much about details and I hope to go somewhere where I am positve tha things are being done correctly in important matters.
Also, does the priest assign penance on Eatern Rites or is this more of a Latin practice. I am assuming that if he does not it is still valid. Thanks.

Maybe I'll take a vow to stop responding to legalisms. But meanwhile, please note that every priest who has "faculties" to hear Confessions in a given place automatcally has faculties to hear Confessions in every Catholic Church in that place, unless a local bishop has specifically excluded him, by name and in writing. Vatican II settled that one.

Fr. Serge

hmm. I am sorry for my legalism. Wish I were not that way. I am just trying to learn the faith. I am not sure you answered my question as to what the statement meant though (maybe you do not want to, or your answer given suffices to answer my doubt). What would be observing regulations of the comon and particular law? and is an assigned penance part of Eastern Confession?

Here is an answer I was given elsewhere. perhaps that is all i needed to know.

"There are differences between the rites regarding practices. If you request the sacrament from an Eastern Rite priest in a Latin Rite church, he would have to have permission of the bishop, pastor, etc. That would not apply in his own parish, which is under the jurisdiction of his eparch.

A priest can't hear confession just anywhere. He needs to have "faculties" which means permission of the bishop of that jurisdiction. But if you're in his church and he's hearing confession, you can be certain he has faculties. This is one of those rules written for the priest, not the laity. As a Catholic, you can validly receive Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick from any Catholic priest at any time.

No worries. Even if he does it illicitly, it's his problem, not yours."

I would hope that the absolution given through an Eastern rite priest would be valid for a Roman rite Catholic.

Mother Mo Chroi I don't hear Confessions via cyberspace. And how some other priest somewhere does or does not hear Confessions is no business of mine.

I have stated the rule accurately, and you are welcome to verify it.

Penances? This may come as a shock to you - in fact I'm sure it will - but neither in East nor West is a priest required to give a Penance.

I suggest you ask yourself very carefully just what it is you want and why you want it.

Fr. Serge

So for priests opting not to give penance, which is entirely up to them, how would they validate the fact that penance has been long practiced and is good for us. Do they simply leave it up to the discretion of the individual and fasting of the liturgical year to help the penitent.

"how would they validate the fact that penance has been long practiced and is good for us."

I don't understand what you are asking, or even IF you are asking something. (You end the sentence with a period...so...)
What do you mean by validate?

Maybe it would be easiest simply to say "Father, I am a Latin, walk me through this..."

Little secret? There is no "exact form" to worry about.

"14. All Eastern Rite priests, either in conjunction with Baptism or separately from it, can confer this sacrament validly on all the faithful of any rite including the Latin; licitly, however, only if the regulations both of the common and the particular law are observed.(15)"

I am pretty certain this is addressing issues of "faculties" for the priest (that he has the right to hear confessions)not that there is a regulation to how you confess your sins.

you are correct. and I apologize for my not being thorough. My question is, what would be the reasoning for not haivng a penance since we see that penance is a longstanding practice (and used to be much more severe) and so many of the great Eastern saints did so much penancelike St. Mary of Egypt for example...so seing that this is a long practiced form of dealing with the spiritual life, why is it not practiced at times in conjunction with confession?
I am not troubled or being argumentative. I am just curious to learn more.
Also, do Eatern Christians tend to go to confession as often as is recommended by say Pope John Paul II which was around every 6 weeks. It seens I get a lot of different information from different sources.

Hi Searching East,
I'm canonically (is that a word?) Roman Catholic/ Latin rite, but have been parishoners at a Byzantine parish for over a year. I have to admit that I didn't think anything of receiving the sacraments in the East. I've been going to confession, on average every 3-4 weeks. I suppose the frequency of confession would be up to the individual & with the advice of his/ her spiritual director. Our pastor does give me a penance (usually some prayers to say like the Jesus prayer). Our pastor said he thought it odd that people would say "Bless me Father..." upon starting a confession in the Latin rite considering that the priest blesses you as you start your confession, so why ask for a blessing. So, there's no "Bless me Father for I have sinned" I just state the last time I made my confession and go forth from there. There are prayers to say before you make your confession, but I do not have them memorized yet. I have found going "face to face" or actually facing the icon of Christ and the prayers said by the priest in the Byzantine rite during confession to be very beautiful. I actually enjoy it more- although I feel just as wonderful after confession in either rite.

searching east:

What is your point here? Are you hoping to make a good confession--a reconciliation with Christ and His Church, His Mystical Body? Or are you more interested in the experience of a different outward form?

A Catholic priest is a Catholic priest is a Catholic priest no matter where he is or what liturgical form he uses or what sui juris Church he belongs to.

As far as your concern about faculties or places, I have had Catholic priests ask for a private room in which to hear confessions in the funeral homes I have worked in over the course of my career--often for those who somehow feel the need when faced with the death of their loved ones; often because death scares them and they suddenly realize they've been away for a long time. And no matter what sui juris Church is involved, everyone seems to have his confession heard without worrying if he is in the right Church or that the priest somehow can do what he offers to do. All that has had to take place, in my experience, is for a priest to ask me for a room, go there, and I announce that confessions will be heard for a line to form. And I've never known an Orthodox priest to refuse a person who asks in a similar situation, even if there is to be no Divine Liturgy--as in the Slavic tradition.

In Christ,

BOB

On the matter of giving or not giving a penance, I can only speak for myself and even then I can't say very much. Whether I do or don't give someone a penance has to do with my knowledge of the penitent, the content of the Confession, and other circumstances that I prefer not to describe.

Have you considered speaking with a priest whom you know and trust as to whether you are, perhaps, suffering from what are technically called "scruples"?

Fr. Serge

Father Bless--maybe you could give up answering legal questions for Lent? What do you think?

Tim

Well, thank you for thereplies. I think I have two parts of mysekf. The scrupulous and the normally functional. I am trying to learn the difference and how to find help, but I seem to get differing opinions rom differing sources, making it a difficult thing to get past, but I am learning more.
Still, I supose I wonder why people consider it scrupulous when I want to know what a rule really means, or want assurance I am doing things correctly. Our religion certianly has a lot of rules to it compared to what I am used to. So, I do agree that spiritually it is the heart of the matter that counts, and that I tend to worry about some things I do not need to, but I see nothing wrong with wanting to know what something means when I am confused, or seeking clarification.
But at the heart of the matter, to answer your question, the thing I care about mostly is making a good cinfession and trusting in God. The details are just something that I get stuck in sometimes, because I do not always know which ones are important and which ones are less important.
Brian

Dear Tim - sounds like an excellent idea. Better yet, I could give it up all year round.

Fr. Serge