HORRIFYING: Cathedral priests reject for confession anyone not-registered, verified by their documented GIVING in the last year!!

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something comes along to shock me even more. I am blessed to live near a group of priests who have been hearing confessions all through the covid craziness. They don’t ask how much money you have given, and they’d get up at 1:00 am if someone came by needing to go to confession.

When I see something like this (or innovation hinted at from Germany or obfuscation from Rome or, for that matter, any marxist metastasis in our culture), it’s easy to go from indignation to anger to a desire to confront and blow up the source. It’s harder to remind myself to fall in line with my patron St. Martha, not get upset and anxious about it, and remember to choose the better part—in this case living in hard-identity Catholicism, reminding myself that I’m one little chip in the mosaic, and offering prayers and reparations. Just that. God save us all.

Father

Cash for confession?! Pay to play penitent?!
This attitude is indignant and malevolent.

What about the Church being a “field hospital”?
I have always thought a priest should be prepared to hear confession any time any place?

The name of this cathedral, whose pastor is technically the bishop, should be published on every Catholic web site with the hope that all members of his diocese immediately cease their contributions until this scandal is addressed. We have come to understand that many bishops care less about the salvation or souls than they do about keeping the purse full. This may be the only way to get his attention so that he corrects this horror and disciplines those at fault.

This was an email received by the person. How did the parish get the person’s email address if not a registered parishioner? My guess is that because of covid they are requiring people schedule confession time via email first. Then once they get the email request they check their records first to see if the person belongs to the parish. If this is the case, in addition to all the horrible stuff the original letter implies, there is the added problem that the person’s anonymity is no longer insured either. At that point they would have name, adress, and time when the person confesses thus being able to connection things in confession back to a specific person.

This is bad and wrong in so many ways. Not least it discriminates against those on low or irregular incomes, who may give in cash (undocumented) because they are not in a position to sign up for a regular financial commitment; they give what they can, when they can. See the “widow’s mite”…

Or those who prefer to give quietly and anonymously: “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”.

Or those who can’t volunteer because of ill health or disability; our Lord healed the sick and infirm without demanding to know what they had done to “earn” his mercy.

Or those who want to come back to the Faith after having gone astray for many years; see the prodigal son, the vineyard workers at the eleventh hour, and many more examples from the Gospels. I am appalled to think what kind of “welcome” such people would receive at the moment; at some churches now you encounter only masked faces and harsh words, and the door closed in your face if you arrive a few minutes or didn’t know you had to book in advance. I thank God every day that when I was in that situation a few years back, there was an open door and a good priest willing to hear my confession and help me amend my life.

At our parish, you have to sign a form before you enter the church for confession, and then you have to do face to face confession, even though we have a spacious confession room with a large fabric screen between you and the priest.

I have never been comfortable with face to face confession. I am very active in the parish and it feels like a violation of my privacy not have access to anonymous confession.

To say nothing of the issue of taking down the names of those who have attended confession (and Mass)! This is done so that you can be reported to the State if someone gets Covid. This is silly beyond belief, because there is no way to know if someone actually contracted the virus while at a one hour Mass (or confession).

The Church has willingly become an agent of the State, and I don’t think the Bishops realize what damage they have done. Why should I attend a State-run church?

So, in other words, if you have been away from the Church for 25 years and wanted to come back, too bad, so sad, you’re not registered. You can come back to the Church after COVID is over. Hope you don’t get COVID in the meantime!

And oh, you are too poor to give to offertory or too sick to volunteer? Too bad, you should’ve thought about that before committing a mortal sin!

The logic behind this is astoundingly bad.