On confession?

Question

i know a priest is sworn to secrecy but how far does that go..i mean like you can tell him anything and he wont tell anyone else? How far doest this oath go?

Answer 1

Remember that your priest is only human. You will never be able to trust a priest like you can trust Jesus. Of course, that's probably why it doesn't say anywhere in the bible that you should confess to a priest.

Confess your sins to Jesus directly, repent (stop doing it) and be forgiven. You don't need a priest for that, but you should be going to church for support and encouragement.

Answer 2

Before Jesus was crucified there was a veil that separated the most holy place from the holy of hollies. It was then that people had to confess to the priest and the priest had to give a guilt offering for them for forgiveness of their sin. When Jesus died on the cross the veil that separated the holy of hollies from the most holy place was torn in half. now we can go to the holy of hollies with out the aid of another. No need for someone else to take you confessions, all you have to do is lay them at the feet of God. But is answer to your question, they are supposed to be completely confidential, matter of fact, the reason why they are in a separate little booth is so that they shouldn't even know who you are.

Answer 3

The only one a person should confess to is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not another man. Lord Jesus is the Priest of priests, so He won't be predisposed to say anything to anyone about your confession, however men?

Men will not hold anything sacred if indeed their lives are threatened by others. However that's the general rule, some have in the past sacrificed their lives in keeping a confession a secret, but they are few and far apart in the real world.

In summery, I personally wouldn't trust any man with something that might get you or someone you loved or cared for killed or tortured in my own personal opinion, except Jesus Christ Himself. I guess you can say it depends on your own personal convictions about whom you trust, Jesus Christ or another man.

Answer 4

Priests have been killed because they refused to violate the seal of Confession.

A priest cannot repeat anything told him as part of a confession.

The Code of Canon Law states: The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.

Violation of the seal of confession results in immediate excommunication of the priest.

Priests may discuss things in general terms. One priest said that hearing the confessions of second graders is like getting bombarded with cotton balls.

For more information, see the Code of Canon Law: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3G.HTM

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

No one on earth can force a priest to reveal what he hears in confession.

If he did, he would no longer be able to continue in the priesthood.

Under Catholic Canon Law, neither the priest NOR any Catholic who might accidentally overhear any of the details is at liberty to share them with anyone else.

And since one is also typically able to confess their sins anonymously, and in secret, there should be no reason for concern.

Answer 6

The priest should forget all things and is bound to never repeat any of it.

Unlike the previous poster said, YOU can talk about what was discussed in your confession, if you want to.

I forget which saint it was - perhaps Saint Faustina.... was discussing her visions with a priest confessor who was a bit skeptical. In order to determine whether her visions were truly from God, rather than an overactive imagination or from the Devil, he asked her to ask Jesus what he confessed in his last confession.

She came back with 'Jesus said He forgot', which is how it should be.

Answer 7

Yes, anything you tell a priest during the sacrament of confession is held in strictest secrecy. He is not even allowed to say, "A person came to me and confessed...."

A priest cannot be made to reveal what was said during confession in a court of law.

Mel, Jesus gaves His disciples the power and authority to forgive and retain sins. In order to do this, they have to hear confessions.

I think I will get my sins forgiven the way Jesus intended

Answer 8

Although brought up a Catholic, I no longer confess my sins to a priest who is human. I deal directly with the Lord.

Answer 9

Hmm... I'm actually reading the question here and um, it isn't about whether confession to a priest is valid, guys. You want to talk about that, ask another question. (It DOES have biblical support, IMHO, but again, it's NOT the question here.)

There is a saint who was killed for refusing to break the seal of confession: St. John Nepomucene. He was confessor to the queen of Bohemia in the 14th c., and he was murdered by order of King Wenceslas IV for refusing to reveal what the queen had told him in confession. For this refusal, he was drowned in the Moldau River in 1393. [1],[2]

This is how sacred the "seal of confession" is. "Regarding the sins revealed to him in sacramental confession, the priest is bound to inviolable secrecy. From this obligation he cannot be excused either to save his own life or good name, to save the life of another, to further the ends of human justice, or to avert any public calamity. No law can compel him to divulge the sins confessed to him, or any oath which he takes -- e.g., as a witness in court. He cannot reveal them either directly -- i.e., by repeating them in so many words -- or indirectly -- i.e., by any sign or action, or by giving information based on what he knows through confession. The only possible release from the obligation of secrecy is the permission to speak of the sins given freely and formally by the penitent himself. Without such permission, the violation of the seal of confession would not only be a grievous sin, but also a sacrilege." [3] This also extends other people associated with the confession, if necessary: "The same obligation...rests upon all those who in one way or another acquire a knowledge of what is said in confession, e.g., an interpreter who translates for the priest the words of the penitent, a person who either accidentally or intentionally overhears the confession, an ecclesiastical superior (e.g., a bishop) to whom the confessor applies for authorization to absolve the penitent from a reserved case." [3]
Unless you GIVE the priest the right to tell others what you told him in confession, he MUST take it to his grave. A priest who gives away anything of a confession " by word or by sign or in any other way whatsoever" without permission of the penitent is to be "deposed from the priestly office" and "shall moreover be subjected to close confinement in a monastery and the performance of perpetual penance" [3], according to the decrees of the 4th Latern Council. Pretty severe punishment!

Please note, however, that this secrecy extends only to that which is told under the sacrament, not to other things: "These prohibitions, as well as the general obligation of secrecy, apply only to what the confessor learns through confession made as part of the sacrament. He is not bound by the seal as regards what may be told him by a person who, he is sure, has no intention of making a sacramental confession but merely speaks to him 'in confidence'; prudence, however, may impose silence concerning what he learns in this way. Nor does the obligation of the seal prevent the confessor from speaking of things which he has learned outside confession, though the same things have also been told him in confession; here again, however, other reasons may oblige him to observe secrecy." [3]

Bekka

Answer 10

Confessing to a priest is between you, the priest and God thats all