“It pains us to see Catholics fostering division among the body of Christ by calling into question the faithfulness of others who vote differently. We are all responsible for our moral choices, including voting, and we must do so in accordance with a well-formed conscience.”
Administering the sacrament of reconciliation via cellphone is impermissible under church teaching, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship.
In places particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and with severe limits on people leaving their homes, conditions may exist to grant general absolution to the faithful without them personally confessing their sins first, the Vatican said.
At the start of Lent, a Benedictine monk, pastor, and parish director of religious education weigh in on the question.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s reconversion back to his Catholic faith started with the sacrament of reconciliation.
Sin always breaks our personal communion with God. Healing this rupture requires reconciliation with both God and Christ’s body, the Church.
Frank Meuers, the southwest Minnesota director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is one of more than a dozen clergy sexual abuse survivors who talks regularly with Tim O’Malley of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Priests must be mindful that the confessional is a place where people can find forgiveness and mercy, not threats and condemnation, Pope Francis said.
