Bishop Toal’s Confused Lenten “Message to the Faithful”, Wrongly Promoting General Absolution
From the website of the Diocese of Motherwell…
Letter to the Faithful from Bishop Toal (with some additional commentary from Editor, Catholic Truth)…
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I wish you all well. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes in recent times while I have been recuperating from hip surgery. I am feeling the benefit of the operation and I trust I will now be more mobile.
Editor: Good. Now all we need is for you to become more Catholic.
Lent approaches, and I wish to offer my encouragement that we observe this Holy Season well through the traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and thus prepare fully for the celebration of the mysteries of Our Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection in Holy Week and at Easter.
Editor: Excellent.
We begin Lent by accepting the blessed ashes on our foreheads as we hear the words Repent and believe in the Gospel.
Editor: Or, you might want to go down the traditional road and remind us that “Remember, man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.”
The call to repent is very direct and asks for a response. It requires a recognition that something is not right, sin has been committed, and that it is now time to change, to be sorry for what has happened and to be determined that it does not happen again. The Word of the Lord we hear on Ash Wednesday and through Lent tell us that listening to and believing in the Gospel will help bring about the change in our lives implied by repentance. There is a sense though that this does not happen easily or quickly, but requires a concerted effort and determination to keep going. Thus we have the six weeks of Lent through which the call to repentance is repeated and we are instructed to continually turn to God, listening to his Word and seeking his help in our weakness and our tendency not to persevere. Lent is then a time of spiritual struggle, sometimes called combat, in which we entrust our lives to God and ask his mercy and grace as we seek to truly repent, turn away from sin, and live stronger, better, lives as believers and faithful followers of Christ, the Saviour who gave up his life for us and asks us to follow in his footsteps.
Editor: That was a bit like reading the blurb at the local estate agents’ office, exhorting us to buy and sell our homes without mentioning what specific reasons there might be for moving house… a fresh start – bigger homes, better areas with more shops, better transport links, blah blah. Improve your life with all these practical helps! Bishop Toal has written an entire paragraph about sin, without naming any particular sin(s) or giving us any idea of how avoiding said unnamed sins would improve our lives in a practical manner. Quite an achievement.
An important moment in our Lenten discipline is the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, through which we confess our sins, expressing our awareness of personal failings and our need for repentance, promising to leave sin behind, and receiving the Lord’s forgiveness in the words of Absolution. It is indeed a decisive moment in our lives when we come to the Sacrament, full of repentance, and there experience the welcome the Lord offers the sinner and the mercy he bestows on us when we seek his forgiveness. There is something deeply personal and reassuring in receiving the Lord’s forgiveness having made what we call a good confession. I exhort and encourage you to make sure this is an important part of your Lent.
Editor: Well said. Although I’m not a fan of this “Sacrament of Reconciliation” – “Confession” explains it best, it seems to my simple mind. Say nothing.
When the fear and disruption that Covid brought was at its height, I thought it pastorally good to offer people the possibility of receiving the great comfort of the Lord’s forgiveness through the words of Absolution in a communal manner. In this extraordinary time, during which faith has been challenged and people have needed encouragement to come back to its regular practice, I did feel it right to offer the faithful this opportunity of celebrating the Sacrament with General Absolution. I am aware, though, that it is not the norm and it cannot replace individual confession and Absolution.
Editor: That should never have happened during the Covid debacle. I hope the Bishop has now caught up with the recent admissions by the then Secretary of State for Health Matthew Hancock, that his chief aim was to “scare the pants” off us all; it is to their eternal shame that the Scottish Bishops aided and abetted him in this demonic plan. As for continuing to offer General Absolution (GA) – disgraceful. At a time of widespread loss of divine and Catholic Faith the bishops should be doing everything in their power to exhort the faithful to make good confessions – in the traditional way. As he admits himself, there is never any occasion when GA may replace individual confession so what on earth is the bleeding point? Novelty, that’s what. And Pope Saint Pius X said “Far, far from our priests be the love of novelty.”
During this Lent therefore I encourage you to make an individual confession and thus receive Absolution for your sins. I am aware the recent services with General Absolution were well attended in a number of parishes and much appreciated spiritually by those who participated. I would recommend that Communal Services of Reconciliation continue to be celebrated, with individual confession offered when possible. Recent experience has brought the communal aspect of the Sacrament to the fore, and I think we need to continue to discern how and when that can be celebrated. I wish to reflect further on it, listen to others, both locally and across the Church, and pray for wisdom in following the Church’s teaching and guiding its celebration in such a necessary sacrament here in Motherwell Diocese.
Editor: This is a clear-cut departure from the mind of the Church on Confession, and such manifestly unnecessary use of GA is an abuse of the Sacrament of Penance.
I wish I could say that I’m surprised at this scandalous belittling of the Sacrament in the Diocese of Motherwell, but I’m not. I hope, sincerely, that the Bishop means it when he says he will reflect further on this, and listen to others across the Church. We’re here, Bishop Toal, listen to us! If you are not about to discipline those priests who have used and abused General Absolution recently in their parishes, then at least make clear that this is The End. Priests must exhort the faithful to properly seek absolution in individual confession, in keeping with the mind of the Church, that is, with the mind of Christ – or risk losing their souls for all eternity. The “reminders” of the need for individual confession at these services will soon be dropped, as the desire to eliminate the Confessional altogether grows in the Godless hearts promoting this scandal. This is evil in our midst. More modernist madness. Please put an end to it, Bishop Toal – and any other bishops who are permitting this particular sacramental abuse. Your thoughts…
Wishing you a fruitful and blessed Lent,
Yours in Christ,
+ Joseph Toal
Comments (36)
I cannot believe General Absolution is still being used. I remember if being done in my home parish in the 1990s and then finding out it was an abuse. I was a teenager at the time and I was horrified.
Bishop Toal is about as Catholic as the Dalai Lama (he could be doing with practising some of the Dalai Lama’s austerity and perhaps he wouldn’t have needed his hip replacement). It just goes to show how out of date, out of touch and out of control he is.
Petrus
Your allusion to Bishop Toal’s body weight is a pertinent one. I have been struck by how many fat prelates there are in our time, men who seem to value more the feeding of their bellies than the feeding of souls with the milk of true doctrine. I am aware, of course, that in some cases the problem is medical rather than spiritual, but there are way too many clerical bowling balls with feet in our time to ignore. Every priest and prelate should be an example to the faithful by not being gluttons!
Athanasius,
To be fair, I do think there are some people who can’t help being overweight, and it’s not medical or over-eating. Some people’s build or whatever, can make them fat, so I wouldn’t assume it’s gluttony. In Bishop Toal’s case, I think he’s had various illnesses over time, so who knows why he is the way he is.
Lily
Yes, I think there are are excpetions to the general rule. However, there are far too many fat folk these days in comparison with the past and the only conclusion must be that the chip pan is never off.
I’m with you on this one Athanasius. I think it’s particularly unseemly for priests and religious to be overweight as they should be setting an example – and in my experience, it is overeating/drinking and not medical issues that is generally the cause of the problem. I know from my own experience. I’ve always struggled with my weight, but I know when I eat less and exercise more, I can keep to a reasonable weight. It’s not rocket science and it is achievable. Look at Cardinal Roche since he’s been at Rome – he’s almost trebled in size, and very rubicund in the face. Too much vino and pasta methinks. I also used to work for a novus ordo religious order and the majority of them were grossly overweight – in a couple of cases morbidly obese, and I know for a fact this was due to overeating. But it’s not just carrying a few extra pounds that’s the problem. It tells of a more dangerous underlying spiritual problem – i.e. inability to exercise self-control, which can be very dangerous.
I am overweight and quite heavy too, I am in no position to critise Bishop Toal.
Chris,
As someone who has one eye on the scales most of the time, with membership of Scottish Slimmers on my CV, I understand your sentiments, but I’m disappointed that you – by your silence on the subject – appear to support Bishop Toal in his defiant use of General Absolution when it is patently unnecessary, and very much against the mind of the Church/the mind of Christ.
Maybe you could clarify that for us?
Chris,
I am fat. I make no excuses. Yes, some of it is due to medical and mobility issues, but most of it is my own sinfulness. Yes, sinfulness. Gluttony and sloth. Two of the deadly sins. Doesn’t scripture say somewhere “their god is their belly”? There IS a link between sinfulness and obesity.
I wonder how many Catholics in a state of mortal sin felt sufficiently absolved of their sins by this “general absolution” nonsense to receive the Blessed Sacrament. How many sacrileges is Bishop Toal and his ilk responsible for by this spreading of confusion over what constitutes the Sacrament of Confession and true absolution?
These same prelates who spread confusion with Confession are the same who spread confusion over the Church’s proper norms for receiving holy communion. Do Catholics know that receiving communion in the hand is an Indult and that the normal practice of the Church remains to kneel and receive on the tongue? No, they don’t, because the prelates of the Church have deliberately obscured that truth. This evil abuse of the most Blessed Sacrament has resulted in millions of particles of the sacred host falling to the ground and being trampled underfoot, each particle the full body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord. It has also resulted in great loss of belief in the Real Presence and untold irreverence. Now they push the “general absolution” con with a view to undermining the absolute necessity of personal Confesion before the priest for the forgiveness of mortal sin
These prelates know exactly what they’re doing – they have lost the faith themselves and now they set about destroying it in the souls entrusted to their care. If these Modernist novelties represent the new pastoral approach of Vatican II, then I think it not an exaggeration to declare that it’s a Luciferian pastorality. Anything which diminishes the faith, especially Sacramental faith, indisputably originates with the devil himself. What really gets me is how these attacks on the sacred are always disguised behind pious platitudes and feigned concern. It’s the hallmark of post-Vatican II Catholicism, whose disciples are intent on turning a divine institution into a human(ist) Church.
As for the hierarchy’s response to COVID and the pushing of the abortion-tainted vaccine by Pope Francis, it all fits with men lost to the supernatural.
There was a Vatican document in 2000 absolutely forbidding general absolution except under very specific circumstances, but it went down the memory hole like so many other Vatican documents. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20000630_circolare-sulla-penitenza%20_en.html
Athanasius we know that it isn’t just the Abuses of Particles of the Sacred Host falling on the Ground. As a good Priest who said our T.L.Mass a few weeks ago said ” I am Sick of finding sacred Hosts stuck onto the Back of Seats . I am Sick of finding sacred Hosts stuck onto Pews with Chewing Gum. I am Sick of knowing that some sacred Hosts will be taken by Satanists for Black Masses. I am Sick of so called Catholics not believing in the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ ,whilst the Satanists certainly believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. ”
As for the debate on Weight we surely know that the biggest and I mean the BIGGEST Health problems in Scotland at least is Gross Obesity.
It was also well known in the early stages of the Plandemic that Obesity Covid Patients had more ,much more symptoms than ones with normal weight.
In reality if any of us are Honest which the comments on here say then we could all benefit health wise by what you say .
Dump The Chip Pan .
As for the General Absolution I have said my piece and thank God we have a Priest who wants no part in it at all .
FOOF,
Well, good that your priest wants no part of General Absolution, but is he still giving Communion in the hand after the description of his findings in your opening paragraph? If so, HE is committing grave sin.
Yes ED at the Novus Ordo Mass Communion is still given out on the Hand but not of course at the T.L.Mass. Of course it wouldn’t be a Traditional Latin Mass were Communion not given out on the Tongue.
I know I have had words ( more or less on here )about going to the N. O. For Sunday Obligation and I certainly wouldn’t if I could get to a T.Latin Mass but I cannot. I have no car now and their is no Public Transport on a Sunday from my Village.
Our Priest ( in my opinion and am not saying am correct) is stuck between a Rock and a hard place. He was told by The Bishop of course when Francis put out
T. C. to stop our Sunday Latin Mass. I personally do not want Him to be cancelled as it seems that most in Our Parish do not like him . For obvious reasons of course. We personally know that Roche is going to make things worse as He said on The BBC that it’s only the Priest who participats at T.L.Mass. It seems he’s putting his money where his mouth is . Along of course with plenty of Vino and imported Fish Suppers. As it’s been said He really has doubled in size since Francis made Him his Hatchet Man.
FOOF,
I imagine your TLM priest will also have to say the novus ordo which means he is, more likely than not, giving out Communion in the hand there. Now, if he is telling the truth about finding Hosts here, there and everywhere, “stuck onto pews with chewing gum” then the time has come for him to refuse to continue participating in that particular liturgical abuse. Otherwise, he’ll be held responsible at his judgement, along with his bishop. Unthinking “obedience” is no defence. Catholics, including priests, are not called to blind obedience.
I try to be understanding of these priests – aware that they are walking a tightrope with their bishop(s) – but there comes a point when they have to obey God not men, as the apostles said (Acts) and if ever there were such a case, it’s got to be this evil abuse of the Eucharist.
False obedience is no virtue. We need more priests to stop hiding in a corner and act like men.
ED I agree with you. BTW the words on the Eucharist being found Desecrated on Pews and Seats was not from our own Priest but from a Visiting Priest about His own Experiences in His own Parish. Now am not for one moment saying that Eucharistic Abuses don’t happen in my Parish as Our Priest has already said that their was a Host found outside. This i know wouldn’t happen if Communion was given out on The Tongue but I know our Priest would be cancelled if He insisted on it.
So what do we do. Have Him cancelled just like Fr Despard or stay in the Fight.
FOOF,
Depends which “fight” you mean, and if you think priests should care about sacrilege and the blasphemous treatment of Our Lord in the Eucharist – or not.
I have fairly strong opinions about priests accepting “cancellation” in this time of crisis. There’s a discussion to be had about the need to shed the addiction of priests to false obedience. But, we’ll leave that for another day – next Saturday, to be precise when the matter will be on the agenda at our Conference!
I think this abuse will be more widespread, not just Motherwell, it used to happen in Glasgow – I remember it went on in a Bishopbriggs’ parish – so be prepared for more shocks like this one.
My understanding is that it is only in a case of danger of death imminently, like passengers on a sinking ship, that General Absolution was permitted and even then, if the people survived, they had to confess mortal sins at the first opportunity in private confession.
That’s why I don’t understand the need for it in parishes – any mortal sins must be confessed at first opportunity and nobody should receive Holy Communion until privately absolved.
It makes no sense to duplicate services like this, going to Absolution services when you have to go to confession anyway.
Lily
You’re absolutely right in your understanding of the emergency circumstances where general absolution may be administered and it’s a far cry from what these Reformers are trying to impose. They’re gradually moving towards the Protestant belief, spurred on by decades of their Protestantised liturgy. It’s a natural decline, once the faith is compromised with error.
Athanasius,
I remember the firemen who were on their way to the World Trade Centre received General Absolution from Franciscan friars. I know the streets of Airdrie and Shotts might be rough, but I doubt that justifies General Absolution in the Diocese of Motherwell!
I think the bogus trend towards “general absolution” is typical of the Bishops. Their response to problems is never to address the problem, but always to attempt ‘dress-it-up’ to portray it as not being a problem: putting lipstick on a pig, as it were.
Its been obvious for many years that Confession is a dead letter in most (not all) parishes. As I have small children, it is not easy to go to Confession with them present and so I sometimes take the opportunity to visit various different Churches for Confession, if there is an opportune time to visit alone. (The Glasgow SSPX Chapel is always busy for Confession, of course).
In Glasgow, next to no-one goes to Confession in any Parish Church, with the exception of the 3 City Centre Churches (Cathedral, St Mungos, St Aloysius) where there is sometimes a small queue. At Christmas or Easter the City Centre Churches can be busy for Confession.
In Motherwell, every Church I am familiar with is always “dead” at Confession time, with the exception of St John the Baptist (Uddingston) which has a regularly busy Confession time after its Saturday (novus ordo) vigil.
Pre-Covid, the typical Parish Church would advertise perhaps 10 minutes of Confession time, once per week. I notice that, post-Covid, this has now been replaced with “phone for an appointment” in many places. Of course, people will not bother, not least given making an appointment strips them of anonymity.
I have noticed that, while SSPX and tradition-orientated Diocesan priests will happily sit in the Confessional for a long time – even if there is no queue – many other priests will simply abandon the session if there is not a constant stream of penitents to keep them occupied. Many times, I have gone to significant trouble to go to a Church for Confession, (once driving miles through heavy snow), only to discover the priest has decided to abandon the session and has flounced off to an unknown location. (My resulting comments about such priests then usually strongly increase my need for Confession).
All this mismanagement and bad shepherding has lead to real structural problems with the provision of the Sacrament. Many priests wont bother to offer regular Confession, if no-one goes – yet, if there is no regular accessible time, then of course no-one will go (or think it important to do so).
My daughter made her First Confession recently, and the standard Diocesan materials used were rank rotten – genuinely worthless. I am glad we had access to traditional materials to prepare her properly. So, the low standard of Catechesis is (as usual) a major issue as well.
And if priests often abandon Confession sessions, people will get frustrated and not bother going back.
Another issue is lay people abusing the sessions as “therapy” or “rambling discussion time”, rather than Confession, which is meant to be “be honest, be quick, be gone”. As there is usually little demand, some people think they can sit in the box gabbing away at great length to the priest.
Women are invariably the worst offenders here. More than once, I have “missed out” because a Confession time has ended before my turn, due to the great length others have taken in the box. One memorable time, a young lady took 15 minutes of the available 30 for herself, (I timed her), despite knowing there was ~6 people waiting behind her. At times, people have been in for so long, I have expected Hitler, Stalin, or Gengis Khan to emerge – yet usually its just an innocent looking lady.
Some of my family members availed themselves of Bishop Toals needless “general absolution”, as they attend Churches in Motherwell Diocese. I have never otherwise heard of them going to Confession. In reality, these “general absolution” sessions were typically tacked onto regular Masses anyway, so that no-extra effort was needed from anyone (clergy or lay people) and yet the Clergy could now kid themselves that many people were now receiving the Sacrament of Confession in a worthwhile manner.
Maybe if the Parishioners were about to go “over the top” and participate in an deadly assault against heavily fortified enemy positions, it would be appropriate to give “general absolution” – but otherwise it is just a nonsense.
Important to note that not all Diocesan priests were guilty of abandoning Confession during covid. I was pleasantly surprised by one priest who went out his way to hear my Confession during covid – we had to go outside and stand in the car park (to avoid confined spaces) but I was very grateful for that, especially as he is a priest I have heard criticised for being rather “modern” at times.
Anyway its clear that, in the Novus Ordo Church, the sacrament of Confession is in as big a mess as everything else and that the abuse of “general absolution” is the scheme the Bishops have hit upon to allow them to pretend otherwise! Pretending everything is going well is a big part of the Novus Ordo Church.
Bishops would do well to address the problems I have mentioned above, rather than follow their usual “keeping up appearances” response.
I’ve just received the typically political email from the Scottish Catholic Media Office giving the Bishops statement on the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill. I haven’t bothered to read it – it’ll be the usual load of tosh – but clicked on reply to write the following:
When will the bishops issue a statement condemning the use of General Absolution? Priests in the Diocese of Motherwell are doing so, with Bp Toal encouraging them.
The politics of immigration is NOT the responsibility of any bishop. Get them to do the job they have been ordained to do and stop messing around.
Editor, Catholic Truth
Some time later…
Hilariously, the SCMO “replied” to the above email by sending me the “unsubscribe” link, to which I replied as follows…
Nope. It is my Confirmation Duty to correct any errors I find against the Faith and I need to keep an eye on our Bishops and their “spokesmen”. If only they’d put a spoke in [the Bishops’] anti-Catholic wheels!
See, this job isn’t ALL boring 😀
It really is galling that these so Called Catholic Clergymen are interested in Immigrants. Of course their only interested as long as someone else is paying for them. As you say ED and we all know that Immigration is not a Bishops or a Priests Job neither is Global Warming yet that seems to be their 2 main talking points. If you counted in a 3rd it would probably be the bashing of President Trump. We are well down the spectrum and getting lower by the Day.
Good on you for telling them so.
I think General Absolution goes hand-in-hand with Communion in the hand and the rest of the Novus Ordo follies. The purpose of this liturgy and its associated rubrics and practices being to diminish and even destroy piety, reverence, humility, and contrition – not to mention the sense of the enormity of sin itself.
“What me worry,” says the modern hierarchy, “we’re not mere creatures anymore, we’re the dignified People of God, the top of the heap! Get off your knees and pass the peace! High fives all around! Ain’t it easy being Catholic?! Oh, and don’t forget to put on your mask and apply some sanitizer before you sit with social distancing rules!”
Here’s the most damning thing about all this: for the modern clergy, fear of “the virus” far outweighs fear of sin.
Bugnini’s conquest of the Catholic Church continues…
Honestly, Bishop Joe,
You should retire and give yourself a break ………………………….and us!
(I’ll give you a Ref- for an old peoples home, ………..as am sure many will!)
I don’t know Bishop Toal’s email address – has anyone sent him this Vatican document on general absolution? https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20000630_circolare-sulla-penitenza%20_en.html Would it be worth it?
WF,
I did have Bishop Toal’s email address at one time but no longer due to changing computer. All emails are to be addressed to him via the Chancellor of the diocese, so there isn’t a great concern for “privacy”, is there? It wouldn’t be worth Yours Truly sending that link but you – being a new name and, moreover, from foreign parts – might receive a more Christian reception… Here it is anyway: chancellor@rcdom.org.uk – addressed For the [Urgent] Attention of Bishop Joseph Toal
OK, done
WF
WF,
Brilliant!
WF,
Looks like you can only contact the Chancellor: chancellor@rcdom.org.uk
RCA Victor,
Our comments went up together. Well, if he receives an email via the Chancellor from an Englishman and then from an American… who knows HOW “The Spirit” might move him 😀
Just don’t mention me 😀
A couple of points. In the act of contrition printed in most confession boxes I attend there is the phrase…. “by the help of your grace I …. WILL…. not sin again”
This isn’t to be taken as…. I …. WON’T…. sin again. In the Act of Contrition we are calling on God to help our weak will power in order to have a firm purpose of amendment. The sad fact is most of us are very weak in the will power department due to all sorts of influences…. and the work of the Devil, he knows exactly how to entrap us. I mention this in case anyone should ask about what’s the use of confession I’m never going to be good enough anyway…. there is a good treatment of this … Will…. Won’t…. in Mgr Gilbeys book we believe.
Next subject obesity….. I know a man who has been on a diet for over 25 years. He tells me he used to be fat but now he is a trim 10 and a half stone.
I’m not that man, I’m a roll poly 15 and a half stone. I used to work on oil rigs where I’d be eating beside different people all the time. I’d be rich if I had a penny for ever time I was asked….”are you on a diet”…. when I said I wasn’t, the reply was always….. “then why are you eating a child sized portion”.
The 25 year diet man eats a very controlled amount of food every day, I’ve even seen him several times in restaurants take out a small weighing scale and weigh the portions exactly to the ounce of protein, vegetables etc…. he hardly eats any carbohydrates. When he tells me how much exactly to the ounce he eats everyday I can honestly tell you right now…. he eats at least double the amount of food that I eat, yet I’m nearly 50% heavier than he is. His diet is called the Grey Sheet diet.
When he took up the diet he also gave up alcohol, he wasn’t an alcoholic but drink led to other problems.
There is no way I’m giving up beer, but I should try and mimic some of his eating habits.
So don’t be too hard on people who are role poly.. .. it is almost certain that most roly polys are not gluttons…. just indisciplined eaters most of the time.
Last thing most priests of the SSPX are very trim, I suspect they have a similar eating discipline to my trim friend…. maybe they should publish a diet book….
Scones with Econe and double cream…..!!!!
I’ll get my track suit…..!!!
Crouchback @ 05.56
I agree (how has that happened!!) with what you say about the devil trying to influence what the penitent says or, doesn’t say in confession.
Holy Mother Church has thought of this, to assist us in our weakness. As you enter the confessional box, the priest blesses you, and asks that you, to the best of your ability confess your sins without holding any back.
Just another thought, traditionally, we ask after the sign of the cross for the priest to bless us, but he has done that as we enter. This is the same as the prodigal son whose father forgives him, even before he has reached the home and asked for acceptance back into the fold.
“I wish to reflect further on it [“Communal Reconciliation”], listen to others, both locally and across the Church, and pray for wisdom in following the Church’s teaching and guiding its celebration in such a necessary sacrament here in Motherwell Diocese.”
I would like to point out, Your Grace, that if you BEGAN by following the Church’s traditional teaching and practice on Confession, then you would never have to “listen to others” about adopting yet another practice which destroys the sense of sin, the sense of contrition, and the desire to do penance and to amend one’s life. The Church, and in particular your Diocese, needs to stop listening and resume her infallible teaching. Or is that too Catholic for you? Are you haunted by the contrived psyop charge of “triumphalism”?
You should also stop “listening to others” about how satisfied they were to have “General Absolution.” Of course they were satisfied! They didn’t have to humble themselves in the Confessional by relating their sins – and they didn’t have to do penance to boot! Such a deal!
Isn’t the name of this Diocese ironic: certainly not “mothering” the faithful very well, as Holy Mother Church is supposed to be doing, with clueless pabulum like this.
For whom does the bell Toal? It Toals for thee, Bishop Toal, and for the faithful who have such a weak shepherd.
RCA Victor,
Well – absolutely well – said!
People of Motherwell Diocese, worry not. Next door in Glasgow Archdiocese, confession (private) is available all day on 31st March betwen 07.45 and 17.00 at the Cathedral Clyde Street.
Littlemore,
Thanks for that information – it’s very good to know.