"General absolution may only be imparted in
cases of grave necessity"
By
Fr. William Saunders
CATHOLIC
HERALD Columnist
Question:
Recently,
I visited some relatives in New Jersey. At their parish, they do not have
regular private
confessions,
but a service where everyone prays and then the priests gives absolution. I
thought this was strange , but they said "general absolution" was
allowed.
I
am not really sure what general absolution means. Is this right?
Response:
Following
the mandate of Vatican Council II, the Pope Paul VI promulgated the Decree on
the Rite of Penance (1973) which affirmed, "Individual, integral confession
and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile
themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility
excuses from this kind of confession." (This norm was reiterated in
the Code of Canon Law, No. 960 and the Catechism, No. 1420ff). Therefore. the
Church upheld the traditional practice of the penitent examining his
conscience, repenting of sin and feeling sincere contrition for those sins,
having the firm amendment not to commit chose those sins again, confessing
those sins to a priest privately and receiving absolution .and then performing
the appropriate penance. This spiritual regimen is essential for the pursuit of
holiness.
As
indicated in the 1973 decree, legitimate, grave circumstances may arise which
may impede private
confession
and necessitate the granting of general absolution. Such a circumstance would
arise in a time of crisis) danger, or imminent death, and a sufficient number
of confessors are not available to hear
individual
confessions within a reasonable period of lime. Consequently the penitents,
through not fault of their own, would be deprived of the sacramental grace of
Penance or Holy Communion for a long period of time, and their souls are at
risk.
An
example when the granting of general absolution was appropriate occurred on March 29, 1979 when the Three Mile
Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was in danger of
exploding. If the reactor had exploded, large quantities of radioactive
material would have been released into the environment, jeopardizing the lives
of countless citizens. Bishop Keeler of Harrisburg (now the Cardinal,
Archbishop of Baltimore) granted general absolution to the faithful since every
individual person would not have had the chance to go to private confession'
Nevertheless,
strict norms govern the exercise of general absolution. The priest must provide
an
explanation
to the faithful, make a selection of passages from Scripture, and give a brief
homily. The
penitent,
who is impeded from making a private confession, must have prepared himself by
examining his conscience, repenting of
sin, having contrition for that sin, and having a firm amendment not to
commit the sin again; this sincere, personal preparation is essential to the
valid reception of the sacrament. Together, the penitents would recite a
formula for general confession, like the Confiteor ("I confess to Almighty
God...). The priest would impose a penance, and then impart absolution. The
service would conclude with an exhortation to give thanks to God for His mercy,
and
then
a blessing. (Confer Decree, No. 35, and Code of Canon Law, No. 962).
A
couple of cautions must be noted:
First, anyone in serious,
mortal sin who receives general absolution must go to private confession as
soon as possible, but at least within a year (unless some grave reason prevents
the person from doing so).
Second, only the Bishop of the
diocese may judge whether the circumstances justify the granting of
general
absolution. The priest must first check with the Bishop before he may impart
general absolution. In case of an emergency, however, a priest may impart
general absolution and then inform the Bishop.
Finally, a large number of
penitents gathered for a special occasion does not constitute a grave
necessity. For instance, a parish has a regular penance service during Lent,
where the faithful gather for prayers, readings of Scripture, and a homily in
preparation for individual private confessions heard by a group of priests. Simply
because the number of penitents is large and confessions may last for a
prolonged period of time does not justify resorting to general absolution.
General absolution may only be imparted in cases of grave necessity.
Sadly, as indicated in the reader's question, the exercise of general absolution has been abused. When I was a campus chaplain at Marymount, on more than one occasion a student came to confession who had never experienced private confession, but only received general absolution. How tragic. Such an abuse deprives a person of that beautiful, intimate encounter with our Lord, the Divine Healer of our souls. Granted, individually confessing our sins to a priest is much harder than general absolution; however, the personal spiritual benefits of actually verbalizing our
particular sins to a priests, who as both the minister of the Sacrament and the representative of the Church, are far greater.
Private confession is an essential element for our ongoing conversion and growth in holiness.
Fr.
Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School
of
Christendom College and pastor of Queen of Apostles
Parish,
both in Alexandria.
Copyright
©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All
rights
reserved.
Return to FaithfulVoice.com
main page