Bearing Blog has a post up about the architecture of confessionals, which is in turn inspired by a post by Rich Leonardi about the virtues of not having to confess face to face.
If a silver lining of the abuse scandal is that someone gets the 'new' idea of building confessionals with a wall between the priest and penitant and separate doors (so one one can even imagine that impropriety could take place) then that's all to the good.
As Bearing notes, I think that the face-to-face confessional has only accentuated the impression which many Catholics and some priests seem to have that confession is primarily a means of therapy, not salvation.
Stairs
6 hours ago
1 comment:
I have two sons in the seminary. I've noticed of late that when an accusation is leveled against a priest, the priest is assumed guilty until proven innocent. This has created some dismay in priests I have spoken with. They realize that on any given day, an accusation might be fabricated against them, and they could go to sleep that night as no longer an active priest. I certainly hope my sons, if they reach ordination, will not have to endure a situation that even ordinary American citizens don't have to face: that of being denied due process, being tried in the court of public opinion, being left to hang in the wind of popular condemnation for months until the accusation is proven false, and then trying to repair such a situation for many years. So....all this is meant to say that I agree with the design of confessionals which protect both priest and penitent. How sad that such a holy arena be impacted in such a way. However, I pray that much good will come out of confessional design. Good post.
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