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.
The Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, including confession, issued a notice March 20 that while individual confession and absolution is the normal means for the forgiveness of sins, “grave necessity” can lead to other solutions.
In a separate decree, the Apostolic Penitentiary also offered the spiritual assistance of special indulgences to people afflicted with COVID-19, to those in quarantine, to medical personnel caring for coronavirus patients and to all those who are praying for them.
“This Apostolic Penitentiary holds that, especially in places most impacted by the pandemic contagion and until the phenomenon subsides, there are cases of grave necessity” meeting the criteria for general absolution, the notice about confession said.
Determining what constitutes grave necessity generally is up to the local bishop in consultation with his bishops’ conference. But throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Vatican sought to limit the use of general absolution and encouraged increasingly strict definitions of what constituted an emergency situation.
“Taking into account the supreme good of the salvation of souls” and the level of contagion in his diocese, the local bishop must determine “the cases of grave necessity in which it is licit to impart collective absolution: for example, at the entrance to hospital wards where faithful in danger of death are hospitalized, using — within the limits of what is possible and with appropriate precautions — means for amplifying the voice so that the absolution is heard” by the patients.
“If the unforeseen necessity arises to grant sacramental absolution to several faithful at the same time, the priest is obliged to forewarn the diocesan bishop as far as possible and, if it is not, to inform him as soon as possible afterward,” the decree said.
During the pandemic, it said, bishops also must tell their priests and faithful the measures that must be adopted to hear individual confessions, such as the need for them to take place in a well-aired space and not the confessional, the adoption of an appropriate distance between priest and penitent and the use of face masks.
In every case, the notice said, there must be “absolute attention to safeguarding the sacramental seal and the necessary discretion” so that no one nearby hears what is being said.
And, echoing what Pope Francis had said that morning in his homily, the Apostolic Penitentiary urged priests to remind their faithful that when they find themselves with “the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution,” they can make an act of contrition directly to God in prayer.
If they are sincere and promise to go to confession as soon as possible, they “obtain the forgiveness of sins, even mortal sins,” the notice said….
Praying for the dying who cannot receive the sacrament of anointing, the decree said the church entrusted them to God’s mercy and drew on the merits of the communion of saints to grant a plenary indulgence to Catholics on the verge of death, as long as they “habitually recited prayers during their lifetime.”
The decree granted a plenary or full indulgence to all Catholics in the hospital or under quarantine because they have tested positive for COVID-19 if they are sorry for their sins and prayerfully watch or listen to Mass, the recitation of the rosary or a pious practice such as the Way of the Cross.
If that is not possible, the decree said, they should at least recite the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer and invoke the help of Mary, “offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and of charity toward others” and with a determination to go to confession, receive the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope as soon as possible.
“Health care workers, family members and those who, following the example of the good Samaritan, assist those sick with the coronavirus, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion,” also receive the plenary indulgence, it said.
The decree also grants the indulgence to any Catholic who visits the Blessed Sacrament, “reads sacred Scripture for at least a half hour,” recites the rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet “to implore Almighty God for an end to the epidemic, the relief of those who are afflicted and eternal salvation for those the Lord has called to himself.”
The above comes from a March 20 story in the Catholic Herald.
Well, we have a lockout in the Archdiocese of Chicago, so I presume confession is not an option. I just checked the latest figures, as of Saturday, March 21 mid-afternoon Central Daylight Time. There are exactly 64 individuals in the United States who are in serious to critical condition with COVID-19 sickness, and those figures have not changed in 48 hours. Sixty-four people in a population of 320-million. Sixty-four people needing intensive care in a nation where there are more than 68,587 intensive care unit beds. I hate to be the little boy who yells that the emperor is naked, but–there is no crisis. There is no danger. There is nothing threatening going on. We are all experiencing mass hysteria induced by repeated and aggressive suggestion. About 20,000 Americans have died of influenza in the past four months, and that averages out to about 166 per day. Latest coronavirus figures: 32 new deaths in the past 24 hours. That’s a long way from 166. I have not been able to find precise figures for influenza deaths by state, but the figure averages out to 400 deaths per state. If some states have less, than other states would have to have more than 400. I tell you–the emperor is naked. He is stark, raving naked. He is not wearing a fancy suit made by special tailors from special fabric which can only be seen by certain people. He was, in fact, tricked by con artists and the mobs in the street went along because they were induced to do so by mass suggestion. I say again–the emperor is naked.
The Lord is answering our prayers.
Larry, you seem to be quite correct. It is easy to go to the CDC site and view statistics for 10 years of the “regular old flu”: 20k to 30k deaths PER YEAR (sometimes higher, sometimes lower). The Covid-19 statistics aren’t even CLOSE – and THOSE statistics are easily viewable on the CDC website. Though it remains to be seen how it spreads and doubles, the numbers currently just don’t seem to add up enough to justify the response we are seeing.
Also, it doesn’t seem to be so much a typical “flu” as it does pneumonia. Again, time will tell.
That is not to diminish the effects of this virus, and certainly quarantining something with such serious and quick consequences is wise – as it is with any deadly communicable disease – especially if we are NOT being told the whole story. That said… again, time will tell if this is an over-reaction. However, CURRENT statistics don’t seem to bear out the response to this virus.
Be safe! AND, as the old saying goes: “Trust, but verify!”
Larry has false information. The number of cases is officially understated because there hasn’t been universal testing. in another week or so we’re going to see just how serious this is. But on to other matters, the wheels are coming off the church. It’s pathetic how cowardly the clergy has acted. be not afraid? huh. And so the church is exposed not as the Great OZ but as the old, wimpy man behind the curtain.
I’m not referring to the number of cases. I’m referring to the number of deaths. The official figure in the United States is 1,704 as of 6:47 a.m. Central Daylight Time, March 28, 2020. If you have better figures, let’s see them. Meanwhile, the population of the United States is about 320-million.
Henry, Larry is either right or wrong. If he is wrong, as you say, your statement is incoherent. There is either a threat or there isn’t and if there is, large concentrations of people will (especially in high population density, port of entry locales) spread the contagion. “Be not afraid” does not then imply “but feel free to be stupid…”
Coronovirus is at least 10 times more deadly than the flu, and unlike the flu, as many as half of infectios individuals don’t even know they are sick. The lethality among the elderly is as high at 15%, and without measures to contain the virus, it will infect as many as 50-70% of the population. Take a look around your church. Do you want to see 10% of the people in your pews disappear over the space of 1-2 months? Consider your priests, who because of their direct interaction with hundreds of people will basically all become infected. Given that almost all the priests are over 50, are we ready to say goodbye to as much as 15% of the presbyterate? Christian charity requires the strongest response we can muster, especially if one considers oneself to be pro-life.
Okay–then tell me why 20,000 American flu dead over this winter were not worth bothering about. Explain that to me. The Chicago Health Department says 361 people were hospitalized in ICU there over the winter from flu. Why wasn’t that a crisis? As I write, we’ve had 1,704 COVID deaths in the USA, nowhere near the winter’s flu death toll. There are 2,494 people in serious-to-critical condition from COVID in the USA. We have a total of more than 68-thousand ICU beds in the U.S., not including neonatal, pediatric and burn unit. We have nearly one-million staffed hospital beds of all units. To date, 28,238 people have died all over the world from COVID. Do you know what the seating capacity of Wrigley Field is, home of the Chicago Cubs? It’s 41,649. That means if you put all the people who have died across the planet into Wrigley Field, the place would still be half-empty.