Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Coptic Pope bans phone confessions



"The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, Pope Shenuda III, has banned confession conducted over the phone for fear that the phones might be monitored and that the confession might reach state security services, the Egyptian Daily News Egypt reported. "

I'm not sure how I feel about phone confessions in general, in view of confession being a sacrament and all.
One could argue that it be allowed in dire situations where the priest is unable to be physically present with the person undertaking confession. Any comments?

2 comments:

street theologian said...

Well there's confession and there's Confession. I think there's an element of spiritual help that can be acheived in a casual setting. But I also think the Sacrament of Confession in front of the Altar consummates the whole process and actually acheives remission of sins at the discretion of the priest.

Joe V. said...

When i read this, all i could think of was Wall-E and the overweight, obese humans ... technology definitely helps the lazy.

The Gospels clearly tie the Church as a spiritual hospital (Matthew 9:12, Luke 5:31), and confession is clearly part of that ... I wonder how many people call the E.R. when they break a bone or really hurt themselves and need to see the doctor?