So far as I know, there are no canonical crimes regarding a priest absolving a person with whom he plotted and committed a murder or theft. Or even a blasphemy. But there is for sins against the sixth commandment. Euphemisms are a different layer of protection than law, but they're still a layer of protection.
So far as I know, there are no canonical crimes regarding a priest absolving a person with whom he plotted and committed a murder or theft. Or even a blasphemy. But there is for sins against the sixth commandment. Euphemisms are a different layer of protection than law, but they're still a layer of protection.
I expect part of the reason is more difficult to say sexual sins explicitly, is because it renders a person more vulnerable *to the priest*, should the priest be the sort of person who advises gays to keep to one partner, or to consider the seminary, or who tries to get women to fornicate with him. This is especially the case if it is really hard for the person to struggle against sexual sins. A Saint might confess sins of the same type, but they are less vulnerable to them. People who have fewer wounds, either by never having them, or by having them healed, tend to be less vulnerable to spiritual abuse. Their confidence is not strictly related to a lack of vanity.
I was thinking about some of this too. I have never experienced even a whiff of unprofessional behavior from a priest anytime, including in the confessional, but I am still (maybe especially as a woman) incredibly aware that I am in a small, confined space with a man talking about very private things, even if a wall separates us. I'm sure that affects my manner of speaking, especially if I need to confess sins against chastity.
I have never experienced such behavior either. But I and a friend have both gone to Confession with a priest who was later removed from ministry and laicized for seeking sexual relationships with women and who had a reputation for very providing long, conversational Confessions.
Even if most priests are trustworthy, you can never find out if one isn't until afterwards. I can't imagine how that could fail to affect our way of speaking.
So far as I know, there are no canonical crimes regarding a priest absolving a person with whom he plotted and committed a murder or theft. Or even a blasphemy. But there is for sins against the sixth commandment. Euphemisms are a different layer of protection than law, but they're still a layer of protection.
I expect part of the reason is more difficult to say sexual sins explicitly, is because it renders a person more vulnerable *to the priest*, should the priest be the sort of person who advises gays to keep to one partner, or to consider the seminary, or who tries to get women to fornicate with him. This is especially the case if it is really hard for the person to struggle against sexual sins. A Saint might confess sins of the same type, but they are less vulnerable to them. People who have fewer wounds, either by never having them, or by having them healed, tend to be less vulnerable to spiritual abuse. Their confidence is not strictly related to a lack of vanity.
I was thinking about some of this too. I have never experienced even a whiff of unprofessional behavior from a priest anytime, including in the confessional, but I am still (maybe especially as a woman) incredibly aware that I am in a small, confined space with a man talking about very private things, even if a wall separates us. I'm sure that affects my manner of speaking, especially if I need to confess sins against chastity.
I have never experienced such behavior either. But I and a friend have both gone to Confession with a priest who was later removed from ministry and laicized for seeking sexual relationships with women and who had a reputation for very providing long, conversational Confessions.
Even if most priests are trustworthy, you can never find out if one isn't until afterwards. I can't imagine how that could fail to affect our way of speaking.