Yeah, you heard that right.
On Monday night, my children and I went to a local parish
for Confession. There were two women before
us and soon after our arrival several other people came in. When our turn came
I went in first and everything was as usual- not so for my children.
My youngest went right after me and after a few moments
everyone in the pews could hear a cell phone going off. I didn’t pay much attention to it because I
thought it was coming from downstairs in the parish hall, but when my daughter
came out her eyes were huge and she gave me ‘that look’ and whispered “Did you
hear the cell phone?”
I nodded and shushed her, but she continued, “Father’s cell
phone went off when I was confessing and I didn’t know if I should keep talking
or let him finish with his call.”
My mouth dropped open.
I simply could not believe a priest would bother taking his
cell phone into the Confessional with him, but since I had just confessed my
own sins I didn’t want to create new ones by getting angry about it. I shrugged it off as “He must have forgotten to turn it off” and I let it go.
My eldest daughter went in, came out, prayed and we all left
the parish. Once in the car, my youngest
brought up the cell phone ringing during her confession and my eldest
responded, “You think that is bad, Father was TEXTING during my confession.”
I hit the breaks on the car and turned around with a “WHAT?”
“Yeah,” she said, “I was confessing and I could see him
through the screen texting on his phone the whole time. I don’t think he really heard anything I
said, he just kept mumbling “ahem, yep” and stuff like that.”
I was appalled and very, very disappointed in this priest
whom I have known for a few years now and had never seen such behavior from
him.
When I voiced my unhappiness at what he’d done, my oldest
(always a glass half full girl) said “Don’t worry Mom, maybe he was just multi-tasking,
he is busy you know.”
My youngest pipes up “Yeah, it could have been an emergency
phone call too.”
Multi-tasking?
Emergency cell phone calls in the Confessional?
In my opinion, there is NO good reason for ANY priest hearing confessions to be taking phone calls or texting people. It's just wrong and I am considering writing to his Bishop about it.
Is this the best our clergy can offer us these days? Is this what we want to teach the next generation about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Confessional?
In Christ,
Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner
UPDATE:
A few things...
1) This is a GOOD PRIEST who did something he shouldn't. It was a mistake, that doesn't make him a horrid priest, just a human one who made a bad choice. Pray for him and others like him.
2) A forum discussion from Catholic Answers in 2010 was brought to my attention and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERY CATHOLIC LISTEN TO THIS:
http://www.romans10seventeen.org/audio-files/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.mp3
UPDATE:
A few things...
1) This is a GOOD PRIEST who did something he shouldn't. It was a mistake, that doesn't make him a horrid priest, just a human one who made a bad choice. Pray for him and others like him.
2) A forum discussion from Catholic Answers in 2010 was brought to my attention and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERY CATHOLIC LISTEN TO THIS:
http://www.romans10seventeen.org/audio-files/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.mp3
links:
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=459158
http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.html
http://www.romans10seventeen.org/audio-files/20070930-No-cellphones-in-the-Confessional-Healing-and-making-our-souls-new-in-Christ.mp3
