Wednesday, December 7, 2016

FORGIVENESS? - PART 2

Posted by Tim

Our local debate over the nature of "forgiveness," and how said forgiveness should be applied to those who used their positions of power in our diocese to mislead the faithful - and in the case of sex abuse victims, physically and psychological damage them, might benefit from a review of the current controversy brought on by the pope's extending to priests the power to forgive the sin of abortion. 

Pope Francis initially extended this power to priests as a provision of the Year of Mercy, and now has extended it permanently. The decision led to quite a bit of confusion amongst Catholics because, and rightly so, we believed that priests (with faculties) already have the power to forgive sin, even the sin of abortion. 

So what was the pope talking about?


In short, the Church not only considers the intentional termination of life in the womb a mortal sin against the Fifth Commandment, it also considers it a crime with the penalty of automatic excommunication. And while any priest (with faculties) can forgive mortal sin (including abortion), the crime of abortion can only be absolved by a bishop. (The matter is quite complex as illustrated here.)

So while a person might be absolved of the sin of abortion (after a sincere confession), he or she would still not be able to participate in the life of the Church until the crime is also absolved, which, up till now could only be absolved by a bishop or a priest with the permission of a bishop. The pope's new decree essentially permits priests to both absolve the sin AND the crime without first seeking permission of the bishop. 

In the Archdiocese of Agana, there were not only "sins" against the faithful, there were crimes, and we do not even have to go to the sex abuse cases to make this claim. But before we go there, let us examine the different types of forgiveness.

First, only God (not us) can forgive sin. This remains the case in the Sacrament of Confession because the minister of the Sacrament forgives in the name of the Church by the power of God. (A priest is welcome to draw this out or better state it in the comments.)

Second, we have the ability to internally forgive those who have hurt us, intentionally or not, but this is NOT the same as forgiving sin. 

Third, there is the matter of public sin. The classic example is the lawmaker who advances legislation on matters the Church considers to be grave sin (i.e. abortion, euthanasia). Individual Church leaders may get muddled about this but the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the Church's definitive position clear in 2004:
5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist. (Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, July 2004)
What gets even more muddled is how such a lawmaker, assuming a conversion of heart and sacramental absolution, comes back to Communion, since reception of Holy Communion is a public act and could contribute to the sin of scandal if his repentance is not as publicly known as his previous immoral advocacy. 

At the risk of sounding simplistic, a general rule is public sin requires public contrition. Reducing it to the lay level, if a husband is in a publicly adulterous situation and has a change of heart, he has a duty not only to privately confess his sin in the Sacrament of Confession, he has a duty to his wife and family, since his adultery was known to them and they were pubicly harmed by his acts, to recant his sin and ask for their forgiveness as well. 

Bringing this back to our local situation, the offenses committed against the faithful were committed by diocesan officials who abused the power of their offices. To what degree their acts were "sinful" and to what degree they are spiritually culpable, is not for us to decide. But what IS for us to decide is the extent of public harm to the local church and what must happen to make things right. 

To be continued

11 comments:

  1. This post makes perfect sense to me. If the JW-ers need to see or hear Archbishop Apron's repentance publicly before they can forgive him, then let him admit openly his offenses, reveal his repentant heart and request forgiveness for the hurt against the community. How wonderful and peace/reconciliation it would be for all (withholding their forgiveness until that moment) then to extend publicly their forgiveness. Imagine human beings forgiving someone who had once been labelled evil incarnate! Even the angels will weep tears of joy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, we don't need his public repentance.

      Delete
    2. You are right Tim,No Public repentance but,I'm sure ApuRun's Victims would like to confront him and maybe just maybe get A personal Apology from him...Not by offering /giving them his CD as peace offering either.

      Delete
    3. Did you really think I was speaking for his victims?

      Delete
    4. JWs ???

      We are Nil Carborundum Witnesses !!!

      Mr Guile, Tim wrote about sin, contrition and restoration and his example cited was not the same as Abp Apuron's.

      In my capacity as Forgiveness Police Police I thought I knocked your helmet off the other day! Then you were imposing a deadline, now you are sneering at all the parameters.

      Being an I'm-all-right-jack as you are, with nothing to forgive anyone, you ostentatiously make demands, oblivious to the huge work 150,000 brave Guamanians - and probably thousands more ex-members and their fellow-parishioners around the world - have been unobtrusively putting in daily towards those that messed with their trust.

      With so many ambiguous authority questions, clouded by sentimentality, which I trace back a long way, good Catholics are now going to eagerly await developments - and seek the Lord for REAL Holy Spirit gifts - so that they can evaluate them as is their duty.

      I hope you'll consider a return to your old metier of preaching the Gospel!

      Delete
    5. Tim, you're full of ''SHIT'' you need to ask forgiveness for all the lies, you know their all lies,you got the people following devil!!

      Delete
    6. LOL. Even the pope believes me. Courage :)

      Delete
    7. Anon 5:01 AM...just like I told Diana before and now saying it to you too ..you both need to get your heads out of your ASSES and shed some light into your brain housing..Not only are you both FULL of shit but walking around smelling like it too..WE all know who the liars are and it is NOT Tim..

      Delete
  2. We may not but the victims do Tim. Ask Walter Denton.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you really think I was speaking for his victims?

      Delete
    2. I dont' think you were but then again,that's just my own opinion...I cannot speak for the others..

      Delete