# Catholic Confession Questions: **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058 "2015-08-05T13:27:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/21 "2015-08-06T23:06:35Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > As a Catholic child, I always thought this was grossly unfair. It was so easy to commit a mortal sin, for example by eating a cookie on the way to church and then receiving communion without the proper fasting period. Then if you got hit by a bus, with no time to make a sincere act of contrition, you went straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Sentenced for eternity for eating a cookie and being unlucky enough to get hit by a bus. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > That’s not a mortal sin, that’s a venial sin. I think. I can’t always keep track. _[Baltimore Catechism No. 3 - Lesson 23](http://www.audiosancto.org/inc/BC3/bc3-23.html)_ > [@](#): > > Q. 902. What should a person do who, through forgetfulness or any other cause, has broken the fast necessary for Holy Communion? > > A. A person who through forgetfulness or any other cause has broken the fast necessary for Holy Communion, should again fast and receive Holy Communion the following morning if possible, without returning to confession. It is not a sin to break one’s fast, **but it would be a mortal sin to receive Holy Communion after knowingly breaking the fast necessary for it.** > … > Q. 905. What is the fast necessary for Holy Communion? > > A. The fast necessary for Holy Communion is the abstaining from food, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks for one hour before Holy Communion. Water does not break the fast. > > Q. 906. Does medicine taken by necessity or food taken by accident break the fast for Holy Communion? > > A. Medicine does not break the fast; food taken by accident within one hour before Communion breaks the fast. > > Q. 907. Is any one ever allowed to receive Holy Communion when not fasting? > > A. To protect the Blessed Sacrament from insult or injury, or when in danger of death, Holy Communion may be received without fasting. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/22 "2015-08-07T03:52:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Eating meat on Fridays was never a “sin”, per se. … Noooo…in the 1950s that was a **Sin**. If you knew it was wrong and did it anyway. As for those poor bastards frying in Hell before the rule was changed… I guess the joke’s on them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/23 "2015-08-07T04:25:21Z")
One thing that always made me wonder about the “no meat” rule. I mean, it’s not really fasting just to go without meat. Technically, wouldn’t it be better to stay home and have leftover meatloaf (and I HATE meatloaf) than go out and have a big fancy lobster dinner? I would think that’s more of a fast. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/24 "2015-08-07T04:32:58Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The [Brown Scapular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapular_of_Our_Lady_of_Mount_Carmel) worked that way, too. I had some of those, too. But they were kind of scratchy. > [@](#): > > At my Catholic school in the early '60s, we went to confession every _week_. It was hard for a little kid to generate enough sins to make that worthwhile. “I was disobedient” was pretty reliable. > [@](#): > > Until one got seriously into masturbation, that is, the worst sin of _all_, worse than _murder_. But you couldn’t confess _that_ (particularly difficult for a girl), so you walked around all the time watching out for the odd stray bus that was going to send you to hell. The upshot: don’t _ever_ take off that Brown Scapular. “I touched myself in an impure manner.” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/25 "2015-08-07T04:54:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > One thing that always made me wonder about the “no meat” rule. I mean, it’s not really fasting just to go without meat. Technically, wouldn’t it be better to stay home and have leftover meatloaf (and I HATE meatloaf) than go out and have a big fancy lobster dinner? I would think that’s more of a fast. Avoiding meat isn’t fasting, in the Catholic tradition; it’s abstinence. Fasting is reducing your overall food intake, regardless of what kind of food it is. On a day of fast and abstinence, you are supposed to both fast _and_ abstain. Having leftover meatloaf rather than lobster is neither fasting nor abstinence. The Catholic tradition has never focussed on the _quality_ of the food you eat; you can be both fasting and abstaining, and still eat good quality, well prepared, fresh food. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/26 "2015-08-07T07:19:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Now, I don’t believe you’d get in trouble if you forgot (Oh shit, I forgot it’s Friday!), if there was nothing else to eat (dammit, there’s nothing to eat but leftover meatloaf!), or if a person was in poor health. Or if you’re traveling. The rules are actually quite reasonable, but between the permanently scared and the holier than thou, they manage to transmit them in ways that tighten them into absurdity. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/27 "2015-08-07T12:03:15Z")
Of course, even an actual Catholic fast (like Ash Wednesday or Good Friday) is still far less severe than the more usual concept of “fast”. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/28 "2015-08-07T12:14:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > “I touched myself in an impure manner.” :smack: Dang! Where were you when I needed that line? > [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, even an actual Catholic fast (like Ash Wednesday or Good Friday) is still far less severe than the more usual concept of “fast”. Like the Yom Kippur fast, which is NO food OR water from sundown of the day before until the end of services (usually around sundown also) on Yom Kippur, a total of about 25 hours. Now THAT’S a fast. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/29 "2015-08-07T12:18:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > See, that’s why you wear a [Miraculous Medal.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous_Medal) > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The [Brown Scapular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapular_of_Our_Lady_of_Mount_Carmel) worked that way, too. These sound like something straight out of Harry Potter. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/30 "2015-08-07T14:56:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > :smack: > Dang! Where were you when I needed that line? I can’t take credit for it. [George Carlin, _Confession_ (about 2:20).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEyJ0XZoKSU) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/31 "2015-08-07T14:58:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I can’t take credit for it. > > [George Carlin, _Confession_ (about 2:20).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEyJ0XZoKSU) And heavy on the covet, Father! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/32 "2015-08-07T17:01:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Noooo…in the 1950s that was a **Sin**. If you knew it was wrong and did it anyway. > > As for those poor bastards frying in Hell before the rule was changed… I guess the joke’s on them. No more or less than the joke is on a person who drove 65 on an interstate and got a ticket for it 20 years ago, but can now legally drive 65 on that stretch of road. In order for a sin to be mortal, it must have been done with full advertance of the will–that is, deliberately. There is nothing inherently holy, or unholy, about eating certain kinds of food on certain days. The Church’s rule about abstaining from meat on all Fridays was not, therefore, ever a statement that meat on Fridays was unholy. It was, rather, an exercise of the Church’s authority to unify the faithful by imposing rules of conduct. A priest could celebrate Mass wearing his vestments, or he could celebrate Mass wearing a tuxedo, top hat, tails, and a cane. Or a Speedo. All of those except the vestments are not permitted, but none of those options are either forbidden or mandated by dogma. By the same token, someone who knew of the Church’s discipline concerning meat and deliberately disobeyed it commits a mortal sin – not because meat on Friday is inherently sinful, but because deliberately flouting the Church’s authority to make such a binding discipline is sinful. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/33 "2015-08-08T02:40:54Z")
Something I know my ancestors practiced in our branch of the Orthodox Catholic Church and I have heard of some people of Spanish/Spanish Colonial ancestry Roman Catholic following ------- if you know you are dieing and no priest is handy, you could give your confession to someone else to relay to a priest. Usually this was a worst case situation for someone on the frontier away from civilization or someone on a military campaign. Since there was no chance for Extreme Unction and no promise of a Christian burial, it was sort of a last ditch effort to copper your bets. When this practice ended, or even if it has, I can’t say - Google let me down. But I know some people followed it up to the early 1900s. (And relatives wonder why I became a Lutheran 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/34 "2015-08-08T03:14:48Z")
Several of the sacraments, although they should properly be administered by a priest, can in extreme need be administered by others (baptism, for instance, can be administered by anyone at all, even a non-Christian). I’m not certain, but reconciliation might be one of them. If that’s the case, then passing the message on to a priest might not even be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![DtypeJag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@DtypeJag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DtypeJag)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/35 "2015-08-09T04:33:52Z")
The command to eat fish on Friday started some time in the late 14th or early 15th c. when the Vatican owned fishing fleet was not bringing in enough money to suit the Pope so he got a message from God etc. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/36 "2015-08-09T09:38:19Z")
Something I’m wondering about : is the absolution valid if you’re repentant (or afraid of hell) but intend to avoid the penance? For instance, if you commit a major crime, the priest is likely to tell you to turn yourself in as part of the penance. Let’s assume that you deliberatly pick a priest who doesn’t speak your language to confess a murder. Not understanding what your sins actually are, he absolves you. Is the absolution valid? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/37 "2015-08-09T17:09:31Z")
Whoa, I found [a reference](http://www.es.catholic.net/foros/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=10940)(sadly in Spanish and itself not saying where it got the quote) with this: > [@](#): > > § 2. También están obligados a guardar secreto el intérprete, si lo hay, y todos aquellos que, de cualquier manera, hubieran tenido conocimiento de los pecados por la confesión. “The interpreter, if any, and anybody else who by any means had knowledge of sins from confession, are also required to keep secrecy”. So it’s acceptable (although definitely not ideal) to use an interpreter. Re. confession being received by someone not ordained, canon says it’s a no-no, and then some more nos. It isn’t even any priest who can; some positions get it automatically such as the head of a parish or a monastery, but in general they need to pass a special exam and be authorized in writing. Someone who hasn’t been specifically trained on it isn’t supposed to do it, period; we can forgive each other and we can always provide a shoulder, but we’re simply no more trained on the “doctor and lawyer” part than say… than I am in behavioral therapy. You wouldn’t want to get behavioral therapy from someone who’s not trained in it, would you? **clairobscur** , that confession shouldn’t take place unless the person is dying. But dying, dying… like both feet and one hand already on the other side. The priest is supposed to question the sinner, indicate appropriate reparations and advise on how to avoid reincidence: he can’t do that if there is no communication. As for a case where there is communication and the sinner purposefuly leaves something out, that something is not included in the absolution. Leaving something out because you didn’t remember yes, on purpose because you don’t fulfill the other conditions for forgiveness (such as, you don’t intend to make repairs - which would also indicate you don’t actually repent) no. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/38 "2015-08-09T17:10:12Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Avoiding meat isn’t fasting, in the Catholic tradition; it’s abstinence. Fasting is reducing your overall food intake, regardless of what kind of food it is. On a day of fast and abstinence, you are supposed to both fast _and_ abstain. > > Having leftover meatloaf rather than lobster is neither fasting nor abstinence. The Catholic tradition has never focussed on the _quality_ of the food you eat; you can be both fasting and abstaining, and still eat good quality, well prepared, fresh food. It’s still kind of messed up, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/39 "2015-08-09T17:23:37Z")
Shrug, the symbolism is what it is. Why would getting yourself filled to the gills with meatloaf be acceptable as fast or abstinence, while eating the lobster you fished out of the water yourself is not? Having enough lobster to get full is abstinence, but it wouldn’t count as fasting. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058/40 "2015-08-09T20:23:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Several of the sacraments, although they should properly be administered by a priest, can in extreme need be administered by others (baptism, for instance, can be administered by anyone at all, even a non-Christian). I’m not certain, but reconciliation might be one of them. If that’s the case, then passing the message on to a priest might not even be necessary. No. It’s true that in cases of necessity, baptism can be administered by anyone with the requisite intention. No other sacrament has such latitude: Confirmation: the ordinary minister is a bishop, and in extraordinary cases a priest may be deputed. The Eucharist must be consecrated by a priest or bishop, but may be distributed by a properly deputed lay person. Matrimony is conferred by the spouses upon each other. Anointing of the Sick must be administered by a priest or bishop. Holy Orders must be administered by a bishop. Penance must be administered by a priest or bishop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catholic-confession-questions/727058.md?page=3)