Cardinal Turcotte and confessions (Canada).Montreal--In mid-February Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte (born June 26, 1936) is a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Montréal. His full title is "Cardinal of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Canadian Martyrs. issued a pastoral letter Pastoral letters are open letters addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of his diocese, or to both, containing either general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumstances. allowing for General Absolution absolution In Christianity, a pronouncement of forgiveness of sins made to a person who has repented. This rite is based on the forgiveness that Jesus extended to sinners during his ministry. during Lent and Advent, in emergency situations only, while encouraging individual confessions at the same time. The instructions make for a mixed bag of practices which will prove detrimental to the Church in Quebec. Recently, Vatican Congregations reiterated with the Australian bishops that Lent and Advent do not warrant the classification of "emergency situations." Many Quebec dioceses already have General Absolution as a common policy and the Cardinal may have felt under pressure for this reason. But aside from going contrary to the wishes of the Pope, the Vatican, and Canon Law canon law, in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters). , General Absolution undermines the relationship between the parish priest Parish priest may refer to
In Quebec, the reason given for this practice--repeated by Cardinal Turcotte in his letter--is the decreasing number of priests. This is a strange explanation because Quebec still has twice as many priests as English Canada; moreover, they are located in a much more compact geographic area than the rest of the Church in Canada, stretched over 5000 or more kilometres. Montreal, for example, has double the number of priests Toronto has and fewer than half the Catholics. Many priests may be getting old, but that has never stopped them from helping out with confessions. English-language parishes in Montreal have indicated that they do not see a need for the measure for the time being (Montreal New Times, London Free Press The London Free Press is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, Canada. The London Free Press began as the Canadian Free Press, founded by William Sutherland in 1847. It first began printing as a weekly newspaper in 1849. ). The Church in Quebec is already in very bad shape. This will do nothing to improve it. |
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