For many priests the ministry of “hearing children’s
confessions” is a sweet and sour experience.
Bring into church 150 second, third and fourth
graders together with five priests and over the next hour administer the rite
of reconciliation –private confession by “the penitent child” and individual
absolution by “the shriving confessor.”
Imagine bringing fifty second-graders into church
for a brief “penance service” (a welcome, prayer, reading of Scripture, homily,
examination of conscience, communal act of contrition) and then individual
confession. Even many adults find it difficult to be quiet and prayerful for thirty
or forty minutes; imagine the struggle
for seven-year-olds. No wonder they find church “boring.”
It seems to me that the third option in the Rite of
Penance is the ideal solution for the time and tedium of children’s
confessions.
The usual way of receiving the Sacrament of Penance,
the first ritual, is called the “Rite for Reconciliation of Individual
Penitents.” The ritual calls for the priest to welcome the penitent, read a
passage of Scared Scripture (optional), call for the penitent’s confession of
sins, impose “satisfaction” (a penance), and ask the penitent to express sorrow
(an act of contrition), offer the words of absolution, proclaim praise of God and
dismiss the penitent. This ritual or some form of it is used in most settings.
When we bring children together for confession, the
second ritual, the “Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual
Confession and Absolution” is usually chosen. This ritual is popularly known as
“a penance service.”
The third ritual is the “Rite for Reconciliation of
Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution.” This form begins like the second ritual (the “penance
service”) but calls for general confession of sin and general absolution, that
is, the whole group of penitents is absolved as a group. Individual confession
and individual absolution are not used.
Application of this third ritual, the communal
confession and communal absolution, could be used for “hearing children’s
confessions.” It engages the children for the whole time they are gathered in
church and it provides a non-threatening experience of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation.
Use of this form does not leave the children sitting in church waiting (with
the expectation they will be quiet, not squirm, and will pray or read for the
next forty minutes).
When the rite for the Sacrament of Penance was
studied and revised following Vatican II, the three-fold ritual was approved,
but restrictions were put on the use of the third option (communal absolution).
Canons 960-964 of the Code of Canon Law restrict its use.
It was expected that use of the third option would
include the provision that those who were guilty of mortal sins would confess
them in private confession (using the first option) as soon as they could.
It has been unsettling for many of us to learn that the committee which revised
the rite of Penance expected the third option to be the one used most often.
The secretary of the revision committee, Franco Sottocornola,
commented that the third option allows a more frequent reception of the sacrament.
In his book Reconciliation
(Liturgical Press, 2001) David M. Coffey, STD, noted, “His (Sottocornola’s) statements about the third rite will come as a
surprise. The rite that now (because of official restrictions) is scarcely
celebrated at all was perceived in 1974 as the one that would be celebrated
most often!” (p. 167).
Coffey continued, “The frequency which Sottocornola
anticipated for the celebration of the third rite in the average parish was once
a month…By postponing the confession of grave sins to a later time, it placed
the emphasis firmly on the most important element of the sacrament, that is, on
reconciliation with God and the Church” (p 168).
I suspect that parish penance services during Advent
and Lent would be enhanced by the use of that third ritual, but I am convinced
its use would be a blessing and a practical application of the sacrament when
it comes to children’s confessions.
I wonder if I should write Pope Francis.
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