(Originally posted 24 February, ARSH 2018, and re-posted because the concept of solicitation came up in Barnhardt Podcast #089. Also, another priest has since kindly offered to commemorate all Barnhardt benefactors and supporters DAILY in addition to the priests mentioned below. Both military chaplains are back home now, thanks be to God.)
The Holy and August Sacrifice of the Mass is now offered EVERY DAY for my benefactors, plus a Requiem Mass is offered every week for EVERYONE who died in the previous week. Fr. Monday and Fr. Tuesday are both military chaplains and are deployed in musloid territory, so please remember them, as they offer the Holy Sacrifice for you. Fr. Wednesday and Fr. Thursday are fighting the good fight, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you are remembered at the Holy Sacrifice by a priest in a tiny church in a sleepy backwater, so we will call him “Fr. Backwater”. Fr. Requiem is “no spring chicken”, as they say, and asks for your prayers as he traverses his ninth decade.
So, please remember in your prayers Frs. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Fr. Backwater, and Fr. Requiem.
Fr. Thursday checked in this past Thursday with this very important point about the Sacrament of Confession:
Dear Ann,
Good morning, and all the very best on the feast of the Chair!
As always, I enjoy what you write and what you and “Super Nerd” discuss on your podcasts.
I had one thing to add to your remarks on podcast #046, about the 48 minute mark; in addition to avoiding a priest who gives advice like you mentioned (hypothetically, I presume) regarding the 6th Commandment, your readers (listeners) should know that any priest who advises violating the 6th or 9th Commandments is guilty of solicitation, i.e. inducing the penitent into impurity. It doesn’t have to be inducement into a sin with the priest himself; it can be any approval or encouragement to commit any sin of impurity. Solicitation, of course, still carries the penalty of suspension a divinis and excommunication latae sententiae (i.e., no adjudication needed). Any penitent who encountered that kind of thing should rightfully inform the bishop or vicar general, and then go straight to the Sacred Penitentiary in Rome if not satisfied with the response. Even if nothing is done outwardly to the priest-culprit, they would remain excommunicated until they were absolved by the Sacred Penitentiary in Rome. (Bishops do not have faculties for lifting excommunication or suspension for solicitation.) You probably already knew all this, but just in case you didn’t ….
As always, I continue to offer the true Mass for you and your benefactors on Thursdays (e.g., today!).
All the very best for a holy Lent,
Fr. Thursday
Sadly, I have been told by more than one person over the years that they have been told by a priest in the confessional that they need to “get laid” and would be better off for it. This happens, both in the context of heterosexual fornication, and sodomy. Most priests of this ilk don’t hear confessions as a matter of principle – they don’t believe in sin, and hate God, His Church and the Sacraments. However, there are also priests that are so malicious, so filled with spite and hatred of God that they luxuriate in going into the confessional and doing as much damage as possible. I coined the term “Diabolical Narcissism” for a reason. These filthy wretches are diabolical.