Novus Ordo Church: Parents Cancel First Communion
Rtr.ch (March 16) quotes a certain Armin Cadalbert who was “very surprised” when his two daughters told him they had been to confession in the sacristy of the local church.
In Switzerland, religious education including the preparation for the sacraments is taught in the state schools. It is a very rare exception that these children or their parents are practising Catholics.
Cadalbert called the priest and the president of the parish council who in Switzerland is the priest's boss, complaining that “the parents had not been informed”, that he had “not received any concrete answers”, and that the parents had allegedly been “put under pressure.”
Surprisingly, the head of the parish did not stab the priest in the back. However, the parents decided to cancel First Communion.
Rtr.ch then contacted Spanish-born Chur Bishop Joseph Maria Bonnemain, an Opus Dei numerary.
He claimed that confession was “not necessary for absolution” and that it could be replaced by a simple “examination of conscience”, with the possibility of a “personal talk” for those who wanted it.
Since the early 1970s when the bishops introduced “penitential services with absolution”, confession has virtually disappeared in Switzerland.
Picture: © Brian Leon CC BY-NC-ND, #newsLlbjudumir
