MGR. CAPEL ON THE SAFEGUARDS OF THE CONFESSIONAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 32, 6 December 1873, Page 9

MGR. CAPEL ON THE SAFEGUARDS OF THE CONFESSIONAL.

At St. George's Cathedral, Sout.hwark, lately, Mgr. Capel lectured on the Confessional, taking for his text the words " No man taketh that honor unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron." Recapitulating the arguments advanced on the previous Sunday to rebufc the charges recently made against confession, in the House' of Lords, the preacher proceeded to point out the safeguards by which it is surrounded in the Catholic Church, nnd said that be could well understand the alarm felt by those who merely regarded it as a human institution when they heard that the clergy generally were allowed to hear confessions. When, however, it was once remembered that ifc was a Divine institution, and that the priesfc was the appointed minister of reconciliation, nil such alarm disappeared. At th« same time many safeguards are placed by the Church around tha confessor— first in the special preparation through which every Catholic priest has to pass j and, secondly, the special rule by which confessors are bound. At seven years of age a child in the Catholic Church is regarded as being responsible to God ; at ten, in many dioceses in Southern Italy, confirmation and holy communion are art ministered, and then yomh3 ate admitted to seminaries, so that their minds may be trained arid their higher culture provided for. From his twelfth to his twentyfourth year the student is prepared by men chosen out for their piety, and then, many who have repented their ea»ly choice, or who have proved unsuited forjhe work, having been weeded out, the youn» priest is ordained. There is no sucli idea in the Catholic Church a" that of sending boys to public schools and universities, and niakin« them " men of the world " as a preparation for the priesthood ; rathe"? they receive a special training in a special seminary. But, secondly, in addition to the training for the priesthood, the confessor undergoes a further preparation during the last four years, in which he is made acquainted with the conscience, humau actions, law, the command, ments of God and of the Church,, and the sacraments. No Bishop would ever approve of a confessor who could not pass through an examination conducted by those who are specially appointed 5 for the purpose. A priest may be suited for ot.hsr works, such as catechizin^ or preaching, but he is not approved of for the confessor's work unless ho is to some extent a n? aster of moral theolo;.}. Nor does his training end here. Every well ordered diocese is divided into sections, and under one priest in each division conferences are held, at which the cases of penitents are submitted and opinions are given as to the beat means of treating them, thus not only keeping up the confessor's knowledge, but also teeing his good sense by the judgment of others The priest wlio is appointed a eonfe S 3or has the double powers of ordination and jurisdiction. He receives his authority as a priest at his ordination : but juri«diction, or mission, or the power of the keys, ho has not by virtue of his priesthood, but by the power of the Church exercised at the will of the Bishop, who can give it and withdraw it within his own diocese. Just as the Archbishop of Westminster cannot pronounce absolution outside his own diocese without the permission of the diocesan — a rule of which the necessity was realised as early as the Council of Nice— fo the jurisdiction of the confessor is limited in the same way us to time and place. The power is usually given fur terms of years from three and upwards, and so strsn<» is this rule that if on the day when the period ends the priest hears a eotifession without renewed authority, his absolution is powerless. There is also a, limit as to persons. Tlio Bishop may mark out a confessor tor ehildien, for the " Religious," for young men, and if the Bishop thus limits a coofessor's jurisdiction and finds his orders are disregarded, he can at once withdraw his authority. Thus the confessor is shown to possess two distinct powers 5 first, his power as a priest, which is inalienable, and secondly his jurisdiction as a confessor, which may be withdrawn at any time. hi concluding his address, the preacher suid he could well understand the cry of alarm recently raised in the Anglican Church or the Anglican communion. There would be a similar cry in the Catholic Church if the priests were to M 3»; in opposition to the authoiity of the Bishops, what is in itself a dangerous weapon. He could well understand that to the English mmd there was something strange in hearing that after 300 years of disuse the coufeswonal wa& to be revived, but ho was bouna to say *hat he believed no amount of oppression could crush out the natural desire to confess, the existence of which was proved by the fact $hat Catholic priests were sometimes called upon to hear the confes•ions ot Protestants, who came to them without, of course, the hoDe fit intention of obtaining absolution.