The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-01-22


@QucstiOn and Answers. care The Cnth'
A Protestant asked me what was
meant by the expression, "the seal of
the confessional?" He said he had
read it in book.
When we speak of the seal of the
confessional we mean that peldge of
secrecy by which the priest may new
er reveal what he has heard in con-
feSslon. A seal is something that
binds and closes, and the lips of the
priest are sealed as to the knowledge
seal is so stringent that not even to
save his own life. or the life of an
other, or the soul of his penitent (if
that is conceivable) may the priest
reveal what he has been told as con-
fessor The law of the Church is
most strict in this matter and its sane
ton is very severe. The natural law
imposes this same obligation on the
confesSor, and, in a way. the ohliga-
ton springs from the divine law, for
God instituted the sacrament OF pen
ance and His law obliges the faithful
to so to confession. Moreover, the
seal is respected by all civilized coun-
tries; the civil courts will not compel
priests to reveal the secrets of the
confessional Priests have gone to
prison, and some have gene to death,
rather than break this SEAL Even in
cases in which priests have been found
unfaithful to their priesthood, they
have yet kept the seal of the confes-
sional unbroken. Catholics have the
utmost confidence that their confess
sor will never betray the trust COM
mitted to them in the confessional.
Many Protestants tell me that if
the Catholic Church were satisfied to
be one of the many sects instead of
wanting to be the only true Church,
many more people would become Cath
olics. They claim to be attracted by
the beauties of the Church, but feel
that the Catholic view is too narrow.
What could answer them?
You might ask them TO ponder over
the words of our Lord and of st. Paul:
And whosoever shall not receive nor
hear your words, shake the dust of
to you, it shall be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in
the day of Judgment than for that
city; III any one, even an angel
preach to you a gospel other than
that which l have preached to you,
let him be accursed." The indiffer-
enoe which your friends claim to ad-
mire has no place in the life and
teaching of Christ and is utterly for
eign to the spirit of the early Chris
tian Church. Nor has it any founda-
ton in reason or logic. Truth is al
ways one. AS matter of objective
truth, no one can be Indifferent to
conflicting propositions: that the
priest has the power to forgive sin
or that it is blasphemous to attribute
such power to the priesthood; that
Christ is really and truly and substan-
TALLY present in the Eucharist or that
He is there merely in some vague,
symbolical manner; that the Pope is
Christ's Vicar on earth or that he is
anti-Christ. Humanity speaking and
thinking the Church might make con-
verts if she compromise with the
truth: she might have saved England
if she had allowed Henry VIII to have
two wives; but she would have been
false to God and would have soon
split up into many factions. The
Church of God cannot teach falsehood,
for the Holy Ghost--the Spirit of
Truth-remains with her. He who
is not with Christ is against Christ,
and he who will not accept the whole
of Christian truth can have no part
with Him. 1t is because she is Christ's
true Church that the Catholic Church
will not compromise with error.
A Protestant friend of mine put this
question to me: "Do not the Scrip
lures teach that lit behooveth Eish-
op to be the husband of one wfe?'"
He then mentioned ST. PauI's first
Epistle to Timothy, chapter iii, verses
and IL, and also his EpistIe to Titus,
chapter !, verse 6. How would you
explain?
Up until the fourth century there
was no strict law enforcing celibacy,
and therefore many married mem re-
ceived Holy Orders. The texts in
question do not show that all Deacons
and Bishops should be married-St.
Paul himself was not a married man
but they do show that no one would
be considered fit for ordination who
had been twice married Any one
conversant with the writings of the
early Fathers of the Church is fully
aware of their horror OF second mar.
riages. Indeed, the same law against
ordaining widower who has been
twice married exists in the Church to
this day, as proof positive of the an
clent Christian Interpretation OF this
text of Holy Scripture.
Kindly inform me If ST. Peter was
a Jew or a Syrian?
st. Peter was a Jew born in Cali
lee in the town of Bethsaida on the
Lake of Genesareth. His original
name was Simon and his fathers
name was John; our Lord changed his
name to Peter, which means rock
when He made St. Peter the rock
upon which He was to build His
Church. ST.. Peter was diving in Cap
harnaum with his mother-in-law when