A comment left by a well respected member of the Catholic laity on my previous post made me think that I might have been too unkind in believing +Conry's interview on the subject of lapsed Catholics showed him to appear weak and imprecise.
I searched again for more evidence and, first one on Youtube that I came to showed a clip with +Conry being interviewed by Ruth Gledhill giving his now well known views on Confession....not a list of sins these days, more a chat.
So, how does it go?
Penitent: "Bless me Father for I have sinned (or, rather, I may have upset God a little), it is six weeks since my last Reconciliation.
Now, let me see, on Tuesday I murdered my granny and, on Thursday of the same week I poisoned all of my work mates in the staff canteen; well, all except Bob because we play snooker in the inter parish championships together..."
Priest: "Well, my boy, that's grand of you to come and have a wee chat about all of this. I'm really glad you spared Bob because we need to get a few wins in over St Knobbly's team and, as for your granny (God love her), as she was over the age of 75 years I think we can say that you just helped her on her way to Heaven a bit prematurely".
Now, we don't 'do' penances any longer so please just go off and focus hard on winning that snooker tournament and try not to lose again"
I searched again for more evidence and, first one on Youtube that I came to showed a clip with +Conry being interviewed by Ruth Gledhill giving his now well known views on Confession....not a list of sins these days, more a chat.
So, how does it go?
Penitent: "Bless me Father for I have sinned (or, rather, I may have upset God a little), it is six weeks since my last Reconciliation.
Now, let me see, on Tuesday I murdered my granny and, on Thursday of the same week I poisoned all of my work mates in the staff canteen; well, all except Bob because we play snooker in the inter parish championships together..."
Priest: "Well, my boy, that's grand of you to come and have a wee chat about all of this. I'm really glad you spared Bob because we need to get a few wins in over St Knobbly's team and, as for your granny (God love her), as she was over the age of 75 years I think we can say that you just helped her on her way to Heaven a bit prematurely".
Now, we don't 'do' penances any longer so please just go off and focus hard on winning that snooker tournament and try not to lose again"
Now please, if you can possibly bear it, view the following video clip of Fr Robert Barron speaking rather more generally on the Sacrament of Confession (not reconciliation).
Fr Barron communicates using his voice (well), his hands, eyes and general body movement (as should any good communicator.
He does not go "erm" every few seconds, he knows his subject, he knows his Faith - and, above all else, he has 'passion'
A good Japanese friend and mentor who, many years ago, coached me in the ways of doing business with his countrymen by saying: "You must have passion in everything you do".
And that, among many other things, is what is lacking in Bishop Conry.
It seems easier to define what +Conry doesn't believe in than what he does.
ReplyDeleteI had the distinct feeling from that clip that Bishop Conry was "making it up" just to have something to say to the interviewer. I could be wrong but I imagine that one of the perks of being a bishop is that you don't have to do the weekly stint in the confessional!
ReplyDeleteHow tedious for those poor priests- having to listen to us lot!
It's hard to find a priest that will treat one's confession seriously and urge one not to sin again. I find most of them don't want to hear my sins, and those that they hear, they try to convince me are not really sins. It's really demonic.
ReplyDeleteFather Barron I understand perfectly, but what is Bishop Conry for?
ReplyDeleteComplain to the CDF.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't get at least one letter a week about this man they are shocked.
They are waiting until the filing cabinet is full before they get rid of him.
Be careful with Fr. Barron. He disagrees with the Church's doctrine of Hell. He is urbane, articulate and so on. Reminds me of the late William F. Buckley (once upon a time, the oracle of American Neo-conservatism. The erms are most likely in imitation of his lay counterpart). In watching Fr. Barron, keep in mind that poison is 95% nutritious.
ReplyDeleteFP