Dear Father,
I have heard that some bishops do not allow priests to have cell phones in the confessional. Why would they not allow phones? Am I allowed to use my cell phone in confession? I rely on it for my list of sins and the act of contrition. Also, if I leave my cell phone in the pew at church outside the confessional, I’m afraid that it may be gone when I get back.
-Guan Marque
Dear Guan Marque,
You’re right: At least one bishop has banned the use of cell phones in the confessional. Bishop James Conley, who shepherds the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, recently told his priests to not bring their phones when they are hearing confessions, according to his chancellor, Father Caleb La Rue. Father La Rue says that many dioceses “forbid priests from having their cell phones, smart watches or other devices in the confessional.”
The Vatican has clarified what all priests know: Phones may not be used in order to administer the sacrament. People have asked to phone in their confessions and receive absolution by phone. The obvious problem with this is that the sacraments must happen person to person. They are personal meetings with Christ.
In confession, the priest stands in the place of Christ. There may be a mesh screen between the priest and the penitent, but it remains a personal encounter. The screen provides anonymity and helps penitents with their feelings of shame associated with their sins. The priest doesn’t need to know the identity of the penitent, but of course, God knows.
The people who want to phone in their sins may not realize that their phone numbers would show up on the caller ID of the priest’s phone. And how much protection is there really when it comes to phone calls being recorded? The entire issue of the sacramental seal, the absolute secrecy invariably maintained by the priest under the pain of excommunication for breaking it, would be destroyed.
There are other reasons for priests to shun their phones in the confessional. First is privacy and freedom from accidental recording. Probably all of us have had the experience of accidentally dialing when our phones are in our pockets. Can you imagine a “pocket dial” in the middle of someone listing his or her sins? Suppose one pocket dialed the police while a penitent was confessing a serious crime!
Another situation is inadvertently voice-activating Siri, as when someone says “Hey, seriously … ” Siri might even begin to respond to the sins confessed or to the advice the priest is giving. Who wants any audio helper listening in on his sins, even venial sins?
The Vatican issued a decree in 1988 condemning the use of any technical device to record what the priest or penitent says in a Sacramental Confession. Both the recording and divulging the contents of a confession, for instance, on social media, is punishable by an automatic excommunication. The Vatican decree was a response, in part, to governments intruding on the privacy of the sacrament of Penance.
In our own country, there have been efforts in various states to force priests to divulge what they learn during the sacrament of penance. A notorious instance of this happened in 1996 in an Oregon jail. There have been other such instances in the United States and abroad.
The Church as a whole, and every priest in particular, protects the seal of the confessional to the extreme. There have been priests who have given up their lives rather than break the seal of the confessional. One great example is St. John Nepomucene. In the late 14th century, the king of Bohemia, suspicious of his wife, ordered St. John to reveal what the queen had confessed during the sacrament of penance. When St. John refused, King Wenceslaus IV had the priest thrown off the Charles Bridge in Prague, where he drowned.
Bystanders, too, who overhear something in the confessional are bound by the seal. If such a thing should happen, the one who overhears any part of a confession should immediately speak to the priest. The priest will ask what was overheard; if it involves any of the sins or counsel, the priest will remind the one who overheard that he is bound by the seal of secrecy.
It remains to be known what “active listening” features on phones and watches do with the information our devices pick up. No one wants even the hint of a possibility of one’s deepest secrets being overheard, whether by another person or an app on our phones or watches.
While priests may decide to leave their phones and smart watches behind, there is no prohibition against the penitent bringing such a device into the confessional. Some penitents make a list of their sins on their phones; others like to read the act of contrition on their screens.
Everyone has to weigh the risks for himself when taking electronic devices into the confessional.