He has the responsibility to determine the worthiness of the members of his ward. By ordination and righteous living, the bishop is entitled to revelation from the Holy Ghost regarding the members of his ward, including you. The bishop can help you through the repentance process in ways your parents or other leaders are unable to provide.
If the sin is serious enough, he may determine that your privileges in the Church should be restricted. For example, as part of your repentance process, he may ask you to refrain from partaking of the sacrament or exercising the priesthood for a period of time.
He will work with you and determine when you are worthy again to resume those sacred activities. Your bishop will counsel you on what to do to strengthen your ability to resist temptation. He may encourage you to study a doctrinal topic, such as repentance, and then to share with him what you have learned. He may ask you to visit with him each week to report how you are doing in removing yourself from tempting situations. So rather than giving a detailed list of things that you must confess to your bishop, let me share some principles that will help you make that decision.
I know that you have tried to be obedient, but maybe you have made some mistakes—even some serious mistakes. Most of the mistakes people make can be resolved through personal prayer and sincere repentance.
As you think about mistakes you have made, you may be feeling guilty, unsettled, unhappy, or even miserable. If you are experiencing any of those feelings, then you probably need to talk with your bishop about those mistakes.
He thinks I am a better person than that. At 6 o'clock p. Along the way, the sisters found themselves having to reject invitations from cowboys to become their wives. Life-threatening danger, including a flash flood in which they nearly drowned, seemed to lurk at every turn. Despite the terror and fatigue of their journey, the sisters remained cheerful and full of courage.
When they neared Tucson, four priests on horseback came to meet them. The fathers dismounted from their steeds and ran to greet the sisters. Accompanied by the priests, the sisters approached the city at night. It seemed every soul in Tucson — some 3, people — awaited them, some discharging firearms and others carrying lighted torches. Balls of combustible matter were thrown to light the way. Euphrasia made the sign of the cross at each explosion.
The residents were so delighted to welcome them. Bells in the city rang wildly and Bishop Jean Baptiste Salpointe stood by the door of their newly prepared convent, grateful that they had arrived safely. The seven sisters had been recruited by Bishop Salpointe to start a school in Tucson, but not long after their arrival, he asked them to take on the responsibility for a crucial ministry. It was dangerous, sometimes deadly, work. Railroad executives prevailed upon the bishop and the Catholic Church to start a hospital where injured workers could be treated.
The sisters set up a simple, bed structure to begin their hospital. Mary's Hospital still serves in the name of Christ today in our Tucson community. The history of Catholic hospitals in our nation reflects many such profiles of courage. This history is the story of religious communities braving personal hardship and great sacrifice to engage in a mission of helping and healing. We ought never to forget from whence we have come.
That history still enlivens and encourages us today. Carol Keehan, DC, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association, through her visionary leadership, calls and challenges you — the Catholic hospital sponsors, executives and mission leaders in Catholic health care — to preserve and augment the rich legacy of Catholic health care that we have inherited.
Yours is a noble calling, a vocation in which the church takes pride. This bishop holds the highest regard for you and all you do to carry on the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the ministry so central to His mission among us. You bring Christ's presence into a world of pain and suffering. It is a privilege and honor for me to reflect with you today on how Catholic hospitals and bishops can more intensively collaborate in the work of the Good Samaritan.
Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, holds the Good Samaritan up to us as the exemplar of one who has a heart that sees where love is needed and, when he sees where love is needed, responds. I have been blessed to witness the heart that sees where love is needed — the heart of your Catholic Health Association.
As chair of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services, I am grateful for your generous support and commitment to rebuild St. Francis Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that was obliterated by the devastating earthquake of Amid the rubble a new hospital is taking form today, thanks to your generosity and your conviction that we are all one family in Christ.
My hope is that these days of your gathering will provide an occasion for effective dialogue and fruitful collaboration as sponsors, mission leaders and bishops in which we come to see one another as people of good will who are motivated to do good in the name of Jesus Christ.
In my presentation today, I first will reflect on the core qualities of Catholic health care that define who you are: Catholic identity; fidelity to the founding charisms of your institution; regard for human life; ethical integrity; care for the poor; commitment to the littlest and weakest among us; compassion; and a deep desire to serve. I then will share some thoughts about the indispensable value and absolute necessity today of dialogue between Catholic health care leaders themselves and certainly with bishops as well.
That dialogue should be characterized not by distrust, competitiveness and uncivil discourse, but by honesty, speaking the truth with love and the recognition of others' competencies.
This is the dialogue that will lead to common, united, collaborative efforts as bishops and Catholic health care professionals to uphold the right of conscience and religious liberty under challenge in our day. It matters much today that we commit ourselves to work together, to pull together, to pull in the same direction.
Your work reflects your discipleship, imitating Jesus Christ. You bring his presence into the world. You witness and stand for God's abundant, unconditional love for those suffering. Catholic is not only a word in your hospital's name and on your business cards; it is who you are and what you strive to be.
Today, some question the Catholic identity of our colleges and universities, of our hospitals and of our charitable institutions. I think this questioning is often misplaced and unfair. Most often, I sense a deep pride among you for being Catholic. You value being Catholic. Faith imbues all you do.
I have seen in Tucson a real effort by our hospital boards and administrators and mission leaders to keep Catholic at the center of what is done, even when criticized or rejected for being Catholic.
Some outrageous misstatements of Catholic teaching were spread by the Hemlock Society and other groups. Carondelet stood firm, insisting that the Ethical and Religious Directives based on our Catholic faith be respected. The board of directors of the community hospital reluctantly and regretfully withdrew from the agreement.
We have seen in Louisville, Ky. Steve Beshear of including the University of Louisville Hospital in the merger of three hospital systems. While many reasons were given, clearly one roadblock was the potential influence of Catholic teaching on University Hospital, particularly regarding procedures that are euphemistically called "reproductive health care.
I believe that in both instances when the merger was rejected that opportunities for improved health care for the community were lost. We fight the good fight, opposing abortion, contraception and immoral uses of biotechnology.
But in the face of intractable government action and misleading advocacy by special-interest groups, we are forced into flight, into leaving the ministry of care. This is a tragic loss. Today, the original sponsors of Catholic hospitals are few in number.
Laity more and more are the leadership of our Catholic hospitals. This is a great blessing. But this means that if we are to maintain a strong Catholic identity and to be faithful to the founding charism of the ministry, the new leadership, indeed, all in the institution need to learn, be taught and be immersed in the charism of the founding religious community and of the church's teaching.
This begins with hiring interviews that highlight the Catholic ethos of the institution and continues with regular guidance and dialogue with personnel on what it means to be Catholic. Strong Catholic identity means choosing mission leaders who are respected and well-regarded and who can shape the organization so that faith is the foundation of all that happens in the organization.
These mission leaders need to be well grounded in the church's doctrine and steeped in her moral teaching. Being Catholic means that the pastoral care department will not be just an afterthought, but that its mission and service permeate the institution and are a vehicle for the core value of the institution.
Under financial pressure, Catholic hospitals do not dismantle pastoral care, for it is at the heart of what we do for those suffering. Our institutions stand for the dignity of life. When someone enters our doors, they ought to know — from the receptionist who greets them at the entrance to the aide pushing a patient cart to the attending doctor to the staff person in the cashier booth — that they are respected and valued, viewed as children of God.
They should experience that this institution and all who are part of it are centered on promoting and restoring the wholeness of life.
This is a place where Christ's compassion for the man born blind, the paralytic, the woman with hemorrhage, still lives and where the suffering are cared for. Characteristic of Christ's ministry was that the blind regain sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.
Healing sickness of all forms is of the essence of his ministry and that of his church. Confession is part of the reason you are going to him. Your sins need to be confessed. I suggest printing off what you've written here and taking it with you. Also, it might be a good idea to make a list for yourself of everything you are confessing so you don't forget something on that first visit.
It was very nerve-wracking for me my first appointment. I opted to just stick with telling him the facts of what I'd done wrong first and then working from there. I didn't go into any of the details; I just told him exactly what I'd done and the order it had progressed in. We then started immediately on my repentance process.
He never asked me for details. He never asked me why or had me explain. Anything further than that initial confession was something I brought up on my own. He was only concerned about working on my repentance. It's okay if you cry. I think, for appointments like this, Bishops expect you to cry. It is very emotional and very personal.
You are trusting him with the most intimate part of your soul, and expecting him to help you get yourself back on the straight and narrow. Just know that he cares very much about the welfare of your soul, and he will keep your confidence.
I'm am sure there are others in the ward he has had to work with. He will know what to do to help you overcome your feelings of shame and guilt so that you can stand clean before the Lord again.
Good luck! Tell the bishop everything you just mentioned in your post. He is there to help you on your road to repentance Start praying to our Heavenly Father and let him know of your desire to repent. He is so willing to forgive his errant children that come to him. Call the executive secretary of the ward you live in and ask if you can make an appointment to see the Bishop.
The Bishop will surely welcome you with open arms. You will likely feel the calm reassurance of the Spirit as you enter the Bishop's office and confess your sins. Once you start the confession You will also feel more comfortable with telling the Bishop more details.
The key is breaking through that ice of embarrassment and fear. Don't feel that you have to get everything out all at once. The Bishop will likely want to meet with you more and work with you on the road to repentance and forgiveness from the Lord. Grab on to those rays of hope entering your life right now. The Lord is prompting you through his Spirit to do the right thing.
He wants you to come to him. Thanks everyone. I'm already starting to feel a little better. It also makes me feel better knowing that others have been where I am now. I didn't realize I needed to call ahead and set up an appointment, thank you for informing me of that! He isn't a member and doesn't go to church with me anymore, but if I wanted to have him with me for this he would be there. I just want to know if that is something that would be ok? And with him not being a member is this something he should not witness?
He already knows of the things I've done so it's not like there are any secrets. I would just really like to have him there for support. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to ask him to come with me, but if I do, would that be ok? And another thing, I know every situation and person is different but if my bishop puts me on probation or something would I no longer get to go visiting teaching?
I was recently assigned a companion and a person to visit and we've already gone once and I really enjoyed it. We are planning something again for this week and I really don't want to lose this. Of course I am willing to do whatever is necessary, but I'd like to get an idea ahead of tim if I should prepare myself for no longer being a visiting teacher. You don't necessarily have to call ahead to see the Bishop.
You can approach the Bishop and ask him directly if you can see him. You can do it either way. The parties were generally much better off trying to resolve their differences in good faith rather than insisting on their pound of flesh. How much more must that be the case with Catholics cf.
All human beings have passions, feelings, and emotions. In this regard anger is unique and tricky because it is both a capital sin hence gravely evil and also a passion morally neutral, or even amoral. Anger is rightly directed toward perceived evils, and the better formed we are the more the passion of anger inside us will be calibrated rightly. For example, a saint would be angered by sin; one with less virtue might be angered by having to wait an extra minute in a shopping line.
But the intellect and will must call the shots, not the anger—otherwise, we will move from passion to sin. The passion of anger can and must be put to good use. We have a duty to resist evil, and so the lack of passion is a defect insofar as it would lead us to be indifferent toward sin.
How we deal with our anger matters greatly. Any evil that comes our way must be opposed righteously—always with the goal of fostering the salvation of souls and never to get in a kick to the shins. The crosses, abuses, and frustrations that provoke us to anger are the very stuff of our salvation. Above all, we should pray fervently for our own local bishops and our dioceses. Perhaps the last word should go to St. Skip to main content Accessibility feedback article. Leon J.
Download Share. The key section, when it comes to problems in the Church, is the third section, which provides: In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence that they possess, [the laity] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters that pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful.
Unfortunately, many people stop reading at that point. But the canon goes on to provide:. Enjoying this content? Please support our mission!
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