Man gives confessions - to wrong church employee

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Man gives confessions - to wrong church employee

Forgive me father, but I have the wrong extension.

An employee at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in West Seattle told police a man has continually been calling the church confessing "all kind of bad things he has done," such as starting a gang and engaging in various sexual activities.

The problem: The man keeps calling a woman in the church office, not the priest.

Though the man has never made threats, the woman called police late last month after he left about 15 messages, according to a police report.

Police ran the man's name and phone number, but were unable to contact him, according to the report.

For the record, Our Lady of Guadalupe holds confession -- the Sacrament of Reconciliation -- each Saturday from 4:30 to 5 p.m., or by appointment.

Posted by at July 3, 2008 3:56 p.m.

Comments

#147231

Posted by jasonfrost at 7/4/08 8:52 a.m.

Apparently he did go to the wrong person, because while anyone can recieve your confession, it should always remain with the one who has recieved it. Not on the internet.

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#147233

Posted by DFC at 7/4/08 8:58 a.m.

Well, yeah, priest-penitent privilege applies if you actually get to a priest. Secretaries are not priests and I would think the guy MIGHT figure out he hand not reached a priest the minute he heard the secretary's voice.

This guy sounds like he might need both a priest and a mental health professional. I can understand the secretary's concern.

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#147371

Posted by unregistered user at 7/5/08 5:57 a.m.

The guy isn't making a confession in the sacramental sense. What he is doing can be termed "harassment" and he has established a pattern of harassment. The woman was right to call the police, especially if the man's intent is to harass her. On the other hand, if he's just mentally ill and truly believes he's making a sacramental confession...she's still right to try to stop what he's doing, both for his benefit AND for hers. There is also no expectation of privace given that he's leaving his "confessions" on voice mail. The man needs help, and so does the poor secretary!

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