To: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Divine Mercy petition for the Catholic Church to offer Confessions online or by phone
This campaign has ended.
In this time of tragedy, people are dying each day without the holy blessing and peace of being given the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Additionally, there have also been some Priests who have suffered and died themselves after coming in contact with a layperson during the last rites or other form of contact during this pandemic. In light of these unprecedented tragedies, please United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, mercifully approve or urgently present to the Holy See the option of offering Catholic Confessions online or via the phone to the faithful.
Why is this important?
We know that from the teaching of the Catechism that when a person goes to confession, Christ is there acting through the Priest to give the blessing of absolution. So what do we know about Christ's greatest attributes from the devotion of Divine Mercy? His greatest attributes are Love and Mercy as stated in the Divine Mercy booklet. In light of Christ's merciful Heart, we all need to ask ourselves do we really think that Christ, given this pandemic, would want people to die without the peace of this Holy Sacrament? Additionally in the Bible, Jesus healed from a distance sometimes too. That is what Christ did with the Centurian in Matthew 8:5-13. Christ wasn't physically present and under the Centurian's roof but because of God's great merciful heart, He healed him just the same. In that same thought the Sacrament of Confession is healing from sins, so if Christ in the Bible healed physically from a distance (like the in the case of the Centurian) wouldn't that validate the case of healing sins from a distance through online confessions or by phone? We all know that God is ultimately Spirit like He told the woman at the well in John 4:23 and because He is Spirit, His Presence can even work through a confession online or via phone when a Priest is physically distant. Bishops please support this petition and request not only out of mercy for laypeople but out of mercy and protection for His Holy Priests!...Have mercy on us and on the whole world...