Bishop Finn on Confession

I like that Bishop Finn guy over in Kansas City, Missouri. The Lutherans in the area might like to check out what he's up to. He wrote a bold Lenten Letter--not about generalities, but about a specific scourge of our modern age: pornography. It seems that on the Internet today, if it isn't a Catholic Bloggers page, its a pornographic website. Well, the good bishop is tackling it head on in his pastoral program, and has even established group akin to AA to help those in need.

But in an interview with Zenit recently, he also had something to say about the readiness of priests to hear confessions. Get a load of this comment:

We will figure out when people will come and we will be more generous in being available. We are short of priests to hear all the confessions that should be heard, but without this sacrament, a large percentage of our parishioners are probably not even living in sanctifying grace. Consider the widespread use of pornography, of contraception, and the falloff in attending Sunday Mass. These are serious/mortal sins. If people are also not using the sacrament of confession, then the "good works" they are trying to do have no supernatural or meritorious content.

A few parishes that have many confessional times available, and the priests are dependably there when people come, still have long lines. We must make this a reality in all our parishes.

Go Bishop Finn!