medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Wouldn't that depend on the moment in the historical development of the sacrament? The Council of Florence (1439) legislated the Thomistic view of penance as a sacrament requiring repentance, auricular confession, penance and presbyteral absolution.
I also recall dimly from my days in theology (late-1970s) that auricular confession constituted the matter of the sacrament, so that one could, in an emergency, confess to one's horse in the absence of a priest. Is this only apocryphal?
//TL
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From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture on behalf of Pat McIntosh-Spinnler
Sent: Sat 12/4/2004 5:47 AM
To: Long, Thomas
Subject: absolution by lay persons
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I have a feeling I have read something somewhere along these lines:
It was possible, in extremis, for a lay person (ie one not ordained priest)
to hear a deathbed confession and to pronounce absolution of some sort. This
would be particularly the case on a battlefield or at some similar moment
when a priest was unobtainable. I associate the idea particularly with the
miltant Orders (Knights Hospitallers, in this case.)
Can anyone offer any comment?
Pat McIntosh-Spinnler
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