Just say a guy confesses to a priest in the confessional booth that he stole a loaf of bread to feed his children. The priest says a quick prayer and tells the guy that his sins have been absolved , kind of like the guy’s naughty book has started a brand new chapter. After his sin had been wiped clean from the page , he can leave the church with a clear conscience. How does the priest know with absolute certainty that the thief’s sin had been completely absolved ?
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Easy, just put a little money in this basket and I will tell you
The priest doesn’t absolve you of anything. He intercedes on your behalf, to get god to absolve you. Same thing with saints or whatever. Catholics are asking St. Anthony or whatever to help directly, they’re asking for someone who’s really tight with God to put in a good word for them so that God helps.
Same way your significant other can forgive you for cheating on them. As long as the activity isn’t criminal, the issue is between you and that person (or in this case between you and god). However, the priest doesn’t need to know if you for sure did what you’re supposed to do, because he’s not the decision maker, god is. Of course none of that matters if you don’t believe.
Regardless, If it’s criminal, like your example, the priest can absolve the issue between you and god, but there is a third party that he can’t speak for, which are the laws.
It’s just a way to keep people coming back to church.
“fuck up all you want, we can get you straight with god. Please donate on your way out”.
r/AskAPriest if you want an honest answer.
Do you know that you are summarizing the first hundred pages of Les Misérable by Victor Hugo?
(or also like the first 8 minutes of the musical?)
It’s not only the exact situation that you describe, but it also begs the same questions that you pose.
Religion isn’t science. Religion is about believing and ideally in something nice. There is no text that explains how many of what prayer you have to do for what sin. This is about forgiveness and the prayer is a symbolic act
Nobody absolves shit, and sins does not exist.