Irish Bishop Rings Up Curtain on Phone Confession Service

DUBLIN — Sinners in an Irish parish can now telephone their confessions to the local bishop--and help restore a church in the bargain.

Tridentine Bishop Michael Cox has launched a “healing and confession line” in his parish at one Irish pound ($1.50) a minute to help restore a church in County Offaly in the Irish midlands.

“There is a genuine need for a service like this, especially for people who are housebound or living in isolated areas,” Cox said.

Callers are linked to a menu, which offers an interview with the bishop, a “healing line,” and confessions and absolution service. But Cox’s innovation raised eyebrows in the Roman Catholic Church. “Anyone who believes that by participating in this form of confession [he] is having a valid sacrament is mistaken,” a church spokesman said. “Personal encounter is part of the sacrament of confession by definition.”