Move over, fella.

Your Tatler is Catholic convert and though thoroughly catechized, maybe better than most (seven months by two gentlemen from Opus Dei), there are no doubt still gaps in his knowledge of Holy Church and her teachings. A case in point is an item in today’s Vatican News:

Pope on Confession: ‘Forgiveness is a human right’

“Forgiveness is a human right” which priests at the confessional should dispense by welcoming, listening to and accompanying penitents, thus helping contribute to a “spiritual ‘ecology’ of the world.”

“Forgiveness is a ‘right’ in the sense that God, in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, has given it in a total and irreversible way to every person willing to accept it, with a humble and repentant heart.”

Um, yes, no doubt, but is this something new? That priests should be understanding and listen to confessors while they’re in the box? Your Tatler sort of thought that’s a given. Good heavens, what will be next? That priests should offer absolution and penance?

Here are some more revelations from Christ’s Vicar on Earth:

By accompanying the penitent, the Pope pointed out, the confessor does not decide for the other, as he is not the master of the conscience of the other.

The confessor simply accompanies, with all the prudence, discernment and charity of which he is capable, the recognition of the truth and the will of God in the concrete experience of the penitent.  

Here, he said, one should distinguish between the seal of confession and the dialogue of spiritual accompaniment, which is also reserved, although in a different form.

Dear readers, do help your Tatler out, for he is harboring the most uncharitable notion about these nuggets of knowledge: that they are as shallow as a Rod McKuen poem or a David Haas hymn. Suggest a method this poor sinner might delve into the texts above and behold something more spiritually enlightening than the preparation instructions for a TV dinner. The first good soul to oblige will be gratefully rewarded with a free one-year subscription to the Taos Tatler, with an additional three months added if an explanation of “spiritual ecology” is also provided.