A poser for you...

[neotoma]

if a character's evil twin/counterpart from a dystopian mirror universe traps the pastor of said character's childhood church in a confessional booth before blowing the church up, is that evidence that said character was raised Catholic? It's not like Episcopalians *have* confessional booths, is it?

Comments

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

Um... not necessarily. Maybe the person committing the crime simply had something against the church in general, hated the victim, etc. Then again, who is doing the detective-work, the character him/her self, or another person?

I think it is only the good ol' Catholic faith that does confessions like that. Not sure if Orthodox does anything similar, and Episcopals and Lutherans have group confession done in public. You can ask a pastor for a private confession, but there is no set place for that.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

No, this is something that happened in canon. Evil Twin went around eliminating anyone who remembered the Good Character from his childhood, prior to an attempt to replace Good Character; it was an amazingly psychopathic series of events. Evil Twin talked to the parish priest through a confessional while assembling a *bomb*, which he left there to detonate.

[a-blue-moon-cat.livejournal.com]

Depends on the Episcopal church in question. Some are what is called High Church, or Anglo-Catholic, and are as about as close to Roman Catholicism as can be, but with theological differences. There could be private confession, but probably in the priest's office; not sure about a confessional booth--will have to ask my mother.

Then there's Low Church. This is the version for the Baptists and Methodists and the like who have converted to the Episcopal church simply because it is perceived as being upscale and upper class, and for those climbing the social and corporate ladder, it's a "safe" place to be. Supposedly. Doesn't have all the fancy trappings, is more plain like a Methodist church.

I was raised in a Low Church that tried to resist their High Church priest for many years. A bit confusing, but there it is.

I'll get back to you about the confessional booth, probably after Christmas. Btw, this is (was) deidrecorwyn, and we were mutual friends. I am now a_blue_moon_cat and when I applied the rename token, LJ went wonky on me and I lost all my mutual friends. I am still a friend of yours, but I will need you to please friend me back. Thanks in advance. :)

[eponis.livejournal.com]

Seconded. My old church was Anglo-Catholic Episcopal -- one of the most A-C in the country, actually -- and we really did have confessional booths. They were probably used less than in Catholic churches, but they still did have regular hours of operation around Lent, as well as by appointment. That's fairly rare among Episcopal churches, though, and virtually unknown in non-Catholic sects. Except the Eastern Orthodox -- they might well have them. I'm honestly not sure.

And yeah, "pastor" is a rare word to hear in a high church Episcopal or Catholic setting. You might hear "preacher," but it would be in an individual sense, like "Susan is our preacher for today, because she's preaching the sermon."

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

It's not *that* rare in a Catholic setting, as I grew up in the Church and the parish priest was often referred to as 'the pastor', generally to distinguish him from any priest who was visiting or on a circuit.

[a-blue-moon-cat.livejournal.com]

One more thing: RC and Episcopalian ministers are just that; depending upon the status of their church, they might be a vicar or a rector. One might call them "Father (Last Name Here)". They would not be referred to as a preacher, or pastor, that I am aware of. Hope this helps.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think that even a newly built *Catholic* church might not have confessionals because of Vatican II changes in the approach to the Sacrament of Penance--I think now penitents are supposed to meet with the priest face to face.

In Susan Howatch's historical novels about the Anglican Church, it's considered a *very* dire sign if anybody engages in Auricular Confession, which in any case would be a face-to-face talk.

Did you know that "Spike" used to be English slang for "very, very High Church," so a bells-n-smells Anglican church would be "a Spike shop"?

[twistedchick]

Um. The Roman Catholic church I grew up in (just post Vat. II) modified one of its confessional booths to a face-to-face room, but left the other one as it was because some parishioners preferred it that way. So both are possible.

I've never seen confessional booths of the RC sort in an Episcopal church -- but that doesn't mean there aren't some someplaces. Or something that could be similar. For instance, at National Cathedral there are some small prayer areas (which in a Catholic church might be side altars) with entrances narrow enough that they could be closed off like that. These are on the main floor, generally on the right side as you face the altar.