Word: sacramentalism
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Catholics are still adjusting to another reform, the "new" rite of penance, renamed the sacrament of reconciliation, which was put into effect in most U.S. parishes this past Lenten season. It is now a longer process often involving face-to-face easy-chair conversation between penitent and priest (TIME, March 15), although those who prefer it can retain the anonymity of the old screened confessional. Says Lee Roach, 41, a Delta Air Lines pilot and usher at St. Jude's parish in Sandy Springs, Ga.: "We're encouraged to examine our motives. Now, when you go to confession...
Photographing a wedding has itself become dogmatic ritual. The repertoire of picture, now a liturgy of stylized question and response, has been made part of the sacrament. Each type of picture evolved asks for a certain image. The set-up of the formal portrait of the bride in gown and bouquet, for example, is designed to elicit a stock response of romantic wistfulness, (or regality, depending on the age of the bride involved). The family group picture produces a series of fixed, forced grins...
...Church in Oakland, Calif. Similar notices have appeared-or soon will-in Catholic churches in the U.S. and round the world. They herald a quiet but significant revolution for Catholics, who will henceforth be allowed to choose between old-fashioned anonymous confession and the new face-to-face-style sacrament. While it will remain an option, as will the modified form of a screen set in an open room, the traditional cramped confessional box could gradually become a relic...
Rushed Sins. With the start last week of the penitential season of Lent, many priests began educating their parishioners in the revised sacrament of Penance-now also called the Rite for Reconciliation-that formally takes effect next year. Face-to-face confession -the last reform of the sacraments that stemmed from Vatican Council II-is intended to enable the penitent not only to confess specific sins but discuss spiritual failings and work out appropriate good deeds for penance. Traditional confession, by contrast, has tended to be a rushed recitation of sins and routine prescription of "ten Hail Marys" or "five...
...some ways the Mormon church is a potpourri of contradictions. As a lay church it is democratic and has strains of communalism. The tasks of each branch are spread among all members, and anyone can speak in relief society, priesthood, Sunday school and sacrament meetings. Members are encouraged to work out their individual relationship to God and to follow their revelations. The church's extensive welfare programs--financed by its awesome tithings--allow "anyone in need to get it immediately," according to Peterson...