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Analyzing the Sacrament of Penance in Theological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives

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Analyzing the Sacrament of Penance in Theological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Vanderbilt Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive The Confessional, the Couch, and the Community: Analyzing the Sacrament of Penance in Theological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives By Jonathan Andrew Stotts Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Religion August, 2016 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Ph.D. Bruce T. Morrill, Ph.D. Jaco J. Hamman, Ph.D. Robin M. Jensen, Ph.D. Copyright © 2016 by Jonathan Andrew Stotts All Rights Reserved ii To Francis Eloise. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with joy that I express my gratitude to all those whose contributions made this work possible. I am thankful for Bonnie Miller-McLemore, my first reader and advisor. Her pastoral and practical wisdom encouraged me as I learned to navigate the twin worlds of family and academy, and I will always heed her exhortations to get crucial voices out of the footnotes and into the body of my text. Also invaluable was the direction and accompaniment of Bruce Morrill, whose critical and committed theological scholarship served as a much needed inspiration for my own work, and whose generosity to me and my family has known no bounds. Jaco Hamman’s insights into the pastoral value of psychoanalytic thinking and Robin Jensen’s ability to bring Christian history to life in her explorations of art and ritual brought needed breadth and depth to this project, and I am grateful to them both. And many thanks to Bruce Rogers-Vaughn and Evon Flesberg for introducing me to the world of psychotherapy on theoretical and practical levels. This dissertation would have been impossible without the support of Christ the King Catholic Church, whose leadership and staff provided me with the opportunities for professional ministry that served as a touchstone for my research. In particular, I want to thank Joceline Lemaire, Deacon Bob True, and Patout Burns for introducing my family and me to this energetic and committed Catholic community. I am especially grateful to Fr. Dexter Brewer for his pastoral guidance, personal example, and tremendous gift of hospitality. Thanks to the community of scholars and monks at Saint Meinrad School of Theology, and to Kyle Kramer for his dedication to Saint Meinrad’s lay degree program. The formation I received at Saint Meinrad, especially from Fr. Guy Mansini, Fr. Kurt Stasiak, and Christopher Lutz, anchored me in the tradition of Benedictine work, prayer, and hospitality, preparing me for iv a vocation as a pastoral and practical theologian. I am truly grateful to Ryan LaMothe for introducing me to the world of pastoral theology and care. More importantly, Dr. LaMothe encouraged me to apply to Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt University. Without him, none of this would have been possible. I am thankful for the spiritual mentorship and support of Fr. Ron Rieder, whose graciousness during my early days of ministry allowed the seeds of this work to be planted. I owe a debt of gratitude to John Compton, Jacob Abell, Evan Johnson, and Brother Cassian (Will) Hunter, whose friendship and fraternal support strengthened me in times of doubt and hardship. An especially warm acknowledgement goes to my colleagues in RPC, including Richard Coble, Myounghun Yun, Ira Helderman, Laura Kreiselmaier, Peter Capretto, Jessica Bratt Carle, and Laine Walters Young. I want to single out Richard Coble in particular for his companionship, his constant and lively interest in my work, and his scholarly example. I owe the timely completion of this project to the rigorous pace he set. To my parents, Margaret and Patrick Rothrock, I owe heartfelt thanks for giving me the resources I needed to pursue higher education. My three aunts, Nancy Nichols, Carol Loehrke, and Betty Lord, each contributed their spirits to this project in their own ways. They never stopped letting me know that they believed in me, and I will always be grateful. And to my wife, partner, and best friend Natasha Hilton, no words of gratitude will suffice. She has walked with me, hand in hand, the whole way, never doubting, always encouraging. Endless thanks to her for being brave enough to bring our two children, Francis Eloise and Linus Andrew, into the midst of this wondrous chaos. And in all things, thanks be to God. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 I. The Problem of Penance ........................................................................................................3 II. Argument and Overview .......................................................................................................6 III. The Relevance of This Project ..............................................................................................9 IV. Methodology .......................................................................................................................13 Chapter 1. THE EVOLUTION OF PENANCE ..........................................................................................20 I. The Current Rites of Penance: An Overview ......................................................................22 A. The Reform of the Rite of Penance ................................................................................24 B. Ideal and Actual Rites .....................................................................................................25 C. Rite for the Reconciliation of Individual Penitents ........................................................28 D. Rite for the Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution ...............................................................................................................32 E. Rite for Reconciliation of Penitents with General Confession and Absolution ..............35 F. Theological Considerations: Contrition, Confession, Absolution, and Penance .............38 G. The Complementarity of the Rites..................................................................................42 II. A Historical Sketch of Penance from Early Church to Vatican II .......................................43 A. Going to Confession in America ....................................................................................44 B. The Council of Trent .......................................................................................................46 C. Penance in Late Antiquity ...............................................................................................54 D. Early Medieval Penance .................................................................................................63 E. Summary .........................................................................................................................71 III. Vatican II and the Present Practice of Penance ...................................................................74 A. The Committee on Penance ............................................................................................75 B. The Fate of Penance After Vatican II ..............................................................................77 C. New Wine in Old Wineskins ..........................................................................................82 2. SIN, GUILT, AND CONTRITION: A CRITICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC ANALYSIS OF RECENT THEOLOGICAL TREATMENTS OF PENANCE ..................................................87 I. The Need for an Interdisciplinary Approach to Penance ....................................................89 A. Pope John Paul II Diagnoses the Crisis ..........................................................................90 vi B. Reading the Pope in Tandem ..........................................................................................92 C. A Problem of Disjunction ...............................................................................................95 II. Sin: Theological Discussions and Psychological Implications ...........................................98 A. The Meaning of Sin ......................................................................................................100 B. Sin and Fundamental Option Theology ........................................................................104 C. Sin, Theology, and Psychology ..................................................................................... 110 D. The Sense of Sin ........................................................................................................... 113 III. Guilt: Towards a Sense of Fault ........................................................................................ 117 A. Guilt as Subjective Awareness ...................................................................................... 119 B. Guilt and Freedom ........................................................................................................123 C. Guilt and Fault ..............................................................................................................127 IV.
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