I totally agree with your observation on confession/penance and the lack of formation in that area in the Episcopal Church and its seminaries. My own formation in a low church seminary did not cover the topic outside an announcement that a professor would be available for confession so we soon to be graduates could have the experience once before ordination. I availed myself of an Episcopal priest- a former Catholic- for confession during my own time as a priest and even with my extra-curricular readings I had doubts on my own abilities as a confessor. I was simply unprepared due to my own background as an Episcopalian in which the general confession and personal prayer for forgiveness cover the whole territory of the sacrament of penance in Catholicism.On reflection, how could things be otherwise? During my 30 years as an Episcopalian, I must have been in several dozen Episcopal church buildings, and in none did I ever see a confessional -- except one, St Mary of the Angels. St Thomas Episcopal Hollywood had a special chair in the Mary chapel that had a screen on one side that was, at least theoretically, a confessional, though given the catechesis available -- the seven deadly sins being "neither here nor there" -- it's hard to imagine what anyone would actually confess to.
If only 45% of Catholics go to confession, a common number that's out there, how many Episcopalians do? Remember, confession is required of Catholics, and fewer than half do it. It's not required at all of Anglicans. It would be interesting to hear how many Episcopal priests hear any confessions at all in their careers.
And a significant number of OCSP priests come from Reformed seminaries or other Protestant denominations where confession is not recognized and not practiced at all. Every indication we have is that the Ordinary and the Bishop simply "assumed" with Cardinal Wuerl that these guys know what to do. But there is no perceptible difference in the formation a former Anglican seminarian receives (if any) vis-a-vis a former Methodist or Presbyterian. Do the webinars mention confession at all?
One of my correspondents, a little bit irked, suggests that of course I can elect not to go to confession with an OCSP priest, but that doesn't mean they aren't eligible to hear it. But a big issue is whether they have the equivalent formation of even a mediocre Catholic confessor who's been more thoroughly trained and experienced -- we're talking about mature men, anywhere from 35 to 65 years old, who've been told "Poof! you're a Catholic priest!" without anything like the formation, or even the doctrinal training, of Catholic priests who at the same age have been hearing confessions for decades. Maybe someone can explain more concretely what seminary-level courses in Catholic moral theology Fr Holliday or Fr Sly or Fr Baaten had to take, or what practical instruction they had in hearing confessions, as part of their remedial formation.
And don't tell me you assume their bishop or their mentor was on the case. Never assume!
Now, I can choose to fly United, or I can choose to fly Southwest. The authorities make sure that the pilots are properly licensed and trained in both cases. Luckily, there's no airline out there that suddenly decides that, since bus drivers do 90% of what an airline pilot does, we'll hire a bunch of bus drivers and make them pilots with a little extra training -- we'd prefer Greyhound, actually, but some of the guys went to high school with friends who are now at Podunk Transit, so we'll take some of them as well.
Would I fly with that airline? Hell, no, and I use the term advisedly. But spiritually, I don't see how Anglicanorum coetibus as implemented is doing anything different.
