Priest calls for general absolution as confession boxes ‘stand idle’

CATHOLICS should be given general absolution twice a year because they don’t go to confession any more, an outspoken priest said yesterday.

The practice is only granted in extreme emergencies.

But Fr Tony Flannery, 59, an outspoken Redemptorist priest, said it should be given to congregations by parish priests because the confession boxes in churches were not being used.