Video Communications Technology and the Sacramental Confessions of Deaf Catholics

This article outlines the urgent pastoral need to improve access to the sacrament of penance among Deaf Catholics and examines whether Deaf Catholics should, notwithstanding sacramental and canonical scholarship opposing the use of technology in the sacrament of penance, be allowed to use modern video communications technology to approach remote confessors, accuse themselves of sin, and receive absolution validly and licitly. The chief objections to using video technology in the sacrament of penance—especially in regard to the requirement of a “moral presence” between confessor and penitent—are assessed in light of recent ecclesiastical and technological developments that suggest modern video technologies can support said moral presence. Older arguments for allowing hearing Catholics to use communications technology in their celebration of penance under certain circumstances are applied to the current situation of Deaf Catholics. Finally, a canonical mechanism for regulating the video-enabled celebration of the sacrament of penance is offered.