Looks Like I'm Not Confessing About Jimmy Hoffa

Father Z has some thoughts....


I was sent the link to a short film that, apparently, won and award at the International Catholic Film Festival in 2017.
Fail.
It starts with some good point.  Never mind that the priest is not wearing a purple stole: validity of absolution doesn’t depend on a stole or its color.  Fluctus in simpulo.  There are some good moments in the short.
That said, there are some disturbing elements in this film.
I know that it is a short film and that short means that not every possible angle can be resolved.
The priest lies to the guy, a couple of times, in telling the penitent that he didn’t commit murder.  However, even if “murder” isn’t quite the right technical term for what happened, even if the lie that the priest told was true, the guy would still have committed a horrible sin, several, in fact.
As to the penance, it isn’t always possible to “compensate” a victim.  However, giving something to someone who is not the victim doesn’t strictly satisfy justice.   There is a twist in this case, but that remains.
What I am afraid happened here is that sentimentality trumped reason and, once again, we saw the exaltation of false mercy which betrays truth.  A “mercy” which is apart from the truth is no mercy at all.
Moreover, the film seems to make the the point of the priest’s mercy, rather than God’s mercy.   It is, essentially, about the priest, not God.

I'm pretty sure that this wasn't murder, but I am not a lawyer.  Doesn't murder require premeditation? Lying to make someone feel better is bad, especially coming from a priest in confession.