Are we under a obligation to obey our confessors?

[Melody]

Saw this question in another forum & it got me thinking.. the question was "Are we under a moral obligation to obey our confessors?". The person who posted wrote "What if what the priest says contradicts conscience? What if there is reason to believe that the priest is not in total conformity with the Catechism?".

The reason this got me thinking is that ever since I joined the renewal my standards of strictness on myself have been pretty tough often more than the confessors who are non-renewal based. There have actually been times I've confessed & the priest has told me "that's not a sin"...

My qs:
(01) Are we under a moral obligation to obey our confessors?
(02) Given that this is the time of reconcilliation (lent), is it correct to pick & choose priests to whom to go & confess (according to our assessment of them)?

Blessings all,

Melody

[Seeker]

Hi Melody,

I think that in general we have an obligation to obey our confessors.  In addition to the grace we receive in the Sacrament, we can obtain help in avoiding sin through the advice of our confessor.

However, if the confessor is not following Church teaching we have an obligation not to follow that advice but to seek another confessor.  Some people might look for a confessor who is "lenient."  This would be an abuse of the Sacrament in my mind.  I think the key is to be informed about Church teaching and to be honest with our own intentions.  Do we truly desire to repent of our sin, or do we seek to hold on to our sin and have a less than holy priest clear our conscience?

Let me give you an example.  A married couple learns about Church teaching on artificial contraception and are convicted by the truth of it.  They each go to a different priest to confess their sin.  One priest tells the husband that this is no sin.  The other tells the wife that her sin is absolved and that she should go and sin no more.  In this case the husband, knowing the truth, would be obligated not to follow the advice of his confessor.  If the wife were to go to her husband's confessor so she could continue in sin with a "clear conscience" instead of abiding by the truth, her sin would be even worse than before.

This is just my opinion.  I welcome comment, especially if someone knows of authoritative teaching on this subject.