In the past, only a bishop or a designated chief
confessor of a diocese could grant absolution for an abortion.
He was one of the
confessors of the novices, homilist and a spiritual guide.
Marguerite's attention to the topic of clerical abuse in the Heptameron has already been well researched, but the text's references to women serving as
confessors merit further scrutiny.
At the conclusion of the Pauline year, Pope Benedict proclaimed the Year of the Priest and promised to publish a handbook for
confessors and spiritual directors.
Related Lives:
Confessors and Their Female Penitents, 1450-1750.
A study of his
confessors and favoured preachers and of his relationship with the friars indicates a keen interest in theology.
Women, Men, and Spiritual Power provides a well-researched and insightful exploration of the dynamics of authority between female visionaries and their male
confessors between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.
Inquisition trial records; inquisitorial correspondence;
confessors' manuals; and treatises on demonology, politics, magic, and superstitions provide the evidence as he focuses on three Inquisition cases that highlight especially pertinent issues and four others that introduce a cast of supporting characters.
It contains sections describing the bishop, presbyters, deacons,
confessors, widows, lectors, virgins, subdeacons, healers, neophyte Christians, and artisans and craftsmen.