Can priests hear confessions by phone, e-mail or online?

The Church does not permit confession by phone, e-mail or internet, for two reasons.

It is a personal encounter. In confession Christ personally addresses each sinner: "My son, your sins are forgiven." He is the physician who tends each one, raises them up and restores them to fraternal communion. Personal confession is therefore the form that most fully expresses reconciliation with God and the Church (CCC 1484).

It requires secrecy. Every confessor is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy about the sins confessed to him (CCC 1467). E-mail, the internet and telephones are never completely private.

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in The Church and Internet (9), says virtual reality cannot substitute for Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist, the sacramental reality of the other sacraments, or shared worship in a flesh-and-blood community. There are no sacraments on the internet, and whatever religious experiences it may offer are insufficient without real-world contact with other believers.