Confessional - Sauna What's the Diff? Both Are Sweat Boxes.

Confessional can't be used as a sauna says uptight, narrow minded Austrian Archbishop

Jul 21 2010

VIENNA — Some Catholics may well sweat in the confessional as they admit to things they shouldn't have done. But Vienna's archdiocese has ruled that the box-like structure where believers confess their sins cannot be turned into a sauna.

Bidding on a confessional described on eBay as ideal for conversion into a one-person sauna, a small bar or a children's playhouse was ended when the archdiocese stepped in. Why ebay caved in to pressure from some clown in long robes and a silly pointed hat is an open question.

Archdiocese spokesman Erich Leitenberger told the daily Salzburger Nachrichten that auctioning "objects that were used for dispensing the sacraments is not acceptable."

Confessionals "should not be converted into saunas or bars," he was quoted Tuesday as saying. He gave no reason for the Archbishop's dictatorial ruling nor did the AB offer to buy the used confessional himself. The AB, who possibly could be an altar boy molester, apparently wants the church to eat the loss, and did not return calls.

The confessional was offered for auction by a Vienna church undergoing renovations.

Curiously, the highest reported amount offered by one of the 40 bidders before the item was yanked from the internet Monday was 666.66 euros.

The number 666 is commonly associated with the Antichrist _ or the devil.

A spokesman for ebay said the site had no listing for anyone named Devil, Satan or any of the common words used to describe Beelzebub.