1) The notion that personal counseling is probably more effective than e-mail, etc. – like how absolution seems a little more “for you” when spoken to you instead of reading it in a book or off a screen.

2) There is no way to guarantee any form of a ‘seal of the confessional’ in online communication. If someone has something they need to discuss privately, the internet is no place to do so. Not only is there the possibility of someone ‘listening in’, it’s pretty much a given that most providers and employers are monitoring internet usage and messages are even inadvertently accessible (not to mention by court order) by system administrators.

I set up a ‘social network’ type of site for a church group (I’m not a pastor) and gave them the warning that while I had no real interest in knowing what they were discussing, anyone who is an ‘administrator’ would be able to read everything shared over the system simply because we have full access to the system. (And there is no guarantee that “I” would be able to guarantee complete privacy now or in the future, even if I claim to to a completely trustworthy individual.)

In short, there isn’t a way to guarantee a seal of the confessional online – and occasionally people share probably far too much through electronic communications that the pastor can’t protect.