I wonder.

or: Gossip is a sin.

In a discussion of a recent article, people began discussing the intimate details of the personal lives of some parishioners somewhere and how this intersected with their sacramental life. Now, the Church itself did not comment on this, because it cannot and will not comment on the anything even approaching the seal of the confessional and it would be wholly inappropriate to discuss private individuals openly on the internet for everybody. That would be evil, that would be gossip. And so, to the clergy of a certain city who wrote a complaining letter about something, and to others who talk on the internet about private individuals, I have a handful of questions:

How are you so familiar with the intimate details of the personal lives of these parishioners? And why are you sharing it with the world at large? If you're sharing it with the world at large, you surely didn't hear it in the confessional, but that would surely also mean you don't know their sins, so why are you discussing them so surely?

And then, just as a reminder, the bishops of the church frequently and continually refer to their encyclicals on marriage which clearly state the Orthodox teaching on the matter. In fact, they seem willing to sign their name to these declarations and encyclicals at every opportunity to comment. But this seems not to be enough, they want the bishops to discuss how they deal with private individuals and to do so publicly on the national stage. I believe some important guy somewhere once said something along the lines of, "What is that to you?" once, and this seems like it would be an appropriate response.