Confessional can't become sauna, church rules

[July 21, 2010]  VIENNA (AP) -- 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 boxlike 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.

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. Leitenberger did not return calls to the AP.

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.

[Associated Press]

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