Anonymity in Confession - how anonymous is it supposed to be?

[jmcrae]

Well, my statement was actually a criticism. I think it’s very sad that I’ve never seen a confessional with a grille.

It’s just a screen of some kind - it doesn’t have to be made of metal. Most of them are made of wood - some are just made of cloth. In the Confessionals where I normally go for Confession, the “grille” is just a piece of rippled plastic with a series of little holes punched in the bottom to speak through.

Are you saying you’ve never even seen a little portable screen with a kneeler that you can use, in your whole city? There are parishes out in the suburbs of our Diocese where they don’t seem to have the option for anonymous Confession (or it’s definitely not encouraged, because the prie-dieu is tucked in a corner, and you have to walk past the priest to go get it and set it up), but in the city itself, there are lots of anonymous Confessionals.

 

[curlycool89]

Sometimes I go to confession at a nearby parish, which does not have standard confessionals. Instead, it has a reconciliation room. When one walks into the room, there is a screen and kneeler. If you kneel down there for confession, the priest will never see you. But a penitent can walk around the screen to a chair for a face to face confession. From what I have heard, everyone uses the kneeler; no one uses the chair. And a standard confessional would be better for anonymity and safety.

Huh, sounds like our confessional.

I must also be a nobody, because I always sit in the chair for face-to-face confession. I normally confess to my spiritual director (because he’s usually there), who I would say is a good friend. Since he knows it’s me, he always tries to give me extra advice since he knows me a bit better.

 

[YoungTradCath]

Do they not have a screen they could put between the chairs for privacy? You can get a standing screen which could work.

I went to Westminster Cathedral for Confession, I’ve not seen ours in our Parish, but the Cathedral is great for Confession, they are available several hours a day.

No, there is nothing for anonymous confession.

It’s just a screen of some kind - it doesn’t have to be made of metal. Most of them are made of wood - some are just made of cloth. In the Confessionals where I normally go for Confession, the “grille” is just a piece of rippled plastic with a series of little holes punched in the bottom to speak through.

Are you saying you’ve never even seen a little portable screen with a kneeler that you can use, in your whole city? There are parishes out in the suburbs of our Diocese where they don’t seem to have the option for anonymous Confession (or it’s definitely not encouraged, because the prie-dieu is tucked in a corner, and you have to walk past the priest to go get it and set it up), but in the city itself, there are lots of anonymous Confessionals.

Yes, I know, but I’ve never seen a confessional in which it was possible to confess anonymously.

 

[jmcrae]

Yes, I know, but I’ve never seen a confessional in which it was possible to confess anonymously.

I’m very sad to learn that.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

It’s just a screen of some kind - it doesn’t have to be made of metal. Most of them are made of wood - some are just made of cloth. In the Confessionals where I normally go for Confession, the “grille” is just a piece of rippled plastic with a series of little holes punched in the bottom to speak through.

.

If you’re talking about the confessional next to the wall, there’s also a pull down safety first sun screen for cars to make it more anonymous. That wasn’t there the first time I confessed there, and it was pretty see-through.

On the other hand, I was at a church where the screen was a painted stove range fan filter. I was at another place where it was a shower curtain.

 

[jmcrae]

If you’re talking about the confessional next to the wall, there’s also a pull down safety first sun screen for cars to make it more anonymous. That wasn’t there the first time I confessed there, and it was pretty see-through.

I hadn’t noticed that - I’ll have to look for it.

On the other hand, I was at a church where the screen was a painted stove range fan filter. I was at another place where it was a shower curtain.

Whatever works, right?

 

[tee_eff_em]

See:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/SantCompostela25.jpg

The priest sits next to the grille with his ear close to it. He does not face it, but sits beside it, and he cannot see the penitent, although the penitent may be able to see the priest.

This is not like a cage, it is usually a fine-ish grille.

I am aware of the construction of a confessional, just as much as I am aware that there is nothing inherent to a grille that it produces anonymity (nor does Canon Law specify a right to anonymity, as some here have claimed).

tee

 

[JimG]

The confessionals at my parish have a grille with an opaque curtain on both sides. Even if a penitent–or priest were to pull back his side of the curtain–the other party could not be seen.

 

[YoungTradCath]

I am aware of the construction of a confessional, just as much as I am aware that there is nothing inherent to a grille that it produces anonymity (nor does Canon Law specify a right to anonymity, as some here have claimed).

tee

Canon 964 §2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.

Anonymous confession is always a right, and face to face confession is an option. What other purpose would a grate/grille serve besides maintaining anonymity? To be a pretty wall decoration?

 

[craftjunki]

I must also be a nobody, because I always sit in the chair for face-to-face confession. I normally confess to my spiritual director (because he’s usually there), who I would say is a good friend. Since he knows it’s me, he always tries to give me extra advice since he knows me a bit better.

I do confessions that way as well. And I’ve done horrible things that I needed to confess! And Fr knows me and my family and I feel that I get a more tailor-made response and penance.

 

[tee_eff_em]

Canon 964 §2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.

Anonymous confession is always a right, and face to face confession is an option.

You are begging the question.

What other purpose would a grate/grille serve besides maintaining anonymity? To be a pretty wall decoration?

I believe the OP had it right, that historically a physical barrier was introduced to guard against the crime of solicitation.

tee

 

[Mark1970]

I’ve just had a look at my copy of the book The Rites of the Catholic Church - as revised by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Volume One published by the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1990. It contains some of the sacramental rites with associated rubrics. For confession, it notes that:

Penitents unknown to the priest are advised to inform him of their state of life, the time of their last confession, their difficulties in leading the Christian life, and anything else that may help the confessor in the exercise of his ministry.​

I could be reading it wrong, but to me this suggests that the priest needs to have some knowledge of the penitent in order to do his job properly in confession. If the priest and penitent are genuine strangers to each other then the penitent is to give some back ground knowledge of himself - but this isn’t necessary if the priest already knows the penitent from either inside or outside the confessional. My interpretation of this paragraph is that it isn’t absolutely necessary for the penitent to be absolutely anonymous to the priest.

Just wondering - suppose someone confesed to the same priest regularly. But the priest had to treat each confession as a blank slate, the penitent was completely new to him, a complete stranger and he had no idea who (s)he was. If the penitent was obviously confessing certain sins every time, perhaps because they weren’t making the effort to overcome them, would the priest have to forget about previous confessions every time they confessed, because each one was supposed to be anonymous? Or would he be expected to take previous confessions into account even if this meant he may not be treating the penitent as being completely anonymous? I’m thinking that at some stage the priest may need to say “Look, this sin seems to be a problem and I’m wondering if you’re taking the resolution not to sin again seriously.” Would he be able to do this with strict anonymity?

 

[JimG]

I’ve just had a look at my copy of the book The Rites of the Catholic Church - as revised by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Volume One published by the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1990. It contains some of the sacramental rites with associated rubrics. For confession, it notes that:

Penitents unknown to the priest are advised to inform him of their state of life, the time of their last confession, their difficulties in leading the Christian life, and anything else that may help the confessor in the exercise of his ministry.​

I could be reading it wrong, but to me this suggests that the priest needs to have some knowledge of the penitent in order to do his job properly in confession. If the priest and penitent are genuine strangers to each other then the penitent is to give some back ground knowledge of himself - but this isn’t necessary if the priest already knows the penitent from either inside or outside the confessional. My interpretation of this paragraph is that it isn’t absolutely necessary for the penitent to be absolutely anonymous to the priest.

Just wondering - suppose someone confesed to the same priest regularly. But the priest had to treat each confession as a blank slate, the penitent was completely new to him, a complete stranger and he had no idea who (s)he was. If the penitent was obviously confessing certain sins every time, perhaps because they weren’t making the effort to overcome them, would the priest have to forget about previous confessions every time they confessed, because each one was supposed to be anonymous? Or would he be expected to take previous confessions into account even if this meant he may not be treating the penitent as being completely anonymous? I’m thinking that at some stage the priest may need to say “Look, this sin seems to be a problem and I’m wondering if you’re taking the resolution not to sin again seriously.” Would he be able to do this with strict anonymity?

The priest has to treat each confession as a blank slate. Otherwise he would be violating the seal of the confessional. Of course, the penitent can identify himself and mention prior confessions and prior sins. I’m not sure if the priest is allowed to bring up prior confessions even with someone known to him. It would seem that the danger would be in him either not recalling the prior confessions or recalling them incorrectly. In my parish, for example, a priest might hear 120 confessions per week. He would be treading on dangerous ground to rely on memory, especially since I’ve heard some priests say that they simply deliberately forget every confession after leaving the confessional.