Boom in Confessions is a Sign of the Francis Effect

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Lucky7 said:
I’m not beingnegative. I’m being realistic. Something about this just doesn’t compute…literally.

Didn’t someone already mention that this report was not from the Vatican itself? Is it really hard to believe that reporters don’t always tell the whole story?

You seem to take any comment that doesn’t agree with yours very personally. Why is that?
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Did you read the **About **section in the news report? They do not appear to be fly-by-nights that would involve themselves in untrue tabloids.

I would ask you the same question … why are you entering my threads with your put-downs? JReducation had to correct you in the other one. There is no need to express yourself so repeatedly just to negate the opinions of an innocently shared news item. Mama always said, “if you can’t say anything NICE …” 😛 Follow?"
 
Sirach2 said:
Did you read the **About **section in the news report? They do not appear to be fly-by-nights that would involve themselves in untrue tabloids.

I would ask you the same question … why are you entering my threads with your put-downs? JReducation had to correct you in the other one. There is no need to express yourself so repeatedly just to negate the opinions of an innocently shared news item. Mama always said, “if you can’t say anything NICE …” 😛 Follow?"
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“Your” threads? You mean the* two * recent threads you have started (One here and one in TC)? You seem to take issue with anyone (not just me) coming into “your” threads to speak a different voice than your own. Stop taking it personally. I have nothing against you (despite the fact that you are making it abundantly clear that you do have something against me). I’m sure I have agreed with many other of your posts/threads throughout my tenure here.
 
Lucky7’s points seem perfectly reasonable to me,I have to say. It’s really too soon to attribute anything to the new Pope, except purely locally in Rome. I certainly haven’t been aware of anything the Pope said specifically about confession sufficient to arouse people to new heights. I’m not saying he hasn’t said anything, but that it hasn’t been headline news or mentioned form the pulpit.
And there’s certainly been no boom in our parish.
Sirach2, there’s a difference between positive and being too quick to draw conclusions. Some are more cautious than others - it doesn’t mean they should be slammed as being negative, either.
 
paperwight66 said:
Lucky7’s points seem perfectly reasonable to me,I have to say. It’s really too soon to attribute anything to the new Pope, except purely locally in Rome. I certainly haven’t been aware of anything the Pope said specifically about confession sufficient to arouse people to new heights. I’m not saying he hasn’t said anything, but that it hasn’t been headline news or mentioned form the pulpit.
And there’s certainly been no boom in our parish.
Sirach2, there’s a difference between positive and being too quick to draw conclusions. Some are more cautious than others - it doesn’t mean they should be slammed as being negative, either.
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Thank you. I most certainly hope that in time we see this around the world though.
 
paperwight66 said:
Lucky7’s points seem perfectly reasonable to me,I have to say. It’s really too soon to attribute anything to the new Pope, except purely locally in Rome. I certainly haven’t been aware of anything the Pope said specifically about confession sufficient to arouse people to new heights. [It was addressed by Mrs. Sally.] I’m not saying he hasn’t said anything, but that it hasn’t been headline news or mentioned form the pulpit.
And there’s certainly been no boom in our parish. **

You may not have seen the other five posts in this thread, Paperwight. I believe her point has been made overabundantly. How many times does a person need to counter in order to make their point heard? Repetition can be understood as harassment by some. Thanks for your kind words.

To anyone who may have ventured into this thread, it was posted simply as a news item, the veracity of which is not totally verified, but the credibility of which is certainly worthy of the editors. The return to confession is truly a praiseworthy practice, and whether it occurs primarily as a result of Pope Francis’ election, or lenten seasonal habits, it is a good thing, yes? Remember 911? The churches were full, but later on, we experienced a waning. If the Lord moves us to confess, no matter the reason, let us praise Him and invite our family to come home!
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Lucky7 said:
If this is merely Rome, then I guess I can see that; however, I always thought that Lent was always a big time for confessions (not to mention that it is the time when we are supposed to fulfill our annual obligation). Maybe part of it is directly related to Pope Francis, but I have to think that part of it is related to the time of year.
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Good news, the confession phenomenon is true here in my state.
Read more: post-gazette.com/stories/news/us/pope-francis-charms-throng-with-blessing-in-square-679757/#ixzz2OUAkQDmn

Father Vereb, who is undergoing long-term rehabilitation from a heart transplant while serving as a hospice chaplain, was astounded when people started showing up at his health care facility asking if he would hear their confession. Some hadn’t made one in many years. “It’s the effect this pope has had,” he said.

Wondering if it was only because he was on the radio, he contacted parish priests and local monasteries. News of Pope Francis’ election had reached Pittsburgh hours before parishes were scheduled to begin 6 p.m. confessions as part of a diocesanwide Lenten program. Due to a snowstorm, he said, most priests didn’t expect anyone to show up.
**“They were jammed,” he said. “They heard confessions until well after 9 p.m. **They heard a lot of complicated confessions, and they were in the confessional much longer than expected.”

One pastor reported hearing more than 50 confessions that night, he said. “The [Passionist] monastery was packed and so were the Capuchins.” Priests said people reported being moved partly by the new pope’s request for them to give him their blessing “but mostly it was the simplicity of the way that he stood there,” he said.
 
Folks, you have to understand how this is done. Many bishops conferences require that the pastors keep track of the number of confessions, baptisms, first Holy Communions, Confirmations, marriages and funerals. They have to send these numbers to the chancery every month. The chancery then compares the numbers with the previous years. This is one of the easiest statistics to gather. They just compare the number of confessions to the same week last year during Lent. By doing it that way, it rules out the influence of Lent. The comparison is made fifth week during Lent 2012 and 2013. It just happens the fifth week of Lent 2013 the Pope was elected. Other than that, it’s a Lent like any other.

Now, if you’re having a parish mission this year and you did not have one last year, then you would factor this in as a possible trigger to the increased number of confessions. Since the only difference between the last two weeks of Lent in 2012 and 2013 is the election of the Pope in 2013, one can hypothosize that there is a correlation. The only way to prove the hypothesis is to take a poll. But you’re not allowed to do that with confession. You can’t just walk up to someone and ask "Did you go to confession last year on the 5th Saturday of Lent? Why are you going to confession this year? It will remain at the level of a hypothetical correlation.
 
Today is Reconciliation Monday in the New York, Brooklyn and Rockville Center Diocese’s.

The sacrament will be offered from 3PM - 9PM in every Church in all 3 diocese’s. These 3 diocese’s are huge and when put together, represent millions of Catholics. We have been doing this for a few years now in an effort to give every Catholic a chance to confess their sins during Lent. It has been quite successful and growing with each year, but this year, you can tell from the way our priests are talking, they are expecting this to be the best year yet because of the selection of Pope Francis. He has already excited and re-charged the faithful, and his selection will help us in our mission evangelize and bring back our fallen away brothers and sisters.

I hope to be standing in line for hour’s today!🙂
 
jimcav said:
Today is Reconciliation Monday in the New York, Brooklyn and Rockville Center Diocese’s.

The sacrament will be offered from 3PM - 9PM in every Church in all 3 diocese’s. These 3 diocese’s are huge and when put together, represent millions of Catholics. We have been doing this for a few years now in an effort to give every Catholic a chance to confess their sins during Lent. It has been quite successful and growing with each year, but this year, you can tell from the way our priests are talking, they are expecting this to be the best year yet because of the selection of Pope Francis. He has already excited and re-charged the faithful, and his selection will help us in our mission evangelize and bring back our fallen away brothers and sisters.

I hope to be standing in line for hour’s today!🙂
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:amen:
 
jimcav said:
Today is Reconciliation Monday in the New York, Brooklyn and Rockville Center Diocese’s.

The sacrament will be offered from 3PM - 9PM in every Church in all 3 diocese’s. These 3 diocese’s are huge and when put together, represent millions of Catholics. We have been doing this for a few years now in an effort to give every Catholic a chance to confess their sins during Lent. It has been quite successful and growing with each year, but this year, you can tell from the way our priests are talking, they are expecting this to be the best year yet because of the selection of Pope Francis. He has already excited and re-charged the faithful, and his selection will help us in our mission evangelize and bring back our fallen away brothers and sisters.

I hope to be standing in line for hour’s today!🙂
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Is this a “bumper crop” Jim? 😃
 
Many priests in Italy say the number of confessions has gone up and lots of people are approaching the sacraments again, saying they have been inspired by the Pope’s words. What is the situation in Buenos Aires?

“I speak with reference not just to my city but to the experiences of other Argentinean bishops who have told me about what they have seen. There is a significant number of people who have not been to confession for twenty, thirty, maybe forty years, but have returned to the Church after being struck by the Pope’s words on forgiveness and mercy. The number of faithful who attended this year’s Good Friday celebrations tripled in Buenos Aires. Bergoglio focused a lot on our people’s “reservoir of faith” which was once deterred but now reappeared. Since it is impossible for something that did not exist to reappear, faith must have just fallen asleep for a bit. What made many people’s faith begin to blossom again, was the fact that someone simple like us, someone they could identify with, is now sitting at the Throne of Peter. Then there’s the question of our national pride: people realised taht the only real way they could support Francis was to live a holy life.”

Source: page two

Thanks be to God!
 
I know that Francis has barely gotten his feet wet in his new role, but I have to like what I’m seeing. Even though I’m not a practicing Catholic or Christian, I do recognize the power and potential for positive results that rest with the Pope. You just never know what one good man in a position like that can accomplish.
 
DH & and I have commented to each other that we’ve noticed a considerable increase in people waiting to go to Confession when we go this past year or so, not just the past few weeks. Example: we were there a few weeks prior to Christmas. Normally we’d see 3-4 other people. There were at least 30 that afternoon while we were there.
 
Pax2u said:
DH & and I have commented to each other that we’ve noticed a considerable increase in people waiting to go to Confession when we go this past year or so, not just the past few weeks. Example: we were there a few weeks prior to Christmas. Normally we’d see 3-4 other people. There were at least 30 that afternoon while we were there.
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Just 30?

You must live in a very small parish. We have an average of 200 a week and we had about 500 for Holy Week.
 
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