Can one remain anonymous with a confessor?

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I would like very much to have a regular confessor, but I would like to keep my identity anonymous at all times. Is this something that is possible?
 
A confessor is simply someone you confess to.

Having a habitual confessor/spiritual director, but remaining anonymous, IMO, is seemingly redundant/self defeating
 
I would agree, the purpose of the whole confessor / director route is to have a guide to help you on your path and journey to a more holy life. Quite often, and is my opinion as well, that the confessor / director should be an ordained priest.

Just for confession, any sacrament of reconciliation will do just fine, almost every parish has set times and almost every parish will make appointments with a priest to hear a confession.

Now, if we’re just talking about anonymity during confession, by canon law, we the elect have a right to privacy … when feasible. So, we should have the option to either sit in view of the priest during confession or to kneel behind a screen of some sorts. Some churches have limited spaces and move confessions to this place or that and have a lot of variability. Some churches can’t even provide an area that could house a screen partition. If the privacy of your sins is close to your heart and you want to keep it that way, while still participating in the sacrament of reconciliation, then go look around at different churches and find one that has a partition in the confessional.

Finally, if there is a limited number of catholic churches and none in your area could offer a screened confession, call your favorite parish and simply ask them to provide a screened confession and an appointment, no worries, they’ve handled far more than that and it’s prescribed by our very church for the very thing that makes up the church, us little peoples!

Blessings.
 
Of course you can remain anonymous. Confessionals are are outfitted with a screen.
Choose behind the screen if you don’t wish to see him or him to see you.
 
Maximilian75 said:
Having a habitual confessor/spiritual director, but remaining anonymous, IMO, is seemingly redundant/self defeating
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My spiritual director is not my confessor. In my diocese that is encouraged for clergy.
 
Then one can have a habitual confesor.
However, the point of having such when there is no way to have continuity between confessions due to the desired anonymous nature of the Sacrament escapes me.
 
Technically, I think all folks confessing have the right to confess anonymously. Of course, practically speaking, that might be difficult because the priest might recognize your voice, etc.
 
Well, it depends on how one defines anonymous, too. The priest generally takes a glace at people as he goes into the confessional. I would be hard pressed to be completely undetected, as I am very conspicuously first in the line. I hate waiting in a line and fond of being first. Therefore, I get there an hour early and wait in a line of exactly zero penitents for one hour + however many minutes the priest is late.

My post lenten resolution is to go to confession once a week, and I hope I shall be able to keep it up. Previously my confession frequency has been most abysmal.

JPII went everyday, you know, but now I have said too much and have really stireed up the tomato soup. Mia Culpa.
 
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I have had confessors I liked and I would make an effort to go at a regular time when they were likely to be available, but they likely didn’t know who I was or couldn’t confirm that I was the same person month to month.
 
I think it would probably be easier to be truly anonymous in a larger parish, or rotate the parishes to which you go or confession (although I don’t know if that would be a good thing to do).
 
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Regardless of what Canon Law says, many parishes don’t have that option.
 
In a small parish, the screen or divider would make little difference. Well, it would make a person feel more comfortable, often, I would think.

But voices are easy to identify.

I myself don’t like going to my parish priest, but that is just my hang up. I’m sure I share it with many.
 
Anonymity is a great concept, but I am not sure it truly is possible, especially in small parishes.
The whole idea of confession, one human being to another, is a tough concept.
Since I was a child, I have had trouble confessing my sins to a priest.
Either God is going to forgive our sins or not. Why is it up to a human representative to dole out penance? We all will be judged on our last day.
 
Well, it’s very humbling for one thing, and this is a good thing for our spiritual lives. Humility is so key if a person want to be the person God has called and is calling us to be.
 
Given the seal of confession, and seeing how seriously the seal is viewed by the priests i know, the response to your question would be, “why?”
 
I don’t think this should concern us. We consider that after Christ had risen and the Sacrament of Reconciliation had just been been established, the Apostles and growing community had very few confessors to turn to. We could assume the twelve must have been quite busy. Eventually the priesthood grew, and there was more dispersal among private information being divulged.

The squeamishness and embarrassment is a consequence of giving into the sin. A twist on the modern saying could go something like, “If you can’t take the shame, don’t be to blame.”

Remember that the priests have heard most of it before, and they know they are simply the vessel of communication between the confesee and Christ himself. So it is safe to trust that nothing will ever leave the seal.
 
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When I expressed my concern that the diocese was advising setting up reconciliation rooms with glass doors rather than traditional confessionals with grills, which let’s face it would solve the problem of potential physical contact between priest and penitent that those glass doors are meant to prevent, one priest exclaimed “How can I properly counsel someone if I don’t know who they are?!?”

Our reconciliation room is fitted with a grill and I always avail of kneeling behind the grill rather than going around the wall and sitting face to face with the priest. That’s not to say that the priest doesn’t know who is confessing. He most likely recognizes my voice.
 
Indeed. I asked for a screen when I first started confessing in my parish, and my pastor threw his hands up, rolled his eyes and told me that if it’s so important to me I should confess somewhere else. I have done so ever since. :woman_shrugging:t2:
 
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I find this astounding every parish here has both options.
Weird.
 
Well, things aren’t globally uniform. Also, you have an awesome Archbishop.
 
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