Catholic Confession vs Other denominations' form of confession

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Last Sunday, we were listening to a homily of our Parish Priest over lunch, and the topic of the day was the Sacrament of Confession. He used a real-life example to describe an occasion where a priest is supposed to keep secret the sins confessor. This evoked a bit of a discussion over secret-keeping, which led mom to describe a real-life situation that happened to a friend and colleague in another born-again church.

Mom’s friend (who I’ll call Kay) was separated from her husband, and was living alone in a rented apartment. She was in a physical affair with her friend’s husband, which led to her getting pregnant. She then had an abortion. Her landlady was disgusted by everything that Kay was doing, so she decided to act as ‘whistle-blower’.

The landlady wrote a long letter describing in detail all the sins that Kay committed, from the intimate details of the affair to the hospital in which she had an abortion. Then she asked a student (Kay was a schoolteacher) to go and throw the letter into the teacher’s toilet. Which the kid did. One of Kay’s colleagues noticed the letter, picked it up and read it. Shocked, she went straight to another colleague who goes to the same church with Kay, and happens to be a senior member of the ‘church board’, and handed her the letter. The senior member then took the letter to church, where she and her fellow leaders had a thorough meeting on that matter.

Few days later, Kay received a call that she was needed for an urgent meeting at church. She didn’t have a clue what it was all about, mom speculated that maybe they want to sponsor her studies, as she was studying for a diploma that time and she was having trouble paying her fees. When she reached there she was hit by that bombshell.

After the church leaders interrogated her, she admitted all the sins that she committed, and asked for forgiveness. They told her that the following Sunday, she should stand infront of the whole congregation, explain all the sins she committed and ask for forgiveness. She left that meeting, and never returned to that church.

So, what do you think of that church’s confession style? Is it the best way for people to stop sin? Or is it embarrassing and humiliating, compared to ours in which we privately confess infront of a priest?
 
altms said:
Last Sunday, we were listening to a homily of our Parish Priest over lunch, and the topic of the day was the Sacrament of Confession. He used a real-life example to describe an occasion where a priest is supposed to keep secret the sins confessor. This evoked a bit of a discussion over secret-keeping, which led mom to describe a real-life situation that happened to a friend and colleague in another born-again church.

Mom’s friend (who I’ll call Kay) was separated from her husband, and was living alone in a rented apartment. She was in a physical affair with her friend’s husband, which led to her getting pregnant. She then had an abortion. Her landlady was disgusted by everything that Kay was doing, so she decided to act as ‘whistle-blower’.

The landlady wrote a long letter describing in detail all the sins that Kay committed, from the intimate details of the affair to the hospital in which she had an abortion. Then she asked a student (Kay was a schoolteacher) to go and throw the letter into the teacher’s toilet. Which the kid did. One of Kay’s colleagues noticed the letter, picked it up and read it. Shocked, she went straight to another colleague who goes to the same church with Kay, and happens to be a senior member of the ‘church board’, and handed her the letter. The senior member then took the letter to church, where she and her fellow leaders had a thorough meeting on that matter.

Few days later, Kay received a call that she was needed for an urgent meeting at church. She didn’t have a clue what it was all about, mom speculated that maybe they want to sponsor her studies, as she was studying for a diploma that time and she was having trouble paying her fees. When she reached there she was hit by that bombshell.

After the church leaders interrogated her, she admitted all the sins that she committed, and asked for forgiveness. They told her that the following Sunday, she should stand infront of the whole congregation, explain all the sins she committed and ask for forgiveness. She left that meeting, and never returned to that church.

So, what do you think of that church’s confession style? Is it the best way for people to stop sin? Or is it embarrassing and humiliating, compared to ours in which we privately confess infront of a priest?
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That might seem excessive, but it has precedent in the early Church. St Ambrose humbled and humiliated Theodosius because of the atrocity at Thessalonica. The emperor was barred entry to the Church, made to repent and do very public penance for his crime.

Sometimes saying a few Hail Marys doesn’t quite cut it.
 
I had heard that way back in the early years of the Church, confession and penance were public, and that a person only had one chance to do it during his or her lifetime. Supposedly, missionaries to Ireland changed the practice and it became a private affair around 1,000 years ago.
 
how did “Kay’s” landlady know she’d had an abortion, or with whom she was having an affair?? :confused: Must have been a small town where everyone knew everyone else…

Although what “Kay” was doing was sinful, the landlady acted out of false pride or being the first to throw stones. What a horrible story. Makes me very thankful I am a Catholic! 👍
 
Yes, that is embarassing and humiliating. Further, there are no sacramental graces attached to that instance of “Confession.”

I know that in the early Church, penance was public. I’m not sure about the Confession part, though. But I think there’s a very good reason that the Church no longer does things that way.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
how did “Kay’s” landlady know she’d had an abortion, or with whom she was having an affair?? :confused: Must have been a small town where everyone knew everyone else…
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Landladies here know a lot. 😉 Never mess with them. They do their homework.

Fair play to her, she’s totally rebuilt her life, got her qualifications, and is now a high school headmistress. I hope she repented her sins.
 
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altms:
Last Sunday, we were listening to a homily of our Parish Priest over lunch, and the topic of the day was the Sacrament of Confession. He used a real-life example to describe an occasion where a priest is supposed to keep secret the sins confessor. This evoked a bit of a discussion over secret-keeping, which led mom to describe a real-life situation that happened to a friend and colleague in another born-again church.

Mom’s friend (who I’ll call Kay) was separated from her husband, and was living alone in a rented apartment. She was in a physical affair with her friend’s husband, which led to her getting pregnant. She then had an abortion. Her landlady was disgusted by everything that Kay was doing, so she decided to act as ‘whistle-blower’.

The landlady wrote a long letter describing in detail all the sins that Kay committed, from the intimate details of the affair to the hospital in which she had an abortion. Then she asked a student (Kay was a schoolteacher) to go and throw the letter into the teacher’s toilet. Which the kid did. One of Kay’s colleagues noticed the letter, picked it up and read it. Shocked, she went straight to another colleague who goes to the same church with Kay, and happens to be a senior member of the ‘church board’, and handed her the letter. The senior member then took the letter to church, where she and her fellow leaders had a thorough meeting on that matter.

Few days later, Kay received a call that she was needed for an urgent meeting at church. She didn’t have a clue what it was all about, mom speculated that maybe they want to sponsor her studies, as she was studying for a diploma that time and she was having trouble paying her fees. When she reached there she was hit by that bombshell.

After the church leaders interrogated her, she admitted all the sins that she committed, and asked for forgiveness. They told her that the following Sunday, she should stand infront of the whole congregation, explain all the sins she committed and ask for forgiveness. She left that meeting, and never returned to that church.

So, what do you think of that church’s confession style? Is it the best way for people to stop sin? Or is it embarrassing and humiliating, compared to ours in which we privately confess infront of a priest?
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This is what you get without a sacramental confession.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android
 
on_the_hill said:
I had heard that way back in the early years of the Church, confession and penance were public, and that a person only had one chance to do it during his or her lifetime. Supposedly, missionaries to Ireland changed the practice and it became a private affair around 1,000 years ago.
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That is absolutely true. In the early Church people confessed in front of everybody else. In the Orthodox Church we still do this today, although the confessions are not audible. But those who confess stand in front of the church before an icon of Christ and the priest stands beside him. The person confesses to Christ and the priest is a mere witness to it.
 
altms said:
Last Sunday, we were listening to a homily of our Parish Priest over lunch, and the topic of the day was the Sacrament of Confession. He used a real-life example to describe an occasion where a priest is supposed to keep secret the sins confessor. This evoked a bit of a discussion over secret-keeping, which led mom to describe a real-life situation that happened to a friend and colleague in another born-again church.

Mom’s friend (who I’ll call Kay) was separated from her husband, and was living alone in a rented apartment. She was in a physical affair with her friend’s husband, which led to her getting pregnant. She then had an abortion. Her landlady was disgusted by everything that Kay was doing, so she decided to act as ‘whistle-blower’.

The landlady wrote a long letter describing in detail all the sins that Kay committed, from the intimate details of the affair to the hospital in which she had an abortion. Then she asked a student (Kay was a schoolteacher) to go and throw the letter into the teacher’s toilet. Which the kid did. One of Kay’s colleagues noticed the letter, picked it up and read it. Shocked, she went straight to another colleague who goes to the same church with Kay, and happens to be a senior member of the ‘church board’, and handed her the letter. The senior member then took the letter to church, where she and her fellow leaders had a thorough meeting on that matter.

Few days later, Kay received a call that she was needed for an urgent meeting at church. She didn’t have a clue what it was all about, mom speculated that maybe they want to sponsor her studies, as she was studying for a diploma that time and she was having trouble paying her fees. When she reached there she was hit by that bombshell.

After the church leaders interrogated her, she admitted all the sins that she committed, and asked for forgiveness. They told her that the following Sunday, she should stand infront of the whole congregation, explain all the sins she committed and ask for forgiveness. She left that meeting, and never returned to that church.

So, what do you think of that church’s confession style? Is it the best way for people to stop sin? Or is it embarrassing and humiliating, compared to ours in which we privately confess infront of a priest?
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I believe as I was taught growing up and as Jesus taught.

Jesus said anyone who has no sins can cast the first stone. Well you know how that went.

Here is how my family taught it. Maybe the Landlord should have been in Church confessing her own sins then by the time she got done with that, she wouldn’t have any time confessing Kays sins.😃

God didn’t teach us to go to Church and confess anothers sins. He taught us to confess our own.

Let Kay confess and repent her own sins when she is ready. She don’t need the landlady confessing hers sins for he. She can do it herself.

I am sure Ole Kay could let you know some of the Landladys sins also.

Like sin number one. Mind your own business!!😃
 
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ConstantineTG:
Quote:

Originally Posted by concretecamper

This is what you get without a sacramental confession.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android

I don’t know how a Sacramental Confession would be much different, the first half of the story would have happened anyway even if they were in a Catholic parish.
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the first half of the story was not about a sacramental confession…not sure of you point.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android
 
I do think there being a certain amount of shame in confessing and repenting is a good thing. How many times have you mumbled your worst sins in confession? How many times have you gone to a different priest out of shame? I know I have. If you did that without godly motives, your contrition is seriously in doubt.
 
concretecamper said:
the first half of the story was not about a sacramental confession…not sure of you point.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android
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“Kay” would still be scandalized, because the landlady still would have gossiped, and the school teacher would still have read and gossiped Kay’s story. The story of her sins would still have gotten out.
 
ConstantineTG said:
“Kay” would still be scandalized, because the landlady still would have gossiped, and the school teacher would still have read and gossiped Kay’s story. The story of her sins would still have gotten out.
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That is the ugliness of gossip. But the 2nd half of the story is a shame and is what happens when you leave it to men to decide how to handle sin.
 
altms said:
…
After the church leaders interrogated her, she admitted all the sins that she committed, and asked for forgiveness. They told her that the following Sunday, she should stand infront of the whole congregation, explain all the sins she committed and ask for forgiveness. She left that meeting, and never returned to that church.

So, what do you think of that church’s confession style? Is it the best way for people to stop sin? Or is it embarrassing and humiliating, compared to ours in which we privately confess infront of a priest?
Click to expand...
Confession in the early church was public, and penance was a life long burden.

The Catholic Church implemented the sacred seal of secrecy surrounding confession because people would rather take sins to the grave than face the kind of public humiliation you’ve shared.
 
runningdude said:
Confession in the early church was public, and penance was a life long burden.

The Catholic Church implemented the sacred seal of secrecy surrounding confession because people would rather take sins to the grave than face the kind of public humiliation you’ve shared.
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Public confession back in the day wasn’t a form of public shaming. People then functioned more as a family, thus airing your dirty laundry out in front of your family was normal and okay. It was also so that everyone can help each other overcome their sins.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Public confession back in the day wasn’t a form of public shaming. People then functioned more as a family, thus airing your dirty laundry out in front of your family was normal and okay. It was also so that everyone can help each other overcome their sins.
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And family never embarrasses its members 😉
 
ConstantineTG said:
I don’t know how a Sacramental Confession would be much different, the first half of the story would have happened anyway even if they were in a Catholic parish.
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Uh, the story was all about confessing, did not include absolution, penance, reparation.

It’s pretty different.
 
ConstantineTG said:
That is absolutely true. In the early Church people confessed in front of everybody else. In the Orthodox Church we still do this today, although the confessions are not audible. But those who confess stand in front of the church before an icon of Christ and the priest stands beside him. The person confesses to Christ and the priest is a mere witness to it.
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When does this public non audible confession happen, I’ve never heard of it in Orthros, Liturgy or Vespers?

I confess with a priest between Orthros and Liturgy.
 
andrewstx said:
When does this public non audible confession happen, I’ve never heard of it in Orthros, Liturgy or Vespers?

I confess with a priest between Orthros and Liturgy.
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Sorry, I didn’t mean that people are supposed to be there and they watch you do confession. You do your confession but people may be there. It is never a closed door affair, like having a confessional. Access to the nave is not restricted when one is saying his confession. But people are not required to be there.

Also, while it isn’t exactly a complete confession, we still sort of do the public confession through Forgiveness Sunday Vespers.
 
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