Confessional vs Face to Face Confession

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whizkid43

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So, another of questions as I try to catch up on things.

I haven’t been to confession in a long time. The last I recall the confessional was being de-emphasized and face to face confessions were being encouraged. I was attending a Catholic school at the time and when we had to go to confession they setup two chairs facing one another in the room next to the altar in Church and that was the new way to go to confession. Confessionals were still available, but as I mentioned, being deemphasized.

Is that still the case?

Thanks in advance.
 
At our church both are available. I prefer to go face to face. Never liked the whole black box thing. I also prefer to go to someone who I know and respect and who knows me. I don’t want to tell all my “stuff” to a stranger. There’s also something really powerful about God’s representative looking you in the eye and saying “your sins are forgiven.” It touches my heart in a way the black box never did and helps me stay on track better than I would otherwise.
 
You’re right, since the early 70s many churches have gone from confessionals to reconciliation rooms. But Canon law still requires confessionals or at least a set-up that guarantees the penitent anonymity if he/she wants it. There is still a canonical requirement for a screen between the penitent and the priest.

We don’t have a traditional confessional in our church but our reconciliation room is set up in such a way that as you walk in you face a curtain and a prie-Dieu. You can kneel there and confess and never have to be identified by the priest. Or, you can walk around the curtain and sit in an armchair, face to face with the priest and confess that way.

That’s how it works in theory. In reality if you want to confess you have to first find the priest, who refuses to sit in the reconciliation room ‘because nobody comes’ and usually only shows up a few minutes before Mass, go ask for confession and then feel the time constraints. Anonymity? Yeah, right. Your only chance for that is to wait for the Advent or Lent Reconciliation Celebration and stand in line for the reconciliation room (otherwise you’re at a face to face station in another part of the church).
 
whizkid43 said:
So, another of questions as I try to catch up on things.

I haven’t been to confession in a long time. The last I recall the confessional was being de-emphasized and face to face confessions were being encouraged. I was attending a Catholic school at the time and when we had to go to confession they setup two chairs facing one another in the room next to the altar in Church and that was the new way to go to confession. Confessionals were still available, but as I mentioned, being deemphasized.

Is that still the case?

Thanks in advance.
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Most parishes that I have been to offer both the “traditional confessional” as well as the “face-to-face.” Neither are being emphasized over the other as far as I am aware.
 
Actually, if you wanted to, as I suggested in the other thread, you could call the priest and set up an appointment for him to “meet” you at x:00 in the reconciliation room or confessional. If you wanted anonymity, you would then proceed to do what Phemie described. If you want to sit in the chair face-to-face, you could do that, as well. You have to be offered the option of anonymity, and the priest can decide he prefers anonymity.

Another idea would be to scout out Boston churches on the Internet, as your tag now shows from MA. I suggest this as some big cities in the US have long confession hours in one church or another, as they do at St. Peter In Chains in Chicago (St. Peter In the Loop). If you can find something like St. Peter’s in Boston, then there are priests who hear confession on a rotational basis the majority of the weekdays. This way, you would not have to make an appointment, and priests in these situations are quite used to peneitents who come back to the Church taking time with their confessions. Probably, they will also be able to refer you to a priest or deacon in your area to finish up the job confession starts.
 
whizkid43 said:
So, another of questions as I try to catch up on things.

I haven’t been to confession in a long time. The last I recall the confessional was being de-emphasized and face to face confessions were being encouraged. I was attending a Catholic school at the time and when we had to go to confession they setup two chairs facing one another in the room next to the altar in Church and that was the new way to go to confession. Confessionals were still available, but as I mentioned, being deemphasized.

Is that still the case?

Thanks in advance.
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The choice is the persons, when it is offered both ways. The priest may decided not to offer face to face.
 
It depends on the parish.
As has already been mentioned, the priest technically does have to offer the option of anonymity. At one of the two churches I attend they have the little curtain set-up: you can kneel behind the curtain or go around and sit face-to-face w/ the priest. The other church has the traditional confessional (which I prefer).

I find that in the confessional, it’s easier for me to be more reverential, focusing on the solemnity of the sacrament and the priest in persona Christi. With face-to-face, I sometimes get “friendly chat with a guidance councelor” vibes, so I do prefer the anonymity of the confessional.

But different people have different needs. I can see how the more direct human interaction of f-2-f could be humbling…And knowing you’ll have to look your confessor in the eye could help strengthen your resolve not to sin. And give you a more tangible, personal sense of God’s mercy, if that’s what you need. I guess whichever method helps you to make a better confession is the best.

But I do miss the old black box confessionals. As far as I’ve seen, they are being deemphasized. Newer churches just aren’t built with them anymore, or very rarely.
 
You are very lucky if you can find a traditional confessional (at least in the Raleigh area). For me, the ‘black box’ only emphasizes the importance of the sacrament!
 
Every place around here seems to have traditional confessionals. At my parish, there are confessionals but no ‘reconciliation room.’ Now often, priests will place a chair at the altar rail (yes, we have one) to hear confessions if there is a long line at the confessional. But even then, the priest is looking down, not at the penitent.
 
2nmga said:
You are very lucky if you can find a traditional confessional (at least in the Raleigh area). For me, the ‘black box’ only emphasizes the importance of the sacrament!
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I would agree that the “black box” is rare, but the Screen must always be available (according to Canon Law) and must be set up in a manner so that the priest cannot see who is coming or going.
 
While the practical emphasis is, indeed, on face to face, the canonical (i.e. legal) reality is that both priest and penitent each has a right to be behind a screen. So despite the fact that it is not actually carried out, it is wrong of priests to offer confessions somewhere without a screen (and they are also supposed to have enough scheduled times that most people would not have to make an appointment - with its risk of losing their anonymity; if a priest only has confessions by appointment, he’s breaking the law). So if you look at it from the legal side of things, face to face has never been emphasized in modern times, since both pre- and post-Vatican II there was a right to a screen.
 
crmcfl said:
At our church both are available. I prefer to go face to face. Never liked the whole black box thing. I also prefer to go to someone who I know and respect and who knows me. I don’t want to tell all my “stuff” to a stranger. There’s also something really powerful about God’s representative looking you in the eye and saying “your sins are forgiven.” It touches my heart in a way the black box never did and helps me stay on track better than I would otherwise.
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I feel the same way. In addition I had a very bad expereince in the confessional when I was a kid, and while I will go in a confessional if necessary, I usually go to confession in my office, or in the lounge under the church. My confessor is also a good friend. I find it more difficult to confess to a stranger than to a priest I know well.
 
I guess we are fortunate. At my parish confession is always heard in the confessional, but the confessionals are such that they can either be behind the screen or you can step around to the priest’s side and there is a chair available for face to face. We have 4 of these confessionals in the church and at the designated times for confession there are usually 2 to 3 priests hearing confession. I prefer the behind the screen confession, although I do make an effort to go to the same confessor.
 
2nmga said:
You are very lucky if you can find a traditional confessional (at least in the Raleigh area). For me, the ‘black box’ only emphasizes the importance of the sacrament!
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Come over to St. Joseph’s. We have a traditional confessional and a wonderful confessor.
 
Joannm said:
. My confessor is also a good friend. I find it more difficult to confess to a stranger than to a priest I know well.
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So is mine, He is Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. We are not confessing to a stranger we are confessing to Jesus christ through a priest. Let us not forget this.
 
My very first confession (three years ago this month), and most of the confessions with our parish priest are face to face. When I go to the OLAM Shrine, it’s in the confessionals. I’m perfectly comfortable either way.

DaveBj
 
maryj said:
So is mine, He is Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. We are not confessing to a stranger we are confessing to Jesus christ through a priest. Let us not forget this.
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While that is true, I feel more comfortable confessing to a priest that I know. I have been to priests that I do not know and it just seems so mechanical. My friend knows well my weaknesses and helps me to overcome them. The last time I was to confession to someone I didn’t know I don’t even think he was listening to me because his advice has absolutly nothing to do with the sins I confessed and I could make no sense of his remarks. I know I was forgiven but I really prefer my priest friend for confession.
 
I do not think either is being emphasized. I believe the matter is let totally to choice of the one confessing, as long as the facility allows for face-to-face.
 
Joannm said:
While that is true, I feel more comfortable confessing to a priest that I know. I have been to priests that I do not know and it just seems so mechanical. My friend knows well my weaknesses and helps me to overcome them. The last time I was to confession to someone I didn’t know I don’t even think he was listening to me because his advice has absolutly nothing to do with the sins I confessed and I could make no sense of his remarks. I know I was forgiven but I really prefer my priest friend for confession.
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Considering that my pastor is also my boss (and refuses to be available for regularly scheduled confession, thus giving a distinct impression that it’s unimportant) I’d rather confess to anyone else - but most of the time there is no one else in town. When another priest does come to stay for a few days, usually on his way to somewhere else since we are a hub town, I make sure to take advantage of it.
 
Phemie said:
Considering that my pastor is also my boss (and refuses to be available for regularly scheduled confession, thus giving a distinct impression that it’s unimportant) I’d rather confess to anyone else - but most of the time there is no one else in town. When another priest does come to stay for a few days, usually on his way to somewhere else since we are a hub town, I make sure to take advantage of it.
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I make it a rule never to confess to someone I work with, especially my boss.
 
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