Confirmation students and Confession

[fakename]

Sometimes confirmation students are placed ahead of those who have arrived first for confession.

But what is the rationale for that? I mean, no one knows who needs confession more or less and so shouldn’t one practically leave it up to the penitents instead of always favoring the pre=confirmed?

 

[runningdude]

This doesn’t happen at my church. I guess its just up to the discretion of the pastor.

 

[Castello]

Adults have the freedom to go to Confession when they desire. Confirmation students are kids who depend on adults to drive them. If you were a kid who could only get to Confession when your mom dropped you off for Conf class, you’d likely be grateful to the adult who let you go ahead in line.

 

[Cristiano]

The first problem is that, in some cases like in my diocese, it is not possible to schedule a specific confession time for those students thus they have to go at regular times. The second problem is that unless the catechist takes them to confession and organizes the whole thing these kids are not going to go to confession because their parents do not go to confession either. The only reasonable and sadly rude thing to do is to gather the students and put them in front of everybody else.
I am a catechist and I have been in the receiving line, I did not like it at all and so when it came my turn to take kids to confession I tried to plan it differently. However, it was impossible and I was told that from now on the kids cannot be taken to confession in a group by the catechist but it is only their parents job.
Today, I rather be in a confession line as a penitent and see a group of kids being pushed ahead of me because I know that it will be their only change to go through confession for a few years in the future.