How does "Confession by Appointment" work?

[Amateur_Soul]

Do you meet the priest in his office or is there an option to have him meet you anonymously in the Confessional at an appointed time?

Just curious. (I’d assume the former but wondered if anyone had done the latter.)

 

[LilyM]

Do you meet the priest in his office or is there an option to have him meet you anonymously in the Confessional at an appointed time?

Just curious. (I’d assume the former but wondered if anyone had done the latter.)

Oh I’m sure you can request it to be anonymous - you have a right to anonymity even if you make an appointment.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Do you meet the priest in his office or is there an option to have him meet you anonymously in the Confessional at an appointed time?

Just curious. (I’d assume the former but wondered if anyone had done the latter.)

Check out:
masstimes.org
Go down to the green box where it says “Additional Look up options” and search for “confession” you will get times and locations for all the nearby churches.

You live in SoCal, there should be plenty of options…good luck .

 

[LilyM]

Just wanted to add - I went to daily Mass today and about 10 minutes before Mass, when I got there, the confessional light was on, and the priest was hearing someone’s confession.

It wasn’t a scheduled time for confession, so obviously it was a pre-arranged appointment.

 

[Miserissima]

It wasn’t a scheduled time for confession, so obviously it was a pre-arranged appointment.

Haha, you made me giggle. I used to do the fly-by confessions before Mass, especially when I was in the military. Eventually, someone would figure out what I was doing, and there would be a queue of fellow soldiers behind me (standing at a respectful distance, of course, something like standing in line at an ATM.) The priest would look at his watch and you could tell he was getting a little annoyed by the time constraints.

But I never had the pleasure of getting into a confessional just before Mass.

 

[Brendan]

Oh I’m sure you can request it to be anonymous - you have a right to anonymity even if you make an appointment.

The way to do an anonymous appointment is to call the parish, and speak to the priest.

Mention that you are in need of the Sacrament and decide upon a time to meet in the confessional.

 

[A2SciTeach]

So if you are making an appointment for an anonymous confession, do you do it under an assumed name? It seems that if you didn’t you would no longer be anonymous…

 

[GregoryPalamas]

So if you are making an appointment for an anonymous confession, do you do it under an assumed name? It seems that if you didn’t you would no longer be anonymous…

Wouldn’t you then have to confess to lying as well?

CDL

 

[jpjd]

If you want to make an appt for an anonymous confession, you don’t have to give any name, real or assumed. Just say to the priest that you are a member of the parish, you would like to make an appt for a confession, and you would prefer not to give your name. Ask to meet at the confessional so there is no confusion.

I once made an appt for a late afternoon confession because that was what fit both our schedules. (I gave my real name because I didn’t care if the priest knew who I was.) We never explicitly stated where the confession would be. I made the mistake of assuming we would meet at the confessional. He assumed we would be meeting in his office. On the day of the confession, I showed up at the appointed time at the confessional and waited 15 minutes, getting more and more nervous and upset because I thought he no-showed. It finally dawned on me to go to his office. There he was, waiting for me, and he thought I no-showed on him! So, lesson learned: make sure you know where the confession will be!!!

 

[LilyM]

Haha, you made me giggle. I used to do the fly-by confessions before Mass, especially when I was in the military. Eventually, someone would figure out what I was doing, and there would be a queue of fellow soldiers behind me (standing at a respectful distance, of course, something like standing in line at an ATM.) The priest would look at his watch and you could tell he was getting a little annoyed by the time constraints.

But I never had the pleasure of getting into a confessional just before Mass.

Hehe - once (a different time) I was at the same church just before Mass and walking around the Stations of the Cross (which I do sometimes during Lent). Someone, again, was having an unscheduled confession.

With my perfect (?) sense of timing I ended up just next to the confessional door when the penitent and priest both walked out. Poor father saw me and promptly scooted back inside before I could tell him I wasn’t there for confession :doh2: