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YoungTradCath
Guest
Hm. I can’t quite visualize this.
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countertenor
Guest
I’ve wondered that.
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CuriousInIL
Guest
Can.* 964 §2. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; **it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor **in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely.
There is a canon law “right” to at least this much anonymity.
There is a canon law “right” to at least this much anonymity.
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Deo_Gratias42
Guest
I think what they mean is that by having Confession in a confessional, rather than in a comfy room face-to-face, it is easier to treat the sacrament for what it is, a tribunal of justice rather than a visit with the therapist.
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YoungTradCath
Guest
Exactly!
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YoungTradCath
Guest
Oh, psh, I’d love to have those in my church!
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
They are lovely aren’t they?
I have a picture somewhere of priests sitting along the curbs on the streets leading to St Peter’s square and people kneeling beside them to say their confessions. I think we are much to self-conscious these days.
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YoungTradCath
Guest
They are lovely aren’t they?
I have a picture somewhere of priests sitting along the curbs on the streets leading to St Peter’s square and people kneeling beside them to say their confessions. I think we are much to self-conscious these days.
Well, I suppose they had a just cause.
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nickybr38
Guest
I prefer the confessional booths because I almost always cry at confession and it usually upsets the priests if they can see it. So it’s better if they can’t see…They are lovely aren’t they?
I have a picture somewhere of priests sitting along the curbs on the streets leading to St Peter’s square and people kneeling beside them to say their confessions. I think we are much to self-conscious these days.
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YoungTradCath
Guest
Yeah, I like the enclosed booths with wooden doors, but I think those things in the pictures above are better than those dreadful shrink office things that most parishes have nowadays.I prefer the confessional booths because I almost always cry at confession and it usually upsets the priests if they can see it. So it’s better if they can’t see…
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nickybr38
Guest
We have proper confessionals like the ones in the pictures (although, not as pretty I suppose).
The face to face thing is brutally hard, in my opinion. On me and the priest. Haha. My first confession was face to face… that poor priest… I don’t know how he heard any confessions after me blubbering like that!
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jmcrae
Guest
The priest is inside a little stand-alone booth that has grated windows on each side, with curtains over them. There are kneelers on each side of the booth, out in the open air. The booth might be inside of a Church, or it might be outdoors, depending on the weather.
They have these in Europe - if you went to Madrid this past summer, you probably saw them.
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YoungTradCath
Guest
Haha. Well, my parish is building a new church. I shall ask if grates are being included for confessionals.We have proper confessionals like the ones in the pictures (although, not as pretty I suppose).
The face to face thing is brutally hard, in my opinion. On me and the priest. Haha. My first confession was face to face… that poor priest… I don’t know how he heard any confessions after me blubbering like that!
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
Yes, saw many of them in beautiful old churches in Spain and Portugal. As pilgrims, we all went to confession before we left. I did not have an opportunity to go to conferssion in one of those lovely old confessionals, but our priest travelling with us was stopped by pilgrims and heard confessions in all kinds of places - including the courtyard of the Prado.
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marleelynn
Guest
my parish (about 2500 families) has confession every Saturday for 45 minutes before the vigil mass (4 to 4:45, mass is 5pm). a neighboring (and much smaller about 500 families) has confession one hour before the Saturday vigil mass. the parish I grew up in (maybe 1500 to 2000 families… not sure how many) has confession for half hour before Saturday vigil mass
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jerome_ky
Guest
Those photos are exactly what I was expecting to see in the church. Someone here said that in the movies they still depict churches the old-fashioned way. Probably because it’s been so long since most of them have been in a real church.
Our parish has a pretty good confessional attendance I guess, compared to some that have been described. Sometimes the line is too long and some penitents are turned away because the celebration begins- that’s more often around Easter.
I still get butterflies when I plan to confess. I rehearse it 50 times during the week and try to scale it down so I’m not in there for too long and keeping everyone waiting. Probably making an appointment really is best. Our previous priest was great (and popular) but he always let everyone know how very busy he was so I was reluctant, but the new priest doesn’t seem so pressed for time.
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jmcrae
Guest
Awesome. I never got to see the Prado, unfortunately.Yes, saw many of them in beautiful old churches in Spain and Portugal. As pilgrims, we all went to confession before we left. I did not have an opportunity to go to conferssion in one of those lovely old confessionals, but our priest travelling with us was stopped by pilgrims and heard confessions in all kinds of places - including the courtyard of the Prado.
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
Wow-5 priests and only 500 families? You are lucky! We have one priest…and 1,200-1,300 families! But he does have 2 separate scheduled concession times for a total of 90 minutes. Everytime I’ve been they have been full! But he does also talk about reconciliation in his homilies…The only archdiocese in KY is that of Louisville. If that is the city you live in, there are tons of churches and you can definitely find one that has confession when you need it. If you live outside the city or you still can’t find scheduled confession when you need it, then you can make an appointment with a priest to hear your confession. Just call a church office, and they will set it up. It’s no problem.
In the past confessions were heard more often. This is true. The reason most churches don’t offer it much nowadays is because there’s not exactly a huge demand for it, and there’s plenty of blame to go around for that… ahem nevermentioningitinhomilies ahem Of course, there are a considerably less amount of priests available now than there were before Vatican II, but this is only part of it. My own parish, for example, has five priests and yet confession is only heard for 30 scheduled minutes a week. The parish has no more than 500 total families. That’s one priest to every 100 families, and that is an excellent ratio, and yet we still have so little scheduled confession time.
Bigger churches, especially cathedrals, definitely usually have more scheduled confessions than do smaller churches.
I personally really hate face-to-face confession, but I’m sure there are people who absolutely love it. There was this push, I suppose you could say, after Vatican II for face-to-face confession. It is more common now than anonymous confession, to be sure. But you can find a church with anonymous confession, as it isn’t exactly rare or anything. For me, face-to-face confession feels more like a shrink session than a place to have your sins forgiven. When I converted, I too was expecting the old dark confessionals, and I was actually looking forward to that. Alas, none of the three churches in my city have anonymous confession :/. I hate that. I feel this turns a lot of people off from confession, but not my decision, so whatever I guess.
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LilyM
Guest
As nice looking as those old confessionals are, I do get a touch claustrophobic in confined spaces, and I’d imagine it must be awful in hot weather for priests who spend much longer in there than the 5 minutes I typically take.
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