The practical aspects of Confession/Recocilliation

[Tommy999]

Hello all,
I have a few questions regarding Confession. Please bear with me in case they are goofy. I don’t mean them to be.

Background:
I am a life-long evangelical who finds certain Catholic sacraments to be very appealing, especially Confession. I think I understand the basics of what takes place at Confession and how the priest is bound to not reveal the contents of the confession with anyone.

Questions:

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city? Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering?
2. Due to potential awkwardness/embarrassment, do you confess at a different parish than where you attend so that you can truly be anonymous with a priest you don’t know personally? Just curious how common that is.
3. Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect?
4. Is your confessor helpful and encouraging at Confession/Reconciliation or are they judgmental and business-like, meting out more serious penances for the more serious sins?
5. Can a priest decide to not absolve you if you were truly repentant, due to the nature of the sin you committed?

** Just wanting to gauge the atmosphere at a typical Confession and vicariously feel what it would feel like to do it. Much obliged. :tiphat:

 

[peter26]

1. First time will be awkward for you no doubt about it, but you get used to it quickly. Its just something you have to do, in many ways I find it a bit like taking to a doctor. You have a problem that is rather personal, he is there to help and is used to it. He will not find anything you say awkward. I am very involved in my church and my priest does not treat me any differently after going to confession, we get on well even though he knows all my dark secrets.
2. I don’t, but you can and some people do. The bottom line is the important thing is to go to confession, not to who or how. If it helps to go behind the screen or to go to a different parish, then by all means do.
3. No. This would be a highly unusual and improper thing for a confessor to say.
4. Varies I suppose, my priest acts in the confessional like a friend you’ve come to for advice. Penances are usually token, one Hail Mary or maybe a decade of the Rosary.
5. Generally no, although for a few sins he will need permission from the Bishop or the Holy See before he absolves you, such as sacrilege against the Eucharist or heresy.

 

[e_c]

Normal questions for a non-Catholic to ask. I certainly can’t speak for everyone’s experience (every experience has been had in the Catholic Church…), but I can speak for my own.

1. It can be a little awkward, but that is part of the point. We think we have a grip on Christ’s humanity, but we really don’t. If He were sitting there, we would probably feel even more awkward, even though He is with us always.

Usually it is the opposite - priests will look at their parishioners with more love, since the confessional is a place where you go when you messed up, know it, and want to make amends. It’s a box full of humility. Many priests feel personally challenged or humbled when someone is courageous enough to say something really awful with real self-accusation and bluntness.

1. I personally don’t, though I will not always go face to face but instead stay behind the grate. Plenty of people just go elsewhere. I would say that is very common, and that’s fine (but is a little paranoid - Father will NOT remember what you said).
2. No. This would be highly uncharacteristic. It is true that sometimes Father is exhausted and might snap a little, but to say something so harsh is pretty “out there.”
3. These two things are not contradictory. There are four roles of a confessor (one who hears confessions)… father, judge, teacher, and physician. In a good confession, the penitent (one who confesses) will experience all four things.
4. A priest would sin gravely by not absolving the sins of someone who is truly repentant. If Father judges that the penitent is not truly contrite and willing to try not to sin anymore, for instance, he confesses fornication within his “second marriage,” but has no intention of ending the conjugal relationship, then he can’t be absolved. (This is a hot topic at the moment.)

Why vicariously? Come on board the Barque of Peter and experience the continuation of our Lord’s incarnate love in the Sacraments!

 

[JimG]

1. Can’t answer this for sure since my parish uses traditional confessionals with the priest and penitent separated by a grille with curtain on both sides. And the parish is large so the priest probably does not recognize me. But I have confessed in face to face situations or at the altar rail, or even standing side by side, and there was no embarrassment. I think priests pretty much forget the sins confessed almost as soon as the confession is over.
2. Not usually. I have confessed at a different parish but mainly because of the confession times.
3. Never. Most make no comment at all, just perhaps offering a few sentences of advice.
4. I haven’t ever had any that were judgmental. Because we have confessionals and sometimes lines, there is a tendency to be business like, not wanting to waste time so that all in line can be heard.
5. I’ve never heard of a priest who refused absolution. The attitude is that your presence in the confessional or reconciliation room is itself evidence of repentance.

.

 

[Chatter163]

Hello all,
I have a few questions regarding Confession. Please bear with me in case they are goofy. I don’t mean them to be.

Background:
I am a life-long evangelical who finds certain Catholic sacraments to be very appealing, especially Confession. I think I understand the basics of what takes place at Confession and how the priest is bound to not reveal the contents of the confession with anyone.

Questions:

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city? Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering? Yes, it can be awkward in some situations, but not very frequently after the first few times. No, absolutely and categorically not, the priest does not look at anyone differently. Probably most people tend confess the most embarrassing sins from behind the screen, anonymously, or simply go to another parish to confess on those occasions. Both are the prerogative of the penitent.
2. Due to potential awkwardness/embarrassment, do you confess at a different parish than where you attend so that you can truly be anonymous with a priest you don’t know personally? Just curious how common that is. Most of us have done this at some point, though others have not. It is fairly common, but not necessarily an everyday event for most. One is free to go to whatever confessor one wishes.
3. Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect? Absolutely not, not even after I confessed face-to-face. I seriously doubt that you would ever find a Catholic who had that happen.
4. Is your confessor helpful and encouraging at Confession/Reconciliation or are they judgmental and business-like, meting out more serious penances for the more serious sins? Angry, mean confessors, even in generations past, are more a product of media-manufactured memories, and urban legend, than reality. Not sure what you mean by “business-like,” or how that relates to being judgmental. There are priests who simply hear confessions, and say little or nothing beyond the prescribed prayers. Some (especially the Irish priests I knew in yesteryear) even have hurried me along. Those priests are indeed “business-like,” but even they are not mean or judgmental; they’re just quick. Others are much more into counseling and inspiration (which are not in themselves vital parts of the sacrament, as useful as they are).
5. Can a priest decide to not absolve you if you were truly repentant, due to the nature of the sin you committed? Yes, he can, but it in practice this is extraordinarily rare. Also, he would do so because of a lack of contrition, not because the sin is so serious. There is no sin so serious that it cannot be absolved–even the few that are reserved to a bishop to absolve. Most people go to confession because they are sorry, so unless something has been said to strongly and unambiguously suggest otherwise, this is not likely to occur.

** Just wanting to gauge the atmosphere at a typical Confession and vicariously feel what it would feel like to do it. Much obliged. :tiphat:

 

[babochka]

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city? Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering?

No, not once you get used to it. My parish has about 20 families and I know my priest very well. The most awkward time was when I had to confess something that involved him directly. I considered going to someone else to spare him any awkwardness, but ultimately decided not to. He once told me that, while he does remember specific sins, he only very rarely (twice to be exact, in his entire priesthood) associates them with specific people. He has never treated me any differently after confession than he has before confession.

2) Due to potential awkwardness/embarrassment, do you confess at a different parish than where you attend so that you can truly be anonymous with a priest you don’t know personally? Just curious how common that is.

No, but some of my children do. I prefer to confess to somebody that I know well, but they prefer to go elsewhere. Either is fine.

3) Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect?

No! In fact, when I have lamented about how weak I am toward certain sins and how other people seem to have it all together, he has said to me, “If you could hear what I hear, you would know that nobody has it together.”

4) Is your confessor helpful and encouraging at Confession/Reconciliation or are they judgmental and business-like, meting out more serious penances for the more serious sins?

Always helpful and encouraging, occasionally firm. Penances are usually directed toward the specific problem. For example, he might ask me to pray for peace in my family if I have confessed being angry.

I have had more business-like confessors, who hardly seem to be listening at all and don’t give any advice. I definitely don’t prefer that. They usually don’t give more serious penances, though. They tend to be the ones that give a standard “three Hail Marys” or something. I used to occasionally confess to one priest who was hard-of-hearing. He would usually ask, cheerfully, when I was about halfway through my list, “Is that all then?” His line always moved about twice as fast as anybody else’s.

5) Can a priest decide to not absolve you if you were truly repentant, due to the nature of the sin you committed?

Not usually, but there are certain “reserved” sins, for which the permission of the bishop must be obtained for absolution.

A priest also cannot absolve his accomplice in a sexual sin.

I’m looking forward to others’ responses on this thread. You ask some good questions. Perhaps you are at the beginning of your journey into the Church.

 

[AKDee]

Questions:

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city? Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering?

This likely varies, but to me- yes. I’m a sacristan, and I generally serve on the same evening after confessions. To me it’s extremely awkward to tell Father all the stuff I’ve done wrong the past week or two and then serve at the Mass he is presiding over. My priest has never treated me differently, however.

1. Due to potential awkwardness/embarrassment, do you confess at a different parish than where you attend so that you can truly be anonymous with a priest you don’t know personally? Just curious how common that is.

Not yet, but I am strongly considering it. EDIT TO ADD: Two other people here said that a priest will not remember your sins later or associate you with them. My priest has an uncanny knack for voices and a great memory. I confess behind a screen, but he knows who I am. And he remembers my confessions from week to week because he will say (only in the privacy of the confessional) “You asked me last week about…” and will address a question I might have asked the week prior. He never mentions anything I say in the confessional outside of the confessional. That is forbidden.

1. Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect?

No, and I don’t expect 99.9% of priests would ever consider saying such a thing. They are there en persona Christi to bring Christ’s mercy to you- I think probably the worse the sinner, the more they feel you need Christ’s mercy.

1. Is your confessor helpful and encouraging at Confession/Reconciliation or are they judgmental and business-like, meting out more serious penances for the more serious sins?

I’ve never had a tough confessor. I’m a new Catholic (baptized last Easter) and I’ve confessed to 6 different priests that I can remember and all of them it was something along the lines of “say 3 Hail Mary’s” or “Say an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be and meditate on the ways God is changing your life” type of thing. I have never had a penance that took more than about 15 minutes. I have often wondered if priests change the penance due to the seriousness of the sin. I suspect some do and some don’t. I’ve read that priests often do penance on behalf of those who confessed to them- thus you get the easy penance, and they give themselves the hard one.

1. Can a priest decide to not absolve you if you were truly repentant, due to the nature of the sin you committed?

If the determination to not sin again isn’t there, yes.

I would like to add that despite what I’ve said above- I find confessing to be incredibly helpful. There’s a real difference in being a protestant who asks God for forgiveness on your knees in your bedroom, and being a Catholic who asks God for forgiveness through His priest. I always feel better after confession- ALWAYS. I always feel lighter. And I know I’ve been forgiven because Father said the words of absolution. As a protestant, you hope for forgiveness but you’re never quite sure. And it’s helped me to amend my life. Knowing that I have to go see Father this week and tell him that I detracted my boss or whatever AGAIN makes me really, really not want to do that. I know I should feel that way about God Himself- and He sees everything- but there’s something about having to go tell another person what a sinful person I am. It’s humbling, and it’s making me a better person.

 

[pablope]

Hello all,

I have a few questions regarding Confession. Please bear with me in case they are goofy. I don’t mean them to be.

 

[pianistclare]

My past pastor said that in seminary they are taught to be a lion in the pulpit and a lamb in the confessional.
Reconciliation is an incredibly beautiful sacrament.
I’ll PM later…

 

[brad90956]

Questions:

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city? Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering?

1. Due to potential awkwardness/embarrassment, do you confess at a different parish than where you attend so that you can truly be anonymous with a priest you don’t know personally? Just curious how common that is.

1. Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect?

1. The priest will not look at you differently after confession. He will not look at you with disgust.
2. Since returning to the church, I’ve only been to a different parish (1) one time to confess because the sin was weighing me down and I couldn’t get to my parish for confession (due to a conflict in my schedule). I went to a different parish in the evening and confessed.
3. A priest will never tell you “you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across”. He will be happy you are at confession.

When I returned to the church (I was baptized/confirmed Catholic) after being away for 30 years, the first thing I did was go to confession. I examined my conscious for 2 weeks. I wrote down all of my sins (in number and kind to the best of my ability and memory) and took the paper with me to confession. Believe me, it was a very long list with plenty of mortal sins. I was so nervous. I thought, “What will the priest think of me afterwards? Is he going to yell at me? Will he forgive me? Will I have to say 100 Our Fathers and 100 Hail Marys?” My mind was racing. I went into the confessional and explained to my priest that it had been 30 years since my last confession and I had a lot of sins to confess. I cried during the entire confession. When I was finished he said to me, “That was a great confession”. He absolved me of my sins, welcomed by back and for my penance he said to say (1) one Our Father. He said, “But when you say it, say it like you’ve never said it before and really think about what you are saying to God”. I did and that confession changed my life forever. I actually feel closer to my priest now.

Do not worry about what other people may think about you. The most important thing about confession is the forgiveness of your sins and “righting” your relationship with God.

God Bless

 

[Tommy999]

Thanks for all the helpful replies, everyone, especially those with practical examples. It’s an honor for me to see a glimpse into what takes place at Confession and for you to share that with me.

A couple of follow-up questions:

1. What are the kind of sins that a priest cannot absolve but someone of a higher rank in the Catholic Church can? Perhaps a couple of examples would help. Would having an abortion or murdering someone be among those?
2. I heard on Catholic radio that very few Catholics percentage-wise go to Confession. I wonder why that is?

Perhaps I am odd, but Confession is the sacrament from which I feel I would benefit the most, so I have trouble understanding why so few Catholics do it, relatively speaking. .

Don’t get me wrong. I confess my sins to the Lord practically every day and I believe in my heart and soul that He forgives me.

However, there is a level of closure that I feel must exist in Catholic Confession that I don’t get to experience and I perceive it must be healing and cleansing on a higher level. I just can’t explain it very well.
.
I also sense there is an accountability feature to Confession that would potentially help prevent someone from so easily making the same sin again because you know there is someone on earth you have to answer to in addition to confessing it just to God.

 

[brad90956]

Don’t get me wrong. I confess my sins to the Lord practically every day and I believe in my heart and soul that He forgives me.

However, there is a level of closure that I feel must exist in Catholic Confession that I don’t get to experience and I perceive it must be healing and cleansing on a higher level. I just can’t explain it very well.

Before I returned to the Church, I used to confess to God too. But to humble yourself and ask for God’s forgiveness in a confessional is totally different (to me at least). It’s easy to just go into your room, shut your door and confess to God. For me, (and I cannot speak for others) the confessional has helped me to stop committing some mortal sins that I would have continued. There is just something about confessing to God (through the priest) and stating your sins out loud that is a big deterrent to committing the same sins in the future.

I can truly tell you that there is no other feeling so peaceful and joyful than when you exit a confessional knowing your soul has been cleansed of sin and you completely opened up to God and told Him, “I am so sorry for having offended you”…and He forgives you each and every time. It brings me so much closer to Him and I realize how much He truly loves each and everyone of us.

 

[AKDee]

Before I returned to the Church, I used to confess to God too. But to humble yourself and ask for God’s forgiveness in a confessional is totally different (to me at least). It’s easy to just go into your room, shut your door and confess to God. For me, (and I cannot speak for others) the confessional has helped me to stop committing some mortal sins that I would have continued. There is just something about confessing to God (through the priest) and stating your sins out loud that is a big deterrent to committing the same sins in the future.

I can truly tell you that there is no other feeling so peaceful and joyful than when you exit a confessional knowing your soul has been cleansed of sin and you completely opened up to God and told Him, “I am so sorry for having offended you”…and He forgives you each and every time. It brings me so much closer to Him and I realize how much He truly loves each and everyone of us.

I agree with all of this.

 

[asia53]

Before I returned to the Church, I used to confess to God too. But to humble yourself and ask for God’s forgiveness in a confessional is totally different (to me at least). It’s easy to just go into your room, shut your door and confess to God. For me, (and I cannot speak for others) the confessional has helped me to stop committing some mortal sins that I would have continued. There is just something about confessing to God (through the priest) and stating your sins out loud that is a big deterrent to committing the same sins in the future.

I can truly tell you that there is no other feeling so peaceful and joyful than when you exit a confessional knowing your soul has been cleansed of sin and you completely opened up to God and told Him, “I am so sorry for having offended you”…and He forgives you each and every time. It brings me so much closer to Him and I realize how much He truly loves each and everyone of us.

I think, you nailed it. Thank you.

 

[Tommy999]

Before I returned to the Church, I used to confess to God too. But to humble yourself and ask for God’s forgiveness in a confessional is totally different (to me at least). It’s easy to just go into your room, shut your door and confess to God. For me, (and I cannot speak for others) the confessional has helped me to stop committing some mortal sins that I would have continued. There is just something about confessing to God (through the priest) and stating your sins out loud that is a big deterrent to committing the same sins in the future.

I can truly tell you that there is no other feeling so peaceful and joyful than when you exit a confessional knowing your soul has been cleansed of sin and you completely opened up to God and told Him, “I am so sorry for having offended you”…and He forgives you each and every time. It brings me so much closer to Him and I realize how much He truly loves each and everyone of us.

Thanks for sharing your heart, brad90956, Although I’ve never made a Catholic Confession, I perceive you are right on the money in what you say.

Like you, I think the deterrent and accountability aspects of Confession are most valuable, which is also logical. That is why I wonder why so many Catholics don’t take advantage of Confession. I can only wonder why that might be. Is it because they are embarrassed or find it too humiliating? Perhaps that is question only those folks can answer.

 

[Gorgias]

1. Is it awkward to confess your darkest sins to a priest whom you see every week and might even eat a meal with or even invite to your home, for example in a small city?

For me, it would be. So, for me, the thing that works is to go to confession at another parish. For some folks, going to their own pastor works well. That’s ok with me. I just prefer to be more ‘anonymous’, if that makes sense.

Does the priest look at you differently after Confession, even potentially with disgust when you are not in a Confession environment, like at a church social gathering?

No. In fact, he is obliged not to. He may not do anything to betray the contents (or even the existence of) the confession, by word or action.

1. Have you ever had a priest say to you, “My God you’re one of the worst sinners I’ve ever come across in Confession?” or something to that effect?

Nope. And, in fact, if that ever happened to me, I think I’d reply, “that’s ok: you’ve just become one of the worst priests I’ve ever encountered in Confession.”

1. Is your confessor helpful and encouraging at Confession/Reconciliation or are they judgmental and business-like, meting out more serious penances for the more serious sins?

You’ve really asked two questions here. The first one has to do with confessors’ demeanor. It varies – some are conversational, and others are ‘business-like’; some counsel and others stick to the basics (confession / penance / absolution). In all cases, confessors are not ‘judgmental’, if by that you mean that they tell you what a bum you are.

The second question is somewhat different: it asks about the relationship between sin and penance. There’s not necessarily a linear correspondence in this context: it’s not like big sins require big penance. Penance is what we do in order to start ‘fixing’ what we’ve damaged through sin. (It’s not about forgiveness, but restitution.) Here’s the thing, though: a penance doesn’t necessarily make complete restitution (i.e., ‘temporal punishment due to sin’), nor must it. Rather, it’s something that your confessor asks you to do towards that goal. A penance might be complete, but then again, it might not. So, different confessors might have different perspectives – some might opt for completeness of penance, while others might opt for mercy.

1. Can a priest decide to not absolve you if you were truly repentant, due to the nature of the sin you committed?

I just browsed the thread quickly, but it sure seems to me that someone said ‘yes.’ If so, then they’re absolutely, completely mistaken. The nature of the particular sin is not relevant to absolution. In other words, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven!

However, a confessor does have the right to defer offering absolution. But, this has nothing to do with the ‘nature of the sin’. Rather, a confessor might decide not to offer absolution, but only if he was not convinced that you weren’t contrite, or that you had no intention to try to avoid that sin in the future. As long as a Catholic in the confessional is contrite and has a firm intention to avoid sin, he’s in the clear – he’ll be absolved!

 

[Tommy999]

For me, it would be. So, for me, the thing that works is to go to confession at another parish. For some folks, going to their own pastor works well. That’s ok with me. I just prefer to be more ‘anonymous’, if that makes sense.

No. In fact, he is obliged not to. He may not do anything to betray the contents (or even the existence of) the confession, by word or action.

Nope. And, in fact, if that ever happened to me, I think I’d reply, “that’s ok: you’ve just become one of the worst priests I’ve ever encountered in Confession.”

You’ve really asked two questions here. The first one has to do with confessors’ demeanor. It varies – some are conversational, and others are ‘business-like’; some counsel and others stick to the basics (confession / penance / absolution). In all cases, confessors are not ‘judgmental’, if by that you mean that they tell you what a bum you are.

The second question is somewhat different: it asks about the relationship between sin and penance. There’s not necessarily a linear correspondence in this context: it’s not like big sins require big penance. Penance is what we do in order to start ‘fixing’ what we’ve damaged through sin. (It’s not about forgiveness, but restitution.) Here’s the thing, though: a penance doesn’t necessarily make complete restitution (i.e., ‘temporal punishment due to sin’), nor must it. Rather, it’s something that your confessor asks you to do towards that goal. A penance might be complete, but then again, it might not. So, different confessors might have different perspectives – some might opt for completeness of penance, while others might opt for mercy.

I just browsed the thread quickly, but it sure seems to me that someone said ‘yes.’ If so, then they’re absolutely, completely mistaken. The nature of the particular sin is not relevant to absolution. In other words, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven!

However, a confessor does have the right to defer offering absolution. But, this has nothing to do with the ‘nature of the sin’. Rather, a confessor might decide not to offer absolution, but only if he was not convinced that you weren’t contrite, or that you had no intention to try to avoid that sin in the future. As long as a Catholic in the confessional is contrite and has a firm intention to avoid sin, he’s in the clear – he’ll be absolved!

Thanks for those insights, Gorgias. I especially enjoyed your response that I bolded. I like your feistiness .

 

[babochka]

1. What are the kind of sins that a priest cannot absolve but someone of a higher rank in the Catholic Church can? Perhaps a couple of examples would help. Would having an abortion or murdering someone be among those?

This article does a good job explaining those sins and how it works. Ignore the sensationalist headline. catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1669

Canons 1364-1399 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law discussed the offenses that merit latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. Those whose offenses merit such a penalty include “one who throws away the consecrated species or, for a sacrilegious purpose, takes them away or keeps them”; “a person who uses physical force against the Roman Pontiff”; “both the bishop who, without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a bishop, and the one who receives the consecration from him”; “a confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal”; and a confessor who absolves “an accomplice in a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue.”

In addition, canon law provides that “a person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication,” as does “an apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic,” but the lifting of these penalties, according to Canon 1356, is reserved to the Ordinary.

It is worth noting that this year, which Pope Francis has declared the Year of Mercy, he has given all priests the faculty to absolve for abortion. This doesn’t really have an effect in the US because the bishops in the US had already made that provision.

Technically, as I understand it, what is being reserved to the Holy See is the lifting of the automatic excommunication.

The rules for Eastern Catholics are slightly different.

Canon 728 - §1. Absolution from the following sins is reserved to the Apostolic See:
1° direct violation of the sacramental seal;
2° absolution of an accomplice in a sin against chastity.
§2. It is reserved to the eparchial bishop to absolve from the sin of procuring a completed abortion.

Canon 729 - Any reservation of the absolution from sin lacks all force:
1° if a sick person who cannot leave the house or a spouse confess in order to celebrate marriage;
2° if in the prudent judgment of the confessor, the faculty cannot be requested from the competent authority without grave inconvenience to the penitent or without danger of violation of the sacramental seal;
3° outside the territorial boundaries in which the authority who makes the reservation exercises power.

Canon 730 - Absolution of an accomplice in a sin against chastity in invalid except in danger of death.

Canon 731 - One who confesses a false denunciation of an innocent confessor to ecclesiastical authority concerning the crime of solicitation to sin against chastity is not to be absolved unless that person formally retracts the denunciation and is prepared to repair damages if there are any.

Of course, it is noted in canon law that there are exceptions. For example, in danger of death, this would not apply.

1. I heard on Catholic radio that very few Catholics percentage-wise go to Confession. I wonder why that is?

Bare statistics can be misleading. A 2008 survey reported that 75% of Catholics never go to Confession or go once a year. That same survey showed that among Catholics who go to Mass weekly, 62 % go to Confession at least once a year, with 37% going at least several times each year.

However, there is a level of closure that I feel must exist in Catholic Confession that I don’t get to experience and I perceive it must be healing and cleansing on a higher level. I just can’t explain it very well.
.
I also sense there is an accountability feature to Confession that would potentially help prevent someone from so easily making the same sin again because you know there is someone on earth you have to answer to in addition to confessing it just to God.

Absolutely, on both of these counts.

 

[Tommy999]

This article does a good job explaining those sins and how it works. Ignore the sensationalist headline. catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1669

It is worth noting that this year, which Pope Francis has declared the Year of Mercy, he has given all priests the faculty to absolve for abortion. This doesn’t really have an effect in the US because the bishops in the US had already made that provision.

Bare statistics can be misleading. A 2008 survey reported that 75% of Catholics never go to Confession or go once a year. That same survey showed that among Catholics who go to Mass weekly, 62 percent go to Confession at least once a year, with 37% going at least several times each year.

Absolutely, on both of these counts.

Thanks, babochka. I will read the article. I appreciate you taking the time to do that.

 

[babochka]

Thanks, babochka. I will read the article. I appreciate you taking the time to do that.

I just edited my post to add some information and make it clearer.