The Sin Box: Why have Catholics stopped lining up at the confessional

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Why have Catholics stopped lining up at the confessional?

Lack of peer pressure.

Before, even if you didn’t FEEL like doing something, you were EXPECTED to do it. No one cared what you FELT like doing; you had a responsibility and you had better get to it.

Now, every person is his own god, deciding for himself what is right and wrong based on nothing more than his own whims and desires. It boils down to, “I don’t feel like it.”

No sense of duty.
No sense of responsibility.
And no one else there to be a voice of reason, telling these people how very stupid they are.
 
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buffalo:
It has been said if people used confession as they are supposed to there would be no need for psychiatrists.
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Bufffalo:

That was Karl Gustav Jung who said, “If all Catholics went to Confession at least once a month, we psychiatrists would go bankrupt.”

I’ve called it “God’s operating room”. Just like the Israelites lived after being bitten by the serpents in the desert by looking at the symbol of the Serpent, so Christians live after being bitten by the Serpent by looking upon the symbol of death in the Confessional. and, If the serpent is still attached, God effects the removal in the Confessional.

In Christ, Michael
 
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JKirkLVNV:
It’s availability that’s the problem. If every priest set aside one hour of the day for confession, I bet lots of people would go. This one hour on Saturday thing isn’t enough time, IMHO.

Incidentally, are there places where you HAVE to go face to face? My experience has been that this is only an option and you can go behind the screen if you wish.
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This parish has a GREAT schedule - I widsh they were my neighborhood parish!

CONFESSIONS
MONDAY through FRIDAY: During most Masses
SATURDAY: 4:15 pm to 8:30 pm
Or by appointment
spcomv.com/

The parish has three masses each weekday.

Michael
 
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ble:
At the two churches I’ve been at, you have the option of confessing face to face or behind a screen. So that is not the problem for so few people showing up.

I noticed that the people who showed up are regulars, I seen them every time I go to confession.

At both my churches, there is only 1 hour alloted per week for confession :eek: and sometimes you will have to wait close to an hour before you can confess. Seems like some people take 10-20 minutes with the priest. Personally, I think they should just make an appointment with the priest if the confession is going to be taking longer than 5 minutes each. Fortunately, our waiting room is also the Blessed Sacrament room so you can adore Christ while waiting.

Another good reason why people don’t go to confession is: moral relativism… it’s not a grave sin to me so why would I go and confess? My conscience tells me it is not a grave sin and everyone is doing it… it goes down hill from there.

Warmest regards,
-Ben
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Ben:

The problem isn’t that people need too much time “In the Box”. God provided the Sacrament so that we could be healed from our sins and our infirmaties. “By his stripes we are healed.”

The problem is that your parish isn’t setting aside enough time for that Sacrament. They’re giving it short shrift. That isn’t the fault of those who need 20 minutes to Confess their sins, Receive “Spiritual Probing”, Absolution, and “Spiritual Counsel” and then be assigned an appropriate Penance. That’s the fault of the Priests who believe that your parish doesn’t need more than an hour per week for all who need the Sacrament to receive that Sacrament.

Someone just might want to talk to them about exending the hours by an hour to provide for the needs of the Congregation.

In Christ, Michael
 
Peace to all previous posters,

I am airing my frustration to the choir of believers…

I believe this is am Major atrocity to our Catholic faith community. We have weakened the significance the Sacrament of Penance which has caused the faithful to disrespect the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Why is this OK – a gap in our core belief structure?

I was taught the Sacrament of Penance as a kid, but never really understood the Sacrament & the Examination of Conscience until I had to teach it & explain it to my children. http://catholicparents.org/oxcart/examination.html

I work on Saturday’s the only day the majority of the Churches in my area offer 30 min Reconciliation??? I usually have to wait for the twice a year penance service or search out a different church… I do get lucky and get to go during retreats & renewals…

I guess that if I have to Wait and not be able to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, I realize that I must not take for grated the value of the Eucharist & the Grace of patience.

The Articles was a very eye-opening to the frustration I have felt. I hope this issue is address by our Priests & Bishops in the future… Please forward this article & CA site to your local Parishes & Dioceses.

I would like to see more Priest & Bishops on this Forum. They may be able to response to the many issues and concerns of the Laity.
 
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PAX777:
Peace to all previous posters,

I am airing my frustration to the choir of believers…

I believe this is am Major atrocity to our Catholic faith community. We have weakened the significance the Sacrament of Penance which has caused the faithful to disrespect the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Why is this OK – a gap in our core belief structure?

I was taught the Sacrament of Penance as a kid, but never really understood the Sacrament & the Examination of Conscience until I had to teach it & explain it to my children. http://catholicparents.org/oxcart/examination.html

I work on Saturday’s the only day the majority of the Churches in my area offer 30 min Reconciliation??? I usually have to wait for the twice a year penance service or search out a different church… I do get lucky and get to go during retreats & renewals…

I guess that if I have to Wait and not be able to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, I realize that I must not take for grated the value of the Eucharist & the Grace of patience.

The Articles was a very eye-opening to the frustration I have felt. I hope this issue is address by our Priests & Bishops in the future… Please forward this article & CA site to your local Parishes & Dioceses.

I would like to see more Priest & Bishops on this Forum. They may be able to response to the many issues and concerns of the Laity.
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Paxx777:

Well said! I hope you don’t mind that I increased the fontsize to make it more readable - I didn’t realize Times New Roman was so small in comparison to Ariel and Verdana (My usual choices)

Archbishop Mahony has no email, and my confessor is having a severe Midlife crises (I’ll have to find a new one - pray for me on that one).

What you’ve described is absolutely appalling! Have you considered calling a priest and making an appointment?

Most will - They’re supposed to. The ones who don’t are disobeying the Church.

May God help ypou in finding a Confessor.

In Christ, Michael
 
Here is a very useful online page that lists the churches in your area, it also lists the times mass and confession are offered.
You might be surprised to see a local church you didnt know about is offering Confession at times you can make it to.
masstimes.org/dotNet/default.aspx
 
Traditional Ang
Thank you for your Comments & My prayers are with you also…

This is a bigger issue that just my situation…

PAX
 
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bauerice:
May I have say here? I go to confession once a month, more if needed. I converted 3 years ago and love the confessional. I have left the parish I attended for RCIA. They almost never had a priest for confessions availiable. The only time set aside for confessions was 15 min before Mass. The 2 priests we had rarely showed up. The pastor is 74 and the other is in his 80’s and in and out of the hospital. This doesn’t seem to be the exception. I showed up at the Cathedral in our city at the time listed in the bulletin. No priest was availiable. I had to search around until I found churches that have a regular time set aside. I found a church in our city that has Confession an hour an a half everyday(7 days a week). The lines are VERY long. My point is…Is the confessionals empty because some parishes have abanded it or abanded because no one shows up?
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This, to my mind, is one of the best ways to find a very good parish. With those long hours of confession, long lines of confession, often come well-rounded homilies that not only teach love and mercy, but sin, sacrifice, justice, humility and many other things no longer heard from pulpits. A parish with long confession hours is likely to have priests who have fidelity to the magisterium. They will guide parishioners to assent to Holy Mother Church, rather than challenge her on anything that is inconvenient to follow - the latter being a very prideful activity. You will likely hear the words chastity, and learn why contraception is wrong.

I was shocked the first day I walked into my present parish because of the ample confession times and long lines. When I would go occasionally there might be 2-3 people with grey hair on a Saturday at a given parish. At Grotto on Sundays before each Mass, up through the homily, their are long lines of young and hold in as many as 3-4 confessionals. I see kids only 8 or 9 years old going on a regular basis (more than once monthly). All in all, my parish has about 3 hours of advertised confession time, but at least one or two confessionals are occupied a good 6+ hours a week. Some of the priests simply go to their confessional outside of advertised times, like before weekday Masses. People respond to a priest in the confessional. And, in my parish, which has no air-conditioning, those priests sit in that oven of a box no less than in good weather.

I personally found confession in this kind of atmosphere very inviting. It called to me. However, something else contributed to get me going weekly or bi-weekly: Holy Communion at the rail and on the tongue. There was something about receiving communion this way. It demands humility and a clean heart.

Homilies have everything to do with it. The priests in my parish work very hard knowing all to well the effects of original sin. Sinfulness is not something that should be reserved for one or two Sunday’s out of Lent (if some even hear about it then).
 
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Lux_et_veritas:
This, to my mind, is one of the best ways to find a very good parish. With those long hours of confession, long lines of confession, often come well-rounded homilies that not only teach love and mercy, but sin, sacrifice, justice, humility and many other things no longer heard from pulpits. A parish with long confession hours is likely to have priests who have fidelity to the magisterium. They will guide parishioners to assent to Holy Mother Church, rather than challenge her on anything that is inconvenient to follow - the latter being a very prideful activity. You will likely hear the words chastity, and learn why contraception is wrong.

I was shocked the first day I walked into my present parish because of the ample confession times and long lines.

Homilies have everything to do with it. The priests in my parish work very hard knowing all to well the effects of original sin. Sinfulness is not something that should be reserved for one or two Sunday’s out of Lent (if some even hear about it then).
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Yes! Yes! Yes!
 
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Kevirish01:
According to Father Bill Casey, superior general of the Fathers of Mercy (CPM) of Russellville, Ky.,

There are one of two things happening because of the lack of lines to the confessional:
a). We have a whole host of people ready for canonization. Or,

b). There are a whole lot of sacriligous communions taking place.

Which is the more likely of the two?

You **go **Fr. Casey!
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Not to disagree with the good Father, but there is a third possibility that many people fall in: having attachment to sin and having committed venial sins, but not having committed mortal sins. Such people are still able to receive communion, yet are in no immediate danger of canonization.

My parish priest has emphasized the importance of confession to the point that I have to either go early to be able to see him before Mass, or travel to a neighboring parish where they have confession earlier.
 
From some of the posts on this topic I am getting the impression that many people feel that venial sins are OK, no problem at all. A venial sin is still a sin, and still wounds the soul. True, they are not as serious as are mortal sins, and will not send you to Hell, well not directly, but they will still increase your time in Purgatory if not forgiven and rob you of sanctifying grace. Of course since most people don’t believe in Purgatory, Hell or punishment for sins anymore I guess it really doesn’t make a lot of difference.
 
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palmas85:
From some of the posts on this topic I am getting the impression that many people feel that venial sins are OK, no problem at all.
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I just did a search of the entire thread and no one said this. I am the only one to mention venial sins and my statement (which I stand by) is they do not prohibit one from receiving communion.
 
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palmas85:
From some of the posts on this topic I am getting the impression that many people feel that venial sins are OK, no problem at all. A venial sin is still a sin, and still wounds the soul. True, they are not as serious as are mortal sins, and will not send you to Hell, well not directly, but they will still increase your time in Purgatory if not forgiven and rob you of sanctifying grace.
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Communion at mass applies to temporal punishments of venial sins, of course in proportion to disposition of the person.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant’s union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
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From CCC. Bolding not in original. I think fervent reception ought to preserve a person well. The Eucharist is food for us. It is what we need and it joins us closer to Jesus. And it increases our grace and charity and stuff. So I don’t think not going to confession weekly *needs *to indicate a problem whereby venial sins and their associated temporal punishments are accumulating to crushing levels.

Venial sins are not okay whatsoever, but communion helps with them. (so does frequent confession). I think confession really helps me have the right disposition at mass.
 
pnewton said:
**Not to disagree with the good Father, but there is a third possibility that many people fall in: having attachment to sin and having committed venial sins, but not having committed mortal sins. Such people are still able to receive communion, yet are in no immediate danger of canonization. **

My parish priest has emphasized the importance of confession to the point that I have to either go early to be able to see him before Mass, or travel to a neighboring parish where they have confession earlier.
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In this day and age, with relativism, secularism, significant levels of pre-marital sex, and Catholics who are pro-choice, I believe the number of people who are at such a level so as not to commit grave sin, make up a small percentage of those not going to confession who are in the communion line every week. This means that these people have learned to even say “no” to lustful thoughts, rather than taking pleasure in them - a real challenge in an era where immodesty and skin are showing at every corner, commercial and magazine.

Then, of those who are at that level - pretty much free of mortal sin, but dealing with venial (unless they are saints), there are a percentage of them who grasp that the way to perfection and holiness in virtue is to use the Sacrament of Penance to root out those small things.

One only needs to look at surveys published on morals supplied by any number of magazines and polling sources when they include “Catholics”.

I’m fully with Fr. Casey. I should know - I was one who hadn’t gone to confession in two years (went with the flow and didn’t bother any more), but I sure went to Communion every week. I also knew it was sacriligeous since I did have grave sin on my soul more often than not.

I got a new attitude, thanks to my pastor and the priests of the parish in which I landed this May. They shocked me with their frank talk in homilies and I saw the Sacrament of Penance as very inviting with the long lines and abundant hours of availability. I now go between every 1-2 weeks to work on virtue issues. I never expected that to happen to me, but have found that when I let it go longer, I begin to slip. Each week something gets worked on for the sake of spiritual progress.
 
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Pug:
Communion at mass applies to temporal punishments of venial sins, of course in proportion to disposition of the person.

From CCC. Bolding not in original. I think fervent reception ought to preserve a person well. The Eucharist is food for us. It is what we need and it joins us closer to Jesus. And it increases our grace and charity and stuff. So I don’t think not going to confession weekly *needs *to indicate a problem whereby venial sins and their associated temporal punishments are accumulating to crushing levels.

Venial sins are not okay whatsoever, but communion helps with them. (so does frequent confession). I think confession really helps me have the right disposition at mass.
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I said, from the postthat I was getting the impression that people felt venial sins were no problem. I did not say anyone said directly that they were. It was more the tone of the posts on this thread and other similar ones.

From the quoted section of CCC am I to assume that a person never has to confess venial sins and that reception of Holy Communion is all that is required? That seems to be suggested from that section. That of course could explain why many people choose to skip confession in these enlightened times.
 
down here the line starts forming at 2:30 or 3 for confessions at 4, and the priest usually comes back after 5 oclock Mass to finish. We have long lines for confession, and lots of people stay in the pews at communion time, which means some people have a well formed conscience about when they may not receive, for whatever reason.
 
Perhaps an improvement might come if people stopped spoke less of confession and more about the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 
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slewi:
Buffalo is quite right. I see 12 or so folks lined up for confession Saturday, but 300 people go receive communion on Sunday.

Part of the problem is the availability of the sacrament. You used to be able to get it* before* mass. In my diocese priests have more than one parish to attend to. That does seem lead to the drop in available times for confession.

Add to that the fact that they don’t seem to preach it any more, You never hear it mentioned. Along with all of our Catholic traditions. Don’t get me started.😉

Steve
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**

I agree with you…Our parish of nearly 3,000 families schedules confession for only 1/2 hour a week…before the Saturday Vigil Mass. And…No one really preaches about the necessity or the availability of this wonderful sacrament…Because parishes and priests give confession such little emphasis, Catholics think it is no longer important to go…

**
 
Just food for thought & not aimed at anyone in particular, but looking at it from another perspective, rather than “judging” those who we assume don’t go enough (again, not targeted at anyone in this post, just something I’ve been thinking about for a while), maybe we should make more of an effort to make ourselves/our lives as a light to others.

IOW, if we are living as we should, maybe people would see us in the line for confession frequently, put 2 and 2 together, and want to go b/c of the way they see us leading our lives.

I’ve never been the type to respond to negatives. The absolute main reason I got back to going to church, etc. was a wonderful priest it has been an absolute honor to know. He never had to say a word or “preach” at me 🙂 - I just saw how truly good he was as a person and I wanted to be like him. He inspired me to be a better person and expect more of myself.

I forget who said it, but it’s the idea of “preach the gospel with your life” or “preach the gospel without words”.

Also, please don’t think I am saying that sin, etc. should not be discussed during homilies; I think it should.

And, lest anyone think I’m saying I myself do this, rest assured, you have to squint real hard to see my light most of the time. 😉

Anyway, just something to consider.
 
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