Traditional Confessional Booths

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Dempsey1919

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Do all Churches still have traditional confessional booths?

Luckily, my Church has them but I have experienced face-to-face confession in the past. My first confession was like this. I prefer to use the Confessional booths and I don’t think I could go to confession in a Church that didn’t have them.

Are confessional booths only available in traditional Churches? I have seen confessional screens but these aren’t what I am talking about. I am referring to the booths which have doors or a curtain.

Also, why did some Churches get rid of the traditional booths in favour of face-to-face confession?
 
My parish has a traditional booth but we are not a traditional parish.

Canon law requires confessionals and guarantees the penetent the right to an anonymous confession. A parish can offer face-to-face but can not offer it as the only option. A priest can chose to only hear confessions “behind the screen” but cannot chose to hear confessions only face-to-face". My own priest only hears confession behind the screen except in emergencies or hospital calls.
 
I don’t go to what you would term as a “traditional” parish but all of our confessionals have both the face to face and screened as options.

I have seen several churches though that have “confession rooms” which have a screened kneeler in addition to face to face. These places seem to be more open, airy and more well lit than typical closet confessionals.

I can’t say for sure when or even if a change was made. I know I’ve seen pictures of confessionals from old European churches where the confessional has the priest out in the open in the middle with a screen on one side and a regular kneeler on the other. Perhaps it’s just a matter of one gaining more in popularity than it actually being a change in how confession is done.

ChadS
 
In our church we have two small rooms with doors and inside the room is a kneeler with a screen so one has a choice to either stay on the side of the screen or go around and sit in a chair opposite the priest. I still do the kneeler.😉

I am glad we don’t have the old booths with curtains, not much privacy there.

Blessings
 
Dempsey1919 said:
How so?
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I wonder if pray4peace doesn’t mean that with doors and actual paneling there is less chance of people in the church over hearing your confession. I realize that if somebody inadvertently hears somebody’s confession they are just as bound by the seal of confession as the priest but I doubt any of us want everybody knowing our business in the confessional

ChadS
 
I don’t think I’ve ever used a traditional confession booth- the closest I’ve come is the “two rooms” kind- a priest enters one door, a penitent enters another next to it. I would love to use the “booth” kind like they have in St. Peter’s though.
 
I wish mine still had them…they were taken out when the church was renovated, and a niche for St Joseph and Our Lady set in these. areas…I limit my confessing to times when we have communal penance and I always say an act of contrition nightly…I really don’t have much to confess that would shock anyone, I am an old lady, but I dislike face to face confession
 
I don’t think I could go to confession in a Church that did not have confessional booths. I think they are essential! I could not confess embarrassing or serious sins while looking the Priest in the face. It would be too embarrasing!

I wonder how much they cost to make?
 
I don’t know, but I have seen pictures of freestanding portable confessional booths in pictures of churches in Rome
 
I go to confession to a priest who’s a member of a religious order. They don’t have a parish or church yet, so there aren’t booths. However, they do have a prie-dieu with a screen. I use that. It’s because that way he doesn’t know who I am (he’s my spiritual director and recognizes my voice in a booth setting (now occasionally) even when I’m sicker than a dog and sound like it), but I get distracted going face-to-face.
 
I like face to face, because to me it helps with all of the advice some priests will give, if I can actually see them, as well as it just being good for my soul to allow myself to say my faults to a man I can see
 
Dempsey1919 said:
I don’t think I could go to confession in a Church that did not have confessional booths. I think they are essential! I could not confess embarrassing or serious sins while looking the Priest in the face. It would be too embarrasing!
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And yet we commit those sins before the face of Christ Himself, whose judgment of us matters an infinitely greater amount than the judgment of a mere human being. A sin we would never want any human being to know we committed or see us commit, we often are less concerned with God seeing. It’s completely irrational of course…or maybe it is because we know God is more forgiving than most people…

Anyway, if you ever must do it face to face, see bearing the shame as worthy punishment and good penance and expiation for the sin 👍
 
My pastor only offers face to face confession, even though our church has booths with curtains. I dislike it because of the natural feeling of shame that I experience in confession - regardless of the nature of the sins. My pastor is a patient and kindly man, as well; that doesn’t make me any less uncomfortable.

I recently went to confession in a nearby parish where they have booths with doors and a screen. The priest was thoughtful and perceptive.

I also appreciated the fact that my penance was a bit more significant (the rosary while meditating on the sorrowful mysteries) than what my pastor usually assigns (two or three prayers at most).

I think I’ll be going back to that other priest when the need arises next…
 
True story: the last time I went to Confession at my local parish, the priest accidentally greeted me at the door of the confessional, :eek: because he was getting ready to leave. I wasn’t late; no, he was just shocked that there was a second person in line.

I went in behind the screen, but for some reason the screen didn’t really block the view? :confused: Father proceeded to peer through right at me the entire time. :rotfl:

Lol, so it’s been a while since I’ve been back there–for Confession. Yeah. I go to a parish in the next town over.:rolleyes:
 
Jacafamala said:
True story: the last time I went to Confession at my local parish, the priest accidentally greeted me at the door of the confessional, :eek: because he was getting ready to leave. I wasn’t late; no, he was just shocked that there was a second person in line.

I went in behind the screen, but for some reason the screen didn’t really block the view? :confused: Father proceeded to peer through right at me the entire time. :rotfl:

Lol, so it’s been a while since I’ve been back there–for Confession. Yeah. I go to a parish in the next town over.:rolleyes:
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[sign]lol I’m sorry but that was funny.[/sign]
 
My parish recently went back to using the old confessionals - people seemed to prefer them to the “reconciliation room” that had been used for the past 30 or so years (fortunately, our church left the old confessional in place). We left the screen on one side, but removed it from the other for the “face-to-face” option.

However, even though I go anonymously, our priest always greets me by name after he hears my voice :rolleyes: (he could at least pretend not to know it’s me :rolleyes: )
 
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