Use of the Confessional Screen

[Joannm]

I always go face to face usually in the priest’s office in the context of spiritual direction. It seems silly to be talking about my sins and other concerns and go walk over to the church to basically tell him the same things. Sometimes in the context of our conversation during direction I recognize something sinful I am guilty of.

Also I had a very bad experience during confession behind the screen in a confessional and I really never got over it. It kept me away from confession for 9 years. Going face to face with someone I was familiar with and trusted got me back to going to confession with someone I really trust.

 

[pinctor]

You can see the outline of people using the screen through the frosted glass window of our reconciliation room. Most use it - say 8 out of 10. I now prefer face to face, and in fact eyeball to eyeball. Not arrogantly - I haven’t encountered a priest who looked away.

 

[Monica4316]

Dear Friends,

I hope I am not being too personal but…confession has always made me very nervous (that is probably why I don’t go as often as I should). I usually use the confessional screen. But sometimes I feel foolish using the screen because it seems so old fashioned. But realistically, this is the only way I think I am able to face the confessional. The parish I belong to gives you the choice of using the confessional screen or sitting in a chair opposite of the priest. I am wondering…do people still use the screen or do most sit before the priest? For some reason, I am thinking the most people sit before the priest and that the screen has become a thing of the past. Please enlighten me. Thanks so much
LindaJ

I almost always use the screen in fact almost all of the parishes where I go have one of those old fashioned confessionals - like the ones you see in movies, lol. (especially in Cathedrals). I think there’s nothing wrong with them go with whatever you feel more comfortable.

 

[Elizabeth502]

I actually like the old fashioned confessional booths, probably because I remember them from when I was a kid. I think they add a certain solemnity to the sacrament that - at least for me - gives the event a bit more gravity and helps me appreciate the penitential humility of reconciliation.

…which is why I use the traditional confessional.

Too bad hardly anyone uses them anymore.

At our very tradiitonal parish, almost everyone uses them.

Sometimes just sitting there speaking with the priest is a bit too informal - more like therapy than confession.

Precisely why I use the screen. I have had only one really good face-to-face confession. I went to that particular priest because he is outstanding and infused with Christ, and thus the face-to-face was extremely powerful.

But other than that single experience, I find that the traditional method is far less distracting, more somber, more grave (as this poster said), and I’m able to concentrate on my sins and the priest’s counsel, versus distracting visuals or aspects of human interaction that are tangential to the sacrament.

So, OP, don’t feel bad. Do what comes naturally. The important thing is for you to get the maximum from the sacrament. Who cares what the “trend” is, or whether you are even the only exception? You are allowed by canon law to have an anonymous confession. If that’s what works for you, you should have no second thoughts about it.

 

[irishpatrick]

Did you really revive a six-year old thread merely to say that your preference is correct and someone else’s is utter nonsense?

Wow, that was quite harsh and utterly uncalled for.

I simply stated that Catholics (by Canon Law) are to be given the choice and that parishes do not have a right to take that choice away. Period, no other agenda hidden in my response.

BTW, to set the record straight, I never said the preference other people have is nonsense. What I attempted to convey was that when people implement “face-to-face” they do so because “THEY” think that method is more intimate and a better way to confess and that IS in fact utter nonsense. Private screens are part of the norms created for the sacrament. A Priest can offer face-to-face, but by Canon Law he is also supposed to offer a private screen so as to provide complete annonimity to the penitent. Both methods are good, but parishes do not have the right to take the screen away.

Please understand, a great many people do not return to confession because they are scared to face the Priest. The Church recognizes that a great many people want to remain annonymous and Canon Law gives them that right. We should be doing everything possible to get people back to confession and forcing them to confess face-to-face is hardly an act of doing everything we can.

BTW, in a search for something else I came upon this thread and decided to comment. I was utterly unaware that there was a forum thread age limit.