Why Confession?

[ICXCNIKA]

It is my understanding that in the early Church confession was done before the entire local church community and that penances were severe.

It is also my understanding that the Irish monks introduced the notion of confession to a priest and that up into the middle ages it was an acceptable practice for one to confess one’s sins to a close friend, or someone other than a priest.

Three things:

1. Can anyone correct my understanding if it is wrong?
2. If penances were much more severe than they are now, were people only confessing pretty heinous sins rather than some “less severe” sins that are often confessed in our age? And/or was there a different understanding either theologically or cuturally about what constituted a mortal sin?
3. Why, if it was permissible in the ancient Church, is it no longer permitted for one to confess to someone other than a priest.

http://www.goyouth.org.au/images/theotokos.jpg

 

[otm]

I am no historian; however, I believe that it was originally the bishop who actually gave the absolution. It was the bishop, who, after the public penance was done, accepted the individual back into communion and to Communion of the public sinner.

I have heard statements to the effect that confession was to the community, but have never been able to find anyone who could back those statements up with any verifiable research.

My understanding is that the Irish priests introduced three aspects of confession: personal, or private confession, confession more than once in a lifetime, and penances that were much less severe and not necessarily public. They did this at a time that confession had dropped off; confession had dropped off because people were not converting until old age, or near death. And the reason that they were holding off on baptism was because the Church at one point held that one could only confess and be absolved once (it was acknowledged that Baptism forgave all sins). Due to the infrequency, and the feeling that many had that they could not avoid sin, they waited. The Irish introduced the concept of regular confession.