Why the lack of Confession times?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MN19
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MN19

Guest
Why is it that most churches have very limited confession times these days? From my experience, some parishes in larger cities have regular confession times during the week, but most other parishes (particularly in small towns and rural areas) usually only offer it for an hour or so on Saturday afternoon/evening. This can make living as a Catholic fairly stressful if you fall into mortal sin on Sunday or Monday but can’t get to confession until Saturday. I know confession by appointment is technically an option, but from what I’ve seen, most penitents prefer to confess anonymously/behind the screen, which seems like it would discourage appointments. I know priests’ time is limited, but opening the confessional for fifteen minutes or so before or after daily Mass seems like it couldn’t hurt.

On a similar note, not that we’re entering the Triduum, I also wonder why most parishes do not offers confessions during the days leading up to Easter, especially since this is the most important time of the year for the Church. Is there a reason for this or a piece of doctrine that would explain it?
 
MN19 said:
Why is it that most churches have very limited confession times these days?
Click to expand...
Because few people come to confession. The old days when every parish had 2 or more priests (so, someone could sit there in the box waiting while others took care of the other work) are gone.
MN19 said:
I know confession by appointment is technically an option, but from what I’ve seen, most penitents prefer to confess anonymously/behind the screen,
Click to expand...
You call the office and say “I wish to schedule a confession in the Church confessional behind the screen”. Be sure to arrive on time, the priest will arrive at the Church prior to when you are scheduled and be seated behind the screen. We literally schedule these things all of the time, you do not have to give the secretary more than you want, maybe your first name but some people do not even give that.
 
Most parishes I know offer confession times up to Wednesday. One the Triduum starts, that’s the priority and there’s so much going on the priests don’t have time for anything else.

As far as the overall schedule, all you can do is talk with your pastor and see if the hours can be extended. It really comes down to a question of whether or not people show up.
 
I do wish confessions were offered more frequently. I don’t think enough people would come to make it worth the time the priest would have to take from other duties to sit there waiting though. My parish doesn’t have Confessions at all this week, and it’s Holy Week! Nobody seems to mind. I went to the next parish over because they had 4 priests hearing Confessions these past nights. I guess it depends on the parish.
 
To a certain extent I think that the demand for confession is a function of its availability. My former parish had confessions for 45 minutes before each weekday afternoon Mass and for an hour on Saturday. Initially the lines seemed small, but eventually there was a line nearly every day. I have to add though, that Holy Week is the busiest time of the year for priests and people should go before Holy Week. Many places have penance services in the week or two before Holy Week.
 
It depends on the parish. I recently traveled for work, and looked up confession times at the local Cathedral, the seat of the diocese; they offered confession for a half-hour two days a week, neither of which fit my schedule. I checked other parishes in the area and they were about the same. My own parish at home offers it more often in lent, but about the same during weeks outside of lent (one hour one day a week). So when I was traveling I went to the nearest ICK parish which offered confession every day a half hour before mass (and other times besides). There was also a line too, on a Saturday morning. If you have a EF parish near you that’s probably your best bet, otherwise you’ll have to find a suitable time at a nearby OF parish or call to schedule a time with your priest.
 
If you private message me, perhaps we can discuss t he root cause of your problem.
The lack of confession times is related to the shortage of priest. I believe you can make an appointment with him a priest for an anomalous confession.
 
I agree with @Weserthy. I’m most consistently able to find regularly scheduled Confession times with the ICRSS. In fact, this week there’s more Confession available than usual. There were six additional hours yesterday, and there will be about two more hours today, 1.5 hours tomorrow (Good Friday) and four hours on Holy Saturday.

To be fair, my territorial parish has also increased the availability of Confession this week, though not by as much.
PatK63 said:
an anomalous confession
Click to expand...
Sorry, I know what you meant, but…🤣
 
That’s what I wish certain parishes would do as well. If they start offering confessions on an extra day or two per week and they advertise it well, hopefully that would drive more people to participate in the sacrament.

To clear something up, I personally don’t have a problem finding reconciliation times. Where I live, it’s available at at least one nearby church every day of the week except Monday, but I do feel for those who live in areas where availability is more sparse.
 
There’s a Franciscan chapel in my diocese that offers confession frequently, and there’s usually a decent line if you go right before or after a scheduled Mass. They’ve recently had to reduce their offerings, but still have it available about four hours per day six days per week. I do not belong to this chapel, but I frequently contribute to their collections mainly for this reason. My parish also offers confession on Saturdays and for about half an hour before the TLM every Sunday. That said, there are a ton of parishes in my diocese that offer confession for as little as 15 minutes a week. I imagine that can be stressful for those who don’t have other options.
 
I believe this is a circular problem.

There are not a lot of confession times because not enough people go to confession. However, more people would attend confession if it was offered at various times.

From what I understand, back in the 1950s, it was a given that Saturday evening was confession time. Families went and had family dinners before or after.

But today, Saturdays are not the days of rest that once were in the 1950s. For many of us, Saturdays are some of the busiest days of the year. When both husband and wife work, Saturday becomes the day for rest, fun, household work, kids sports, shopping, etc.

And unfortunately far too many suburban Parishes only offer scheduled Saturday confessions like it’s still the 1950s.

We need more confession times on Sundays and during the week. EVEN IF it’s only for 15 minutes before or after Masses.

If every parish offered confession for just 15 minutes before or after at least one mass (if not every mass) each day, I strongly believe Confession attendance would increase.

Because this is a circular problem.
  • not enough people go to confession
  • so Priests don’t schedule enough confession times
  • priests don’t schedule enough confession times so people downplay the importance of confession
  • people downplay the importance of confession so not enough people go to confession
God Bless
 
Last edited:
I look up everything on Masstimes.org–terrific resource!!!

I used to go to a parish where about 8 or 10 people went regularly to confession. Then we got a new priest who frequently mentioned the need for confession, and the numbers began to grow. The new priest had to start earlier to accommodate the newcomers!

So to me it’s not just making more availability, but strenuously reminding people that this is an important aspect of our faith.
 
I found a church that does confession on a Wednesday which is perfect for me. I get there almost an hour early so I can walk the stations inside the church for an indulgence.

If I get there late, I have had to wait almost a half an hour. I have seen over thirty people, and this is just during ordinary time. Twice a year my church has penance services with visiting priests, and they are always packed.

This is in the south.
 
Last edited:
I think there are several issues at play, and the reasons vary from parish to parish.

I sense that priest burn-out can be a real problem, especially in parts of the world suffering from the priest shortage. My parish priest serves three different churches, and honestly that is too wide an area for one priest to be responsible for, but he has to make it work.

Another problem might be lack of advertisement or preaching on the importance of the sacrament. I just learned that confession at my church starts a half hour earlier than I thought, although that fact isn’t in the bulletin or on the sign. Also if the priest is preaching on the importance of the sacrament, more people will come. The average church goer may not realize that you shouldn’t receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin or know the criteria for mortal sin.
 
I agree with everything you said, and would add that, in many areas, urban rectories that housed three or four or five priests back in the 1950s might house one or maybe two today. The rural parishes that had one priest to itself now share one priest with two or three other parishes. Yet another concrete manifestation of the ever-growing parishioner-to-priest ratio.
 
My parish is huge and has 3 priest but still, the only regular confession time is early Saturday morning. As a family with 5 kids, that just doesn’t work so we hardly go. They did have confession every Wednesday evening throughout advent and lent, and that was great. I’m thinking of emailing with a suggestion of keeping that time year round. It works a lot better for families.
 
Glennon_P said:
I agree with everything you said, and would add that, in many areas, urban rectories that housed three or four or five priests back in the 1950s might house one or maybe two today. The rural parishes that had one priest to itself now share one priest with two or three other parishes. Yet another concrete manifestation of the ever-growing parishioner-to-priest ratio.
Click to expand...
True.

But I still see a lot of rural Parishes be able to offer confession for 15 minutes before or after mass.

Let’s say mass starts at 9am. Father can schedule confession from 8:30 to 8:45 and then by 8:50 finish vesting for mass.

Plenty of rural Parishes do this, including the FSSP parish in suburban Philly.

15 minutes before and/or after every mass should not be a killer for a busy priest.
 
MN19 said:
Why is it that most churches have very limited confession times these days?
Click to expand...
  1. Lack of Priests.
  2. Lack of (or perhaps too many) penitents.
  3. Lack of Faith and Trust.
  4. Lack of interest. (Separation of Church and State)
  5. Competing churches.
  6. And, probably, the onset of psychology.
It’s something I do and don’t like about our church in this day and age.

Back in the old days, when we didn’t have quite the emphasis on the separation of church and state, Priests were more like judges, who could dole out lengthy penances that could take months to years to fulfill.

Today in general, my thought is, people (including Priests) look more at the Eucharist than they do Confession, and they don’t worry so much about a worthy reception of the Eucharist. Also, the onset of psychology has created a lot of gray area with respect to medical ethics and what’s appropriated to emotional, spiritual and moral issues - as if shrink’s have all the answers now, and Priests are concerned about the psychological state of a person versus their spiritual state versus their emotions and etc…

The role of a penitential life also seems to be looked upon differently because of it… The emphasis is on mercy, mercy mercy, but - while I agree with mercy - confession is still a sacrament that confers grace, grace, grace… and we can’t get enough grace in our lives!

People probably think I am too strict about confession, or maybe I go so much it’s as if I somehow fail to take it seriously, but… then, I see myself as a very great sinner, and - if I’d sell out to sin in a second, then I wish there were more confessionals open to keep the spiritual fires of righteousness burning, too… I’d at least be able to make more communions that way…
 
Last edited:
Fewer and fewer people are coming to confession. I do know of some parishes around me that have had all day confessions during Lent. If you can’t go during the designated time, I would make an appointment.
 
At the other parish, were those four priests just sitting there with no one around? I suspect not, so perhaps your second sentence is not that accurate. Not meaning to pick a fight by any means, but the trend in this area seems to be that parishes are offering confessions more often, and guess what? People are going.

Now, I have been corrected by a priest on this forum and told not to assume it’s that simple. I am sure he was right, but in this area, the trend is promising.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top