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

Slate ^ | Nov. 17, 2005 | Andrew Santella

[Antioch]

A Catholic friend of mine recently went to confession at her parish church for the first time in years. She had personal reasons for wanting to seek absolution, but there was this, too: She said she'd long felt a little sorry for the priests sitting alone in their confessional boxes, waiting for sinners to arrive.

A generation ago, you'd see a lot of us lined up inside Catholic churches on Saturday afternoons, waiting to take our turn in one of the confessionals. We'd recite the familiar phrases ("Bless me Father, for I have sinned"), list our transgressions and the number of times we'd committed them, maybe endure a priestly lecture, and emerge to recite a few Hail Marys as an act of penance. In some parishes, the machinery of forgiveness was so well-oiled you could see the line move. Confession was essential to Catholic faith and a badge of Catholic identity. It also carried with it the promise of personal renewal. Yet in most parishes, the lines for the confessionals have pretty much disappeared. Confession—or the sacrament of reconciliation, as it's officially known—has become the one sacrament casual Catholics feel free to skip. We'll get married in church, we'll be buried from church, and we'll take Communion at Mass. But regularly confessing one's sins to God and the parish priest seems to be a part of fewer and fewer Catholic lives. Where have all the sinners gone?

[Conservative til I die]

See my Post #21.

[Salvation]

Our priest has lines, but I think they could be much longer.

[Salvation]

God forgives our sins THROUGH the priest. Have you ever read the words of absolution?

[Salvation]

As I just said, it is GOD who forgives the sins of the sinner through the words of absolution spoken by the priest. Have you ever read those words of absolution? If not, then how can you speak about them in such a way?

[Salvation]

The graces received through the Sacrament of Reconciliation are many, you have that right.

[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

 

1449 The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[Clemenza]

I wouldn't say Mara was ignorant, just that "confession" as practiced by the church of Rome, is an invention that was created to satisfy the christian requirement of testimonial. The BIBLE and early christian tradition teach that one must publicly testify their sins to fellow believers, NOT to some guy who Rome designates as a cleric, although the latter is sufficient.

Why are Catholics so defensive? I can show you pre-Vatican II tracts that defend the concept of "Limbo" as steadfastly as you folks are defending certain practices INVENTED by the church of Rome. It was such intolerance and blind faithfulness to practices not mentioned in the scriptures or practiced by the Church pre-Nicea that drove me away from the RC Church.

[Clemenza]

No offense to my friends on this site, but the bible and pre-Nicean Christian tradition required a TESTIMONIAL of sins. It says NOTHING about getting absolution from God through a cleric. From my understanding of scripture and pre-Nicean traditions, such confessions can be made by giving testimony in the community of believers, which could include a priest or a church/prayer group or any such gathering of believing Christians.

[Judith Anne]

I've gone into the sacrament many times with a heavy heart and left with peace. The result of confession and absolution of my sins is love and gratitude toward God for His salvation through Christ's death and resurrection. I'm reminded that He calls me to be His own, that He yearns to bring us closer in friendship and grace.

[Nihil Obstat]

Here are some interesting quotes from early church Saints:

St. Augustine (d. 430) warns the faithful: "Let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God has power to forgive all sins" (De agon. Christ., iii).

St. Ambrose (d. 397) rebukes the Novatianists who "professed to show reverence for the Lord by reserving to Him alone the power of forgiving sins. Greater wrong could not be done than what they do in seeking to rescind His commands and fling back the office He bestowed. . . . The Church obeys Him in both respects, by binding sin and by loosing it; for the Lord willed that for both the power should be equal" (De poenit., I, ii,6).

Again he teaches that this power was to be a function of the priesthood. "It seemed impossible that sins should be forgiven through penance; Christ granted this (power) to the Apostles and from the Apostles it has been transmitted to the office of priests" (op. cit., II, ii, 12).
The power to forgive extends to all sins: "God makes no distinction; He promised mercy to all and to His priests He granted the authority to pardon without any exception" (op. cit., I, iii, 10).

Against the same heretics St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona (d. 390), wrote to Sympronianus, one of their leaders: "This (forgiving sins), you say, only God can do. Quite true: but what He does through His priests is the doing of His own power" (Ep. I ad Sympron, 6 in P.L., XIII, 1057).

[Nihil Obstat]

More quotes from the early church. These are the eastern fathers.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 447): "Men filled with the spirit of God (i.e. priests) forgive sins in two ways, either by admitting to baptism those who are worthy or by pardoning the penitent children of the Church" (In Joan., 1, 12 in P.G., LXXIV, 722).

St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) after declaring that neither angels nor archangels have received such power, and after showing that earthly rulers can bind only the bodies of men, declares that the priest's power of forgiving sins "penetrates to the soul and reaches up to heaven". Wherefore, he concludes, "it were manifest folly to condemn so great a power without which we can neither obtain heaven nor come to the fulfillment of the promises. . . . Not only when they (the priests) regenerate us (baptism), but also after our new birth, they can forgive us our sins" (De sacred., III, 5 sq.).

St. Athanasius (d. 373): "As the man whom the priest baptizes is enlightened by the grace of the Holy Ghost, so does he who in penance confesses his sins, receive through the priest forgiveness in virtue of the grace of Christ" (Frag. contra Novat. in P. G., XXVI, 1315).


Happy Feast of Christ the King.

[jo kus]

Ever read your Bible? The Bible says you don't need to confess your sins to a priest for absolution.

Where does the Bible say we do are not to confess sins to a priest?

Regards

[jo kus]

With many liberal priests homilies, its as if sin and evil don't exist.

Ah, now we are getting somewhere on this thread. We have forgotten that sin is an offense against the Almighty God.

Regards

[jo kus]

The BIBLE and early christian tradition teach that one must publicly testify their sins to fellow believers, NOT to some guy who Rome designates as a cleric, although the latter is sufficient.

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on [them], and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained. (John 20:21-23)

Hmmm. Sounds like Christ is giving men the power to forgive sins, doesn't it?

Limbo was never a formal teaching of the Church. It is purely based on speculation of where infants who are not baptized go.

It was such intolerance and blind faithfulness to practices not mentioned in the scriptures or practiced by the Church pre-Nicea that drove me away from the RC Church

So your church 1900 years removed got it right, huh? How do you know that?

Regards

[IIntense]

"...prideful Protestant thinking..."

Can you possibly see that your statement smacks of a superior, biased and general criticism of Protestants? Throughout my life I have known both Protestants and Catholics beyond a "Hello, how are you?" relationship. My beloved Dad and his whole family were Protestants, to name just the relatives.

These Christians did not/do not have the sacrament of Reconciliation in their churches but somehow they knew right from wrong and led/lead lives as good people. Honestly, Catholics, even with confession, are no more holy than their Protestant brethren.

For those who believe that by confessing their sins to a priest, some would not need the help from the psychiatric/psychological doctors, I'm not here to argue the point, other than to say that priests, as a whole, are not skilled to deal with mental aberrations.

On that subject, I don't believe that Protestants are lining up for appointments with mental health experts in greater numbers than Catholics.

Unless one chooses and can prove me wrong, what is the explanation for why Protestants manage to live good lives just as some Catholics do? You may disagree with me but it is a fact that they manage to do this without having the "obligation" to confess their sins to a priest/minister/whoever. They may ask God's forgiveness when they have transgressed, express sorrow and regret, and truly believe that God has heard and forgiven them.

I am always praying for God's mercy for someone I know and for those I never met but hear about. Our armed forces need our constant prayers. For some strange reason, I believe God hears me. But he can't hear my sorrow for sin? He won't forgive me? I have to tell a priest about it to get God's forgiveness?

I'm being smart-mouthed here but does anyone recommend I go to a priest to ask God to please have mercy on my younger brother and allow him more time to live?

I am a child of Almighty God. I beseech him to hear and answer my prayers...hopefully with a "yes".

[frankiep]

I think you make some very good points. I would also add that a big part of it also has to do with the teaching, and subsequent mentality and atmosphere of many parishes.

For example, do you find it acceptable to hear cheering and applause among parishoners during Mass? I certainly don't, under any circumstances. Yet in the past couple of months I was unfortunate enough to witness two such occurances, at two seperate Catholic churches. Needless to say, I was absolutely horrified both times. I am still sick about it today. I got me to thinking that the Catholic church in the United States has just about completely lost sight of Catholicism altogether, and has become, in effect, Protestant.

I could go on and on about this. I will say though that when I was a kid that I never would have even imagined things being the way they are today. I never would have thought in a million years that I would ever hear people wildly applauding during a Catholic Mass, and I certainly never in a million years would have thought that I would be a witness to the horror of a Catholic priest pulling out a guitar and singing a song about how happy he was during Mass (no, I'm not kidding). Pope Benedict, we need your help here.

[IIntense]

Let me add this to my previous "too long" post, please.

My intention is not to change anyone's desire to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. Obviously it is a source of release and peace for many. I only suggest a little more open-mindedness towards those who do not agree...who do not find a clear biblical statement on which to base this teaching.

[IIntense]

When I was taught the existence of Limbo in grade school, it was not presented to us little kids as "not a formal teaching of the Church". We were taught to BELIEVE it!

I guess we were a classroom of stupid nine-year-olds (or whatever).

Why won't somebody here acknowledge that, along with the good academic education we received in the Catholic schools (in my opinion), we absorbed some not-too-healthy mental attitudes also? I think that pertains to the period of time when one attended school. My children had a very different Catholic school experience from mine.