Top ten benefits of confession

Do you think it matters what Priest you confess to? What their personal life experience has been, and how they relate to women?

Most troubling is:

"1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else."

The problem that I have with No. 1 is that it is NOT guaranteed. There is no one or nothing to guarantee it. Some priests have been absolute scandrels. They don't mind if they lie, cheat or steal or worse. It might be a few but every year some are identified.

About confession, there is reason to believe some of the abusive priests actually abused the confessional, too, and that is how they learned which teenagers who have sex identity problems or strong sexual urges.

Too, I've hears small groups of priests privately gossip about people in very intimate knowledgeable ways. And, over the years how did some priests gain the confidence of lonely widowed women with money, so that some of the money landed in the hands of the priests or the parish controlled by the priests.

The only way that I see having some security about the confidentiality of confession is to mask your identity, go across a big city and confess to a foreign priest who may not understand you, and then get quickly out of the church. That is sad but we have learned that priests sometimes do not fit the ideal. It is better to see them as real humans now with all the weaknesses of humans.

I find Sr Mary Ann's list interesting since it gives a glimpse of her personal thoughts and faith. It is particularly interseting to me because it is from the woman, spokesperson for the US Bishops, who said in all seriousness, defending the exclusion of women from priesthood, that "...women are at high levels in the Church, as much, if not more, as they are in US society." She may well be the highest level female in the US Catholic Church. However, I don't think she's heard any confessions. Actually, I had a wonderful priest "confessor" who was like a therapist/friend to me. He died. I do not know a priest in my area whom I would approach now. That causes me great saddness. But it's okay. Sr Mary Ann might be interested to know that we don't need a priest intercede for us to receive forgiveness from our gracious, loving God. The more arrogant and controlling the clergy become, the more Catholics will learn, by the pure grace of God, to do without them.

One thing confession is not is therapy!! If it is used as such, it could be very high cost indeed. Except in very rare cases, priests are not trained psychotherapists. If one were to go to a non trained medical doctor for low cost medicine, that might indeed cost that person a great deal. The same is true for psychotherapy. Most priests have little ideas on how to help people with unconscious wishes and desires. So let's put confession in its proper religious realm and not make these types of wild claims that can and do just get some into more trouble.

BTW when I was in South America, I noticed that a local prostitute advertised as being a low cost psychotherapist in the local newspaper!! There is a valid question as to who would be the most effective or do the least harm when we advertise priests as something that they definitely are not.

Ambush is the new way to go to confession and with more priestless parishes it will become more common.

Sr Walsh's piece is good, well-written and all. But it seems to be for the past rather than now.

She makes it seem like it is easy to go to confession, that is, that opportunities abound. It is not easy to go to confession. Too few priests, priests too busy.

I pray that all the permanent deacons will be ordained so that the dying can go to confession, and those who could use frequent confessions would have access. My mother would have loved to confess regularly during the last six months of her life ... The priest came - once.

I like this piece, but it is not very realistic.

Sr. Walsh is drumming up business for services that are very scarce indeed.

Do we have a right to the sacraments?

I'm afraid confession/reconciliation is now just about dead, a victim of the huge shift in consciousness since Vatican II. Sure, there were some good things about it but it seems the evils of it -- guilt, blame, self-hate, cowering before supposed authority, etc. outweighed the good. That confessions have fallen 90% and for all age groups seems to say the vote is in.

All of these benefits can be realized without going to confession, including the first one. If you don't tell, you don't have to worry about confidentiality. As for the others, all you need is a trusted confidant, friend, therapist, or some quality time alone. In any case, if a person is not inclined to self reflection to begin with, psychology alone would suggest that going to confession is not going to achieve such results. Before the bishops extol the benefits of confession, the bishops need to address their own sins of covering up the sex abuse by priests. If we had confessed to any one of them that we had covered up sex abuse, each would insist as part of our penance that we make amends. The same applies to them and that has not been forthcoming. When they hold themselves accountable beyond what the civil law requires, then they may have something to say about sacramental confession. Until then, they need to be sure they do not increase their sacrilege.

Reconciliation/Penance Services are the way to go! Haven't been to "regular confession" in 27 years since my child was castigated in "regular confession" for mis-pronouncing a word and told the child's face was misshapen and needed to see a dentist. Tearfully, the child recounted this and asked "What does this have to do with confession." Needless to say that was the end of promoting confession.

I am still thinking and praying about this "sacrament." Confidentiality, housekeeping, balm, therapy, time of forced thinking, contribution, bettering, realistic, benefit, closeness to God... where is love?
Papa Dios, Abba Father does not say to us, "You were conceived a sinner." The divine greeting is "I love you. Do you want to love me?"
I dare to approach our Lord and Brother's table saying, "I am not worthy to receive you. Only say the word and I shall be healed."
This is my morning prayer, my eucharistic prayer, my prayer of thanksgiving, and my confession.
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
Paz y Bien, Rolando, SFO.

What happens when a priest asks sexually explicit questions in the confessional to sophomore girls. E.g. Do you masturbate? ate? How sexually active are you?
Is this appropriate?