Posted on 11/25/2003 7:54:28 AM PST by Land of the Irish
Catholic confession has evolved over time Fewer attend, and emphasis now is on spiritual guidance
By VANESSA HO SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In the late '60s, when the Rev. Jan Larson was a new Roman Catholic priest, he would sit in a dark confessional for hours and listen to people rattle off a "grocery list" of sins. They had impure thoughts, said "damn" three times or chewed gum during a fast.
Today, he's lucky if two people show up for confession at his Snoqualmie parish, and the sins he absolves are more complex. Yet, he sometimes hears about the small stuff, especially from older people who might say they skipped Mass.
Scott Eklund / P-I Nick Coffman, 19, prays near the entrance to the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University yesterday. University officials say they've noticed that more students are going to Mass and confession than in the past. "I do find a healing and a merciful forgiveness," Coffman said. "I always ask why, and they say, 'Oh, well, I had pneumonia.' And you want to snap, 'Why are you bringing that here? It's not a sin if you have pneumonia. God wants you to stay at home.' "
In the span of a half-century, the sacrament of penance, as confession is officially called, has evolved drastically, from a rigid, foreboding ritual to a looser, therapeutic practice. Instead of a fearful cataloging of sins, it now emphasizes spiritual guidance and mercy. And it no longer occurs in the booth.
"I'm just waiting for Hollywood to get it right. They always have the dark box, and the gangster gets in, and the grill slides open," said Roger O'Brien, a retired priest who is writing an article about the sacrament for the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Confession, which is often called "reconciliation," now takes place in a quiet, well-lighted room or chapel, in which a parishioner faces a priest. (If they want to remain anonymous, however, they still have the option of kneeling before a screen).
The changes have occurred as the number of Catholics attending regular confession has declined. In 1965, nearly 40 percent of American Catholics said they went to confession monthly, according to the National Opinion Research Center. Today, sociologists estimate that fewer than 25 percent of Catholics regularly go to confession, and that nearly 60 percent never or almost never go.
"One thing you hear about confession vanishing is if Catholics have lost their sense of sin. Well, I don't think so," said Larson, who also ministers to parishes in Duvall and Carnation.
He noted that communal services on forgiveness, similar to those offered by many Protestant churches, are often packed. He said Catholics have more options for absolution, because church officials now say forgiveness can come through Mass or private prayer, instead of only through one-on-one confession.
And some religious experts say there is a resurgence in confession-going among young Catholics, who are praying the rosary and doing other devotional acts that their baby-boomer parents abandoned.
"Most Catholics who grew up in the '50 and '60s would rather go to the dentist than confession," said Greg Magnoni, Archdiocese of Seattle spokesman. "But today, that's changed, and the sacrament of reconciliation is a celebration of God's grace and mercy."
On a recent Saturday, the traditional day to confess, Keith Abrahams let in a gust of cold air as he rushed inside St. James Cathedral to wait for a priest. He joined about 10 people, who sat in silence, bundled in coats.
A retired mental-health therapist and former Army first sergeant, Abrahams said he goes to confession every two weeks and that it helps him understand and forgive himself. He likes the modern way of facing a priest, viewing it as a spiritual therapy session.
"It helps me to avoid doing the same things over and over again," said Abrahams, 62. "I feel relief and forgiveness."
Nick Coffman, a 19-year-old Seattle University student, waited his turn nearby. Longhaired and dressed all in black, Coffman plays guitar, studies philosophy and would be right at home in a hip coffeehouse.
He grew up Catholic, but was an agnostic for a while in high school. Now he works as a sacristan, or a chapel assistant, and goes to confession every two weeks.
"I do find a healing and a merciful forgiveness," Coffman said. "Really, it speaks to my whole person." But he recognized that going to confession is difficult.
"It really requires looking at yourself and asking where you can be more virtuous, where you can positively embrace God's love," he said.
At Seattle University, administrators say they've noticed that more students are going to Mass and confession than in the past. Many of the students grew up with parents who offered a "smorgasbord approach" to religion or told them, "When you're old enough, you can choose for yourself," said Sheila Barnes, the school's faith-formation coordinator.
Those students are now searching for more meaning in their faith, she said.
"For a lot of young Catholics, there's a feeling that Catholicism has been watered down, and it's gotten really confusing what it means to be Catholic," said G De Castro, the school's chapel coordinator.
He said going to confession and doing other traditional religious practices are "kind of an attempt to solidify the Catholic identity in an external way."
Religion experts say the overall decline in confession-going stems from a broader notion of sin. In the past two centuries, Catholics were less educated and didn't distinguish between small and big sins. So, in order to avoid going to hell, they confessed often and to everything.
Now, "people are more likely to make personal judgments about their sinfulness, rather than going off and running to confession," Larson said.
He said many people who go to confession tend to be at a crossroad in life and need both forgiveness and counseling. In the past, when a parishioner said, "Father, I drink every other day, and I'm drunk at home," a priest would give him penance for committing "the sin of drunkenness," he said.
Now, Larson would help him find community resources to fight addiction. Priests also advise parishioners to do acts of contrition, from saying prayers to contributing to a charity.
In a few weeks, when Advent, the penitential season before Christmas, starts, parishes will prepare for their communal absolution services. The Vatican wants priests to offer one-on-one confession time as part of these services. But many priests, particularly those of large parishes, say they can't accommodate everyone.
One local priest says that tension between the Vatican and some parishes is a "landmine." And some hard-liners say the communal services -- without individual confessions -- offer "cheap grace."
But O'Brien said the services are powerful, with songs, homilies and prayers.
"They're healthy," he said. "That's an encouraging thing for us to experience that sacrament that way."
Absolutely. There will always be (unfortunately) extenuating circumstances.
Thank you ((((((Salvation)))))) - for *everything*.
Thanks to this mentality, sacrileges abound. I have a friend who wrongly believes that she gains absolution through her mere presence in the Novus Ordo liturgy and uses that as an excuse to approach Our Lord in Communion withouth confessing her mortal sins first. Does no one understand the destructive nature of novelties?
I think it is more reflective of the reporter not really knowing anything about the topic.
Umm, I'll be frank. You're setting yourself up here.
That's perfectly acceptable. It's some areas that have started to offer "absolution" to all without any private confession of sin, through ad hoc group "liturgies."
As others have noted the idea of group absolution is valid only in true emergencies. The last I've ever heard of in my area is when Three Mile Island was happening and some churches in the area held such services.
What needs to be understood is that if the emergency passes, you need to "follow up" with a genuine individual confession.
I find it funny that priests here can get together in neighboring communities to offer 5 or 6 priests at one place, but those in some diocese are "too busy" for such a thing. Yes, priests are busy, but isn't ensuring those in your community are spiritually prepared for Christmas and Easter kinda a big part of a priest's job?
SD
These American bishops believe that what they possess here is a franchise that they can manipulate any way they wish.
They're so busy empowering priests to hold whatever "service" they desire, or to allow young girls to servce at mass that they haven't time for the important things of saving souls.
Recently I found my bulletin stuffed with three bulletins admonishing parishoners to stop eating Taco Bell products. I wrote the following to the Bishop of Venice (Florida) and have yet to receive an answer.
Bishop John J. Nevins, M.S.W., D.D.
Diocese of Venice in Florida
1000 Pinebrook Rd.
Venice, FL 34292
RE: Diocese’s Action Toward Just Wages For Farm Workers
Excellency,
Picking tomatoes is not rocket science; therefore, the tomato pickers need to seek other employment and, if they’re not citizens, perhaps in their own country.
To encourage the boycott of a company that isn’t in the business of growing tomatoes to force those that are in the tomato business to the bargaining table appears unfair. Further, it reveals the Church to be a needless meddler.
In the undated “letter” issued by the “Peace and Justice Office,” (whatever that means) a reference is made to the similarity of this “movement” and that of Cesar Chavez, an avowed socialist and probably a communist whose goal was to bankrupt grape growers and who couldn’t have cared a fig about those migrant pickers.
If as much effort is expended on the original role of The Roman Catholic Church and less on lending the church to socialist and unfair causes, we’d have a church that has returned to its sacred mission.
I strongly believe that the Church’s role in promulgating programs such as this is humanist and not ecclesiastical. It makes as much sense to get behind a movement to return American manufacturing jobs and attendant manufacturing base back to this country.
Unfortunately, I realize that the Church is following the new wave of political correctness and believes that by encouraging parishioners not to eat tacos It is accomplishing the Lord’s business.
I, for one, as a practicing Roman Catholic believe there is other important business to which the Church needs to attend.
Respectfully yours,
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