[Land of the Irish]

Ping

[american colleen]

Kind of a confusing article, at least to me. I found it all over the map... but maybe it's reflective of Catholic society.

FWIW. A lot of Catholics think that attending one of the Reconciliation Masses equals going to Confession. An assumption that is not clarified from the pulpit.

[Desdemona]

To be honest, there is so much of a variety in confessing styles, I don't think there is a way to pinpoint it the way the author wants to. Yes, there are some parishes with the room and the little screen. There are also churches with the old-fashioned module sorts of confessionals with the curtains and the wall/screen. I go to confession at one such place and honestly, the screen side to face to face ratio is about 10 to 1. I think there is something about being anonymous that makes confessing the deep, darkness of the soul so much easier.

It's not so much that it's a personal counseling session as there are things we do that we know are wrong and we have to let that out and tell God, yes, we know we did wrong and we're very sorry. Personally, I find that I usually walk in there with something on my mind and just have to say it and hear the forgiveness.

The one thing that does bother me is when the priest, usually the young ones, start to patronize you when you're finished in an effort to try and make you feel better. So, I usually go to the older ones and really the pastor might not be a good homilist, but he's great in confession.