Well,to be all nit-picky, it’s “ordinarily necessary.”
Viewed apart from the sacramental side, it is also a chance, strangely declined by many, to live into the truth that God’s forgiveness is FAR more important than the opprobrium of men.
Another side of it is that only having it for an hour on Saturday for a parish of 1000+ families doesn’t really give the impression of real importance.
Freegards