The idea of reconciliation and confession came up in Mad Men during the second season. Peggy, who is the young secretary turns ad exec., has a child out of wedlock at trend of the first season. She doesn’t even know she is pregnant during the season. (Or she suspects it and tries to ignore it.). Lots of the story during the season is a young priest basically trying to shame her into going to Confession. (He finds out about it during her older sister’s Confession and basically breaks the seal.). Since this is the early 1960s, there is obviously great shame and ostracization associated with what happened to Peggy. She doesn’t end up going to confession, but she does end up telling the baby’s father, a young married exec. in the firm, about the baby and the fact that she had given it up for adoption. This gives her more peace than a Church confession ever would ad the season closes with her absolving herself ala Reconciliation.
I have a hard time believing that righteous people of other religions aren’t forgiven their sins because they don’t celebrate what is solely a Catholic sacrament and is centered on Catholicism weird desire for public shame. It would be sad to me if God told a victim of the Shoah that they weren’t completely absolved of their sins. Not really the merciful God that I am looking for.
if you were Catholic, you'd know it isn't "public shame", rather a private confession, not be revealed.
also, it's not just a Catholic sacrament -- the Orthodox have it as well and many Lutherans have the same sacrament.