[metmom]

The reason I cited that was to demonstrate that the expiation of sin was a public affair.

well, that certainly does not fit with the privacy and anonymity of the confessional booth, nor with the fact that whatever is told a priest in the confessional cannot be revealed, even if a person commits murder.

[rcofdayton]

Nor does it fit with Protestant’s belief that they can receive expiation merely by confessing directly to God.