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Unfortunately I've spoken with converts to Roman Catholicism in my home Archdiocese of Chicago, who were never told that they had to go to confession. Time we dusted off the Baltimore Catechism.

My kids are taught by the old St. Joseph gray Catechism.

That and their ol' dad.

My wife and I were fortunate to receive private instruction from a holy priest. Confession seems to be a negelected sacrament.

Terry

"On the other hand, if a public figure, whose positions on certain public issues are well known to be at odds with Catholic teaching, it certainly stands to reason that a public retraction would be in order."

Deacon Richard,

This makes sense. Otherwise the public stance is 'as is' in the public's eye unless it is adressed. Is it like the restitution of goods? I may be sorry that I stole that car, but if I'm still driving it I cannot be contrite.

Terry

Some dont have to go to confession, if they were received into the Church through Baptism, it washes away all previous sins.
Stephanos I

Father,

How common is that belief? I am familiar with it as taught by some Protestants. That belief was linked to another one where "we don't need priests".

Terry

Well it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that all original and personal sin is washed away and a person is regenerated through the saving water of Baptism.
CCC 405 Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin ad turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakend and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

CCC 1263 "By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin."

Stephanos I

Father,

I should have been more specific. It is not that aspect to Baptism I was referring to but that, after being Baptized, there are some Protestants who believe that they remain pure and would not need confession. Otherwise, as this belief goes, they would not be a Christian, they would not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and their Baptism would have been signifying nothing and therefore invalid.

Terry

It is undeniably true that there has been a drastic falling-off in the practice of the Sacrament of Penance among Catholics in recent years. There are several reasons for this, but I should like to suggest that one particular reason of some significance has been overlooked:

We have all been taught that Confession is a conversation of the most utterly confidential nature; that the "seal of Confession" assures us that the priest will absolutely never disclose to anyone what we have confessed - and that any case of doubt is always to be resolved in favor of the seal.

That's the trouble - who wants confidentiality these days? People are standing in line outside television stations demanding the right to tell the whole world all the disgusting things they have been doing recently! If what you have done is so unbearable that even Jerry Springer wouldn't put up with it, you tell the whole world anyway and explain that you are going public in the pious hope that learning of your fall will assist others who have the same temptation!

This sounds like a joke, but I am not joking. The current motto seems to be "I demand my 15 minutes of fame!"

Fr. Serge

LOL! (....I think?!?)

Alice

I would like to see confession return to what it was in apostolic times - before the scholastics got into it and make kicking the furniture a sin. As in early times, there are major sins that require confession. But it seems that in the west, at least, excessive Roman legalism has driven many away from the sacrament.

The scholastic school of thought had its golden period where it was bound with a wholehearted approach to theological wisdom. I respect the thought from that period. Where it became legalism, the framework of ideas became the object of faith rather than God and His ways.

A generation and more ago, in the Latin Church, people categorized and ordered their sins by degree. Some better than others. But there was a greater respect for the sacrament of penance. Is scholasticism the major factor in the distaste for confession in this generation?

I would guess not, as many cultural influences come from outside of the Church. There is a general attitude of selfishness. We are bombarded with instant everything and "it's all about me" advertising. Our psychologists tend to pressure us to look within ourselves to find what's best for us and that it is unnatural to restrain the desires that don't hurt others. Family councilors sometimes steer people to separate and divorce rather than working together while keeping in mind the gravity of the vow they took before God.

It could be hard for someone steeped in this culture to really know what sin is. It takes effort and grace to have a well formed conscience by which we judge our actions. Without a well formed conscience, many people may negelect penance and consume the Eucharist without a second thought.

Terry

I have to agree that with most churches I know of only offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation for anywheres from 15-30 minutes a week, I would quickly come to the conclusion that it is not a sought after sacrament. It appears that someone has dropped the ball regarding any importance in this sacrament.

At the RC church where I work, confession is offered for an hour every Saturday by two priests. There are lines. However, I still maintain that some of what we have been taught as confessable sin is medieval nit-picking and hair splitting. I think most of us who do confess actually realize the difference between what is serious and what is trivial.

I would hardly say it is "Roman Legalism" that has driven people away from confession but rather a dulling or death of the conscience which has done it. The me generation where I can have and do anyting "I" want and no one is going to tell me "I" cant!
My greatest play on the word sin is this s"I"n = egoism.
Stephanos I