When do churches do confession

Good remark. If it was taken personally and someone is hurt, then too bad. It is so common even someone with the best intentions to say something and the words to be taken as offensive from a person that just can not take a minor critic and learn from the mistakes. Correct me if im wrong, but i do not believe the priests can even reveal your confession in the court of law.

Hypothetically speaking, if you confess that you had taken the life of someone, they can not reveal that in court. From what i heard, whatever you confess stays between you and God. I am sure the Priest would encourage the confessor to give him or her self up to the authorities to prove he or she was sorry for their crime if not then the Priest would not be able to give absolution,.

Priests may not reveal what they have learned during confession to anyone, even under the threat of their own death or that of others. For a priest to break secrecy would lead to a latae sententiae automatic excommunication, the lifting of which is reserved to the Holy See — in fact, to the Pope himself. As soon as the encounter begins by the person going to the confessional area, taking a seat, and closing any door, and the priest saying a greeting and making the sign of the Cross, or the priest praying with and granting absolution to the person before they leave confessional secrecy holds.

Any person who overhears a confession is likewise bound by the seal. This is the case, for example, with more serious offenses, as some excommunicable offenses are reserved to the Holy See and their permission to grant absolution must be obtained.

In these cases, the priest hearing the confession asks the permission of the penitent to write a petition, using pseudonyms and containing the absolute minimum information necessary, to the bishop or to the Apostolic Penitentiary, the cardinal delegated by the Pope to handle such requests. Some of these offenses absolved through the Holy See would be: impersonation of a priest, desecration of the Eucharist, absolving a partner in sin for example, a priest has an affair and absolves his own mistress , attacking the Pope, heresy, and being involved in an abortion.

You are required to go to confession yearly, regardless. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. Hey we are all sinners and only one Catholic priest is authorized to hear our sins only God is good and what little we have good belongs to God the rest is ours. That is why our Church has priests to mediate between God and sinners, our Church is white or black never in the middle. Jesus IS the High Priest you are confessing to during confession.

The priest is there to help with that. That is why our Church has priests to mediate between God and sinners, our Church is white or black never in the middle God help you. Why does that matter? Thank yu. If my daughter misses church once does she have to go to confession before she can go for communion in church the next Sunday.

Lola it depends on why she missed mass. A deliberate act needs forgiveness and repentance. An accidental omission is not a sin. In most cases a simple act of contrition is adequate. A priest is more or less a counselor in the matter, with the obvious religious affiliation. I do care about other things though, and I hope a priest may help me understand how to fix them. In my experience, therapists have only shown a interest in my money then personality. I was not raised in the Catholic Church.

However, I grow up being told we were catholic. Now I want to know and follow or pratice. I am not sure how to term what I want. I know I feel the need to go to confession but yet having never done so before I feel lost as to what to do. Can I just go to church at anytime and ask to confess or is it just at certain times?

Can the priest guide me though or do I need to go knowing what to say and when? Best way; Ring a catholic priest, and arrange a private appointment at his house for a general confession.

Write down your sins before you meet Him. Google ; catholic examination of consciconscience, and list of catholic mortal sins serious sins. All serious sins ever committed in your life need to be mentioned, hiding one makes the confession sacreligious and means nothing is forgiven. I confess in my quiet place to God and after I feel cleansed of my wrongs and I know I better not repeat those wrongs. Do u always have to go for confession so your sins can be forgiven? One should feel like going to confession.

Similar to people going to Counseling where they pour out their heart. Catholic community is a confessing community where we accept our fault when faulted as it is no defending we do it individually we do it as a community.

Sacrament of confession stands for the same where we empty ourself. If we can empty ourself before man we can empty ourself before God. One MUST confess all mortal sins to a priest. One who dies in a state of mortal will go to hell. For example watching pornography is one that is usually a mortal sin. So the grave matter part with the porn example, one must know that it objectifies women, causes them to become neurologically dependent on it, along with all the other negative attributes that go with it.

One has to have to have full knowledge of what they are doing. This is not having full knowledge. Or if they google something , and it comes up with porn, not full knowledge. Full consent boils down to someone has porn up and they try to show someone.

Or another one would be if someone was addicted to porn or masturbation since to two usually go hand-in-hand. If one has to watch porn because they are addicted or masturbate for the same reason, this is not having full concent due to an addiction.

Since the full knowledge is there, it would be a venial sin. For more info on this, check out CCC Pay close attention to the last part of the paragraph. The Lord has touched us — even if we do not feel it.

If we remember, later on, any mortal sins from earlier in our life, we can bring them to our next confession. An Examination of Conscience is simply a list of some of the ways that we can love God and our neighbour, and some of the ways we can fail to love through sin.

Reflecting on an Examination of Conscience helps us to be honest with ourselves and honest with God. It is not meant to be a burden. It helps us to examine our lives, and to make a good confession, so that we can be at peace with Christ and with one another. The important thing, of course, is to love, and to live our Catholic faith with our whole heart.

But now and then it is useful to spell out what this really means, and to make sure that we are not kidding ourselves. This Examination of Conscience is not to be used every day, or even at every confession — we do not need to go through a checklist every time. It is here for us to look at every now and then. It is based around the Ten Commandments. As we reflect on it, we can ask the Lord to shine his light into our hearts.

Some things will not apply to us; but if something in particular touches our conscience, then we can bring it to confession. His love never fails or changes. He loves us passionately, with infinite kindness and tenderness.

The only reason we remember our sins is so that we can turn to him and receive his forgiveness, and learn to love him in a new and deeper way. How to go to Confession. General advice Sometimes we get nervous about going to confession. After confession If it is possible now, do your penance in the church before you leave; e. You shall not have strange gods before me. Do I seek to love God with all my heart? Do I stay faithful to Jesus, even when I have difficulties or doubts?

Do I make at least some time for prayer every day? Do I hold on to the practice of my Catholic faith, or have I turned away from it, or spoken against the teachings of the Church? Have I been involved with the occult, e. I am sorry for these and all my sins. The priest will assign you a 5 penance. The penance takes into account your personal situation and supports your spiritual good. It may be a prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service, or sacrifice; whatever the penance, the individual is joined in some way to Christ and the cross.

The penitent will then pray an 6 Act of Contrition. This prayer expresses true sorrow for the sins confessed. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Examine your conscience. Since you're going to confession and all, you probably want to have an idea of what to say! Sitting back and reflecting on your actions is referred to as "an examination of conscience.

If you wish to pray to the Holy Spirit during this time for guidance, you may. Don't know where to start? Here are a few questions you can ponder: [1] X Research source Have I disobeyed any of the commandments? Have I nourished my faith? Has anything else in my life influenced me more than God? Have I denied or doubted my faith? Have I hurt others, either accidentally or purposefully?

Have I rejected any part of my faith? Have I been forgiving? What are the causes of my sins? What temptations do I surround myself with? Understand the difference between mortal and venial sin. Most of us commit venial sins on the regular; they're nothing to be ashamed of, though forgiveness should still be sought. These are your everyday sins -- lying to a friend to get out of a party, using God's name in vain, etc. Then there are the mortal sins, which are no laughing matter.

Three conditions must be present in order for a sin to be mortal: [2] X Research source It must involve grave matter. You must understand what you're doing at the time you're doing it.

You must have done it according to your own free will. Keep in mind that whatever it is, your priest will keep your secrets. Whatever it is, he will not and cannot pass judgment or let your secrets out. Even under threat of death! He can be trusted. You needn't worry about the consequences of telling him. In fact, neglecting to tell him is a sin in itself!

Unfortunately many people think they could easily commit a mortal sin which makes them intimidated and thus leads to scrupulosity and eventually, OCD. This is a misconception. The good news is most sins are venial because many people don't understand what grave matter means in the criteria of mortal sins. Grave matter means the sin has to be severe.

For example, grave matter includes murder, rape, selling illegal drugs or illegal drug abuse, adultery a fancy term for "cheating" on your wife or husband , incest To be married or have sexual intercourse with family, cousins, or relatives , theft of very expensive merchandise or stealing a huge portion of money, extreme hatred to your parents such as wishing them death.

Venial sins are minor sins even if they were committed with knowledge and consent. This means you cannot commit a mortal sin if either the sin you committed was not grave even if you chose to do it anyway and with full knowledge, or if it did involve grave matter, but you were neither aware of what you were doing was a grave matter or you were forced to do it. No number of venial sins could ever become a mortal sin. Venial sins include petty theft stealing something cheap , arguing with siblings, fighting someone for having a different opinion, speeding, etc.

Find a confession session. This can either be done by dropping in or making a phone call; many churches have designated times for confessions. Though a priest can usually be found at most times with enough looking, going to a scheduled session is easiest. However, a quick phone call or brief meeting and you can schedule a private session as well.

Many churches have publicized when confession is -- either on a sign outside the church or as part of the church bulletin, which can almost always be found at the entrances.

Some are even up online! Private sessions are a good idea if you have a lot to talk about. A normal confession may last 10 or so minutes. If you think yours will last a lot longer, feel free to ask for a private session.

Pray that you may be honest and repentant. It's always a good idea to do a little prayer before confession to ensure that all goes well, nothing escapes your memory, and to ensure that your penitence is meaningful and true. You want to go in with nothing but the best of intentions. A large part of a good confession is meaning it, is seeking forgiveness, is putting your heart and soul into it.

Even if you sat down with the priest and only muttered out an, "I hurt my friend" between sobs of regret, that'd be so much better than listing out every sin you've committed since your last confession between eye rolls. It's all about being true and faithful. The act of confession is about contrition -- wholly rejecting sin.

Part 2. Enter the church and take your seat in a pew. You could go directly into the confessional provided there's no one else in there or waiting outside , but sometimes it's nice to take a minute in the pew by yourself beforehand. You have this beautiful church probably almost all to yourself.

Can you feel its energy resonating through you? Can you feel the majesty of the Lord's kingdom and how you're a part of it? Take a moment to kneel and pray with your head down and hands clasped together. Reflect on your faith and how you feel currently. Think about how you've been responding to God's call and how you've been living in the light of his love.

Enter the confessional. When the priest is ready for you, of course. You'll probably see him there by his lonesome or someone else walk out just before you. Sit down either across from him or behind the screen -- it's totally up to you whether or not you prefer to remain anonymous. He won't treat you any differently either way. It has been blank since my last confession. However, if you just sit down and say hello, that's fine, too. The priest knows what he's doing. The Byzantine Rite is a bit different.

The priest may sit to your side and put his epitrachelion on your head. He may then also do the Prayer of Absolution.