Questions on Catholic Confession?

Question

I have been a catholic my whole life, stopped attending mass during the college years, but by and large have been attending mass consistently for the past 12 years or so. I struggle with concept of confession, I've not been since I was 18, am now 40. Does anyone know when confession was adopted into the church? Part of me believes this was man-made, such as celibate priests which did not start until after 1000 AD. I'm looking for clear answers on how this started in the church not what was done in meetings of church leaders centuries after Christ was cruificied. Thank you for you answers!

Answer 1

Through the centuries, the Church has continued to develop in its understanding of this sacrament so it can be more responsive to the needs of the people and more meaningful in their lives.

The Church has always insisted on the importance of the priest in the Sacrament of reconciliation. This is not because God will not forgive us directly (God always forgives those who repent), but because the priest is the representative of the Church community. Reconciliation with the Church community is the sacramental sign of reconciliation with the Lord.

+ Early Years +

Christians were simply encouraged to remain faithful to their baptismal promises. The first Christians considered it unthinkable that anyone who became a Christian would return to sin after baptism.

Nevertheless, the Church soon found that it had to deal with post-baptismal sin.

+ 2nd-6th Centuries +

A seven-year period of public penance before absolution was required for adultery, murder, and abandoning Christ (apostasy) and allowed only once in a lifetime.

This is why some people like the Emperor Constantine only formally became a Christian, received Baptism, and forgiveness of his sins on his deathbed.

The Church grew to realize that public confession and long penance were very hard on those wishing for forgiveness and private confession began to be developed.

+ 6th-9th Centuries +

Practice of seeking private spiritual help from monks or spiritual directors developed.

+ 9th Century +

Private confession called Penance. Confessors consulted "penitential books" that listed the proper "penalty" for each sin.

+ 16th Century +

The Council of Trent, 1545-1563 declared Penance a sacrament of the Church and required annual confession.

+ 20th Century +

Vatican II emphasized the reconciliatory aspect of the sacrament rather than juridical (judgment-centered) aspect.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

The Sacrament of the Reconciliation (Confession, Penance) came directly from Jesus. I'm sure the the form of the use of the confessional evolved over time, but you can see in Christ's words in John 20:21-23 "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and sais to the, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.' "

My advice is for you to go to a priest that you know and trust and begin talking with him about it. You can also learn much more about this at EWTN.com. God bless.

Answer 3

Though I do not know when the Church began celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation in its present form, confessing sins to others is Biblical. If you will read 2 Cor 5:17-20 you will see that St. Paul explains how the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ's work of reconciliation. This means that they share in the ministry of Christ and forgive sins in His name. James 5:13-16 tells us that the sins of the sick are forgiven in this sacrament of annointing. He specifies that the presbyters (priests) must be called. They obviously had a power the ordinary Christians didn't have, the power to forgive sins.

Jesus gives the disciples the authority to forgive, and not to forgive. John 20:21-23 states "(Jesus) said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' And when He said this, He breathed on them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." The Apostles are to continue the mission of Christ. The mission to forgive sins. Jesus knows our human nature and provides sacramental confession to give us several important gifts: humility, the certainty of forgiveness, spiritual direction and help to overcome self-deception and rationalization in matters of sin.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 4

Peace be with you, ... and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus said and were of him in Jordan "confessing their sin' Mt 3:6

And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and they were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

These are Jesus Christ Commandments on Baptism and confession of sin. They happen only once, and you must be old enough to know right from wrong, and good and evil.
You must be baptized in flowing snow water of a river, the Holy Place.

I was born to into a Catholic family, but at a very early age, (8) I felt something wrong with religion, even through I was baptized at 1 year old, and circumcised at 8 days old, it did not make me Catholic, at the age of 40 I saw for my self the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I recognized the Words, I believed on the Words, for it is how I felt in my heart all of my life.

So I can relate to your dilemma, but your question?

Men can not forgive sins, only Jesus Christ can. The concept of confession came from Matthew 6:6

But as a Catholic you need to read all of Matthew chapter 6, for it was spoken to you, directly. Once you read this you will know why Catholics were forbidden to read the 4 Gospels on their own.

Answer 5

Priests forgive sins through God. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you don't have to talk to your priest; just go to God. Most things about religion are man-made. Part of confessing to a priest is that you have shared your burden with someone else, and you aren't alone anymore. It all comes down to personal preference.

Answer 6

The "Didache" (q.v.) written at the close of the first century or early in the second, in IV, xiv, and again in XIV, i, commands an individual confession in the congregation: "In the congregation thou shalt confess thy transgressions"; or again: "On the Lord's Day come together and break bread . . . having confessed your transgressions that your sacrifice may be pure." Clement I (d. 99) in his epistle to the Corinthians not only exhorts to repentance, but begs the seditious to "submit themselves to the presbyters and receive correction so as to repent" (c. lvii), and Ignatius of Antioch at the close of the first century speaks of the mercy of God to sinners, provided they return" with one consent to the unity of Christ and the communion of the bishop". The clause "communion of the bishop" evidently means the bishop with his council of presbyters as assessors. He also says (Ad Philadel,) "that the bishop presides over penance".

The existence of a regular system of penance is also hinted at in the work of Clement, "Who is the rich man that shall be saved?", where he tells the story of the Apostle John and his journey after the young bandit. John pledged his word that the youthful robber would find forgiveness from the Saviour; but even then a long serious penance was necessary before he could be restored to the Church. And when Clement concludes that "he who welcomes the angel of penance . . . will not be ashamed when he sees the Saviour", most commentators think he alludes to the bishop or priest who presided over the ceremony of public penance. Even earlier, Dionysius of Corinth (d. circa A.D. 17O), setting himself against certain growing Marcionistic traditions, taught not only that Christ has left to His Church the power of pardon, but that no sin is so great as to be excluded from the exercise of that power. For this we have the authority of Eusebius, who says (Hist. eccl., IV, xxiii): "And writing to the Church which is in Amastris, together with those in Pontus, he commands them to receive those who come back after any fall, whether it be delinquency or heresy".

Answer 7

Confession of Sins—Is Something Amiss?

“CONFESSION is a spiritual cleansing, a way to start again, a way to wipe the slate clean. I love going to Confession, telling the priest my sins, having him forgive me and the euphoria that follows.” So says one devout Catholic.—Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned.

According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, “to the priest alone Christ gave or deputed the power of binding and loosing, of forgiving and retaining” sins. The same reference work says that regular confession is meant “to restore the holiness of life forfeited by grievous sin and . . . to purify one’s conscience.” Yet, the moral climate in many lands shows that regular confession does not cause many who practice it to “turn away from what is bad, and do what is good.” (Psalm 34:14) So is something amiss?

Just a Ritual?

Confession may begin as a mere ritual. In Ireland, first confession comes immediately before first Communion. And is it any surprise that a seven-year-old girl would think more about the pretty, miniature bride’s dress she will wear than about ‘restoring the holiness of life forfeited by grievous sin’?

“The thing that excited me the most was the dress, besides getting money from my relatives,” admits Ramona, who made her first confession when she was seven. “Among all the girls I knew,” she goes on, “there was no spiritual feeling. None of us even thought about God at the time.”

In fact, obliging young children to confess sins regularly can lead to mechanical recitation. “I just used the same lines over and over again,” says Michael, who also began the practice of confession as a seven-year-old.

Comments of some Catholics quoted in the book Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned show that confession had little spiritual value for them even after they got older. “Confession teaches you to lie, because there are some things you just can’t bring yourself to tell the priest,” admitted one person. Lack of consistency among priests might be exploited for minimum penance. Some searched for a “good” confessor to get the counsel they wanted to hear. “After shopping around for three months, I found my confessor. I see him every month, face-to-face in the reconciliation room, and he’s terrific,” said one young woman. “If you were smart, you found a priest who was deaf and spoke no English except the words ‘three Hail Marys,’” said another Catholic.

Evidently, then, something is amiss with confession as practiced by certain people. But the Bible indicates that there is a need to confess sins, for it says: “No one who conceals his sins will prosper, whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”—Proverbs 28:13, The New Jerusalem Bible.

Answer 8

Have you ever fully and sincerely repented of your sins?.... Have you ever accepted God's Gift of Grace, Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior?.... Have you every been born of the Holy Spirit of God which gives you spiritual discernment of the world from God's point of view?.....Have you ever become a true and faithful servant of God?..... Because if you have, you would then have a true and personal relationship with your real Father in heaven of whom you would directly relate to in all matters of your life. There wouldn't be a need to relate your personal affairs in vein to a mere human being on earth dead or alive whom God sees as blasphemy to Him and does not hear.........True salvation and eternal life begins with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ only, and never ends in the Kingdom of God. There is no other way to eternal life.

Answer 9

Unfortunately the Catholic Church promotes many ideas that have originated with man. Going to a confessional Catholic style is unbiblical.

Christians are to confess to one another. The problem with the the method the Catholics use is they market this confession to one man, or priest.

All Christians are priest of God!

Answer 10

why talk to priests when you can talk straight to God? He is a loving God and certainly wouldn't want humiliation for us. personally, i am confused with the many traditions of the Roman Catholics like praying to the saints or the presence of statues..