What is the function of the Catholic Act of Confession?

Question

Psychological value and Sociological value......this perspective will be most interesting for me.......

Answer 1

The act of confession is actually taken from the bible. Whose sins you forgive, they shall be forgiven, whose sins you retain, they shall be retained. Christ was talking to his disciples, one of whom was Peter. Catholics believe Peter was the first pope and the authority to forgive sins which was given to him is passed down thru the succession of popes to priests, etc. /It allows one to talk with a priest and actually hear that sins are forgiven. It is a difficult time, at least for older Catholics because you have to bare your soul to another. In the old days priests were not as nice to penetants as they are today. It took courage. Once penance was done, ones mind was at ease and he/she was one with God again. Sociologically, it welcomed one back into the fold of the church.

Answer 2

Any wrongdoing that is held within leaves a feeling of guilt. Any unresolved feelings of guilt often result in self-punishment. By creating religious systems, people found a "cheat" to deal with the self-suffering of humans who have done wrong.

This is based on our taught beliefs of wrong doing. If the wrongdoer should be punished, the person who does wrong punishes the person responsible -- the self.

Religion also focuses on forgiveness as a means to bypass the feature of punishing the self and punishing others.

There are primitive ways of dealing with situations that are created by the very religions that offer "relief" to these conditions.

Answer 3

The confession was created originally in the time of the "INQUISITION " ( circa 1100 to 1600 ad )when the Catholic leaders wanted to burn in the stake all the people that had ideas different that the professed ... and which better way to find the criminals ? convince the people to confess and they will be repented ...

Answer 4

The Catholic sacrament of Penance is where the sinner asks for and receives redemption for the sins he has committed, with the priest doing the alleged communication with God.
What could be better, sin all you want, say a few Our Fathers, and bang- clean slate!

Answer 5

it's a joke, only god himself is allowed to appoint people to serve him, what makes a preist any diffrent from a regular human being?..the answer...nothing, other than the ignorance of a man who thinks god has told him to walk the divine path, who thinks he is a person meant to serve others through god's will, if people want to confess their sins to god, then let the confess their sins to god, not to some man who thinks that if he is there god will hear the other person's confession

Answer 6

don't try to fit it into a scientific mold --- it is a faith thing.
we confess our sins to a priest, who is a mediator between us and the Lord. We know that the Lord knows all our sins, but it is an act of faith to state our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Answer 7

to brainwash people into accepting domination by a homosexual in a black dress that claims he can perform the miracle of not producing semen which is a bodily fluid that builds up and must be expelled just like any other bodily fluid like saliva,snot,urine,feces....strange how this is the only wide spread "miracle"...and then they get these idiots to give them their money and their sons to make them wear dresses and sing like woman,and I have heard of some other things these dress wearing non sperm producing clergy men like doing to little boys....are you people really that freaking stupid?God told me you must give me uyour property and your 30 year old women...send them to me at :