Confession

So many of us carry around a lot of unnecessary baggage of guilt and shame. The invitation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is an invitation to let that baggage go.

Confession is about us changing our hearts (a conversion), and is the ideal way to connect to our baptism, being assured of the forgiveness for all your sins. It is appropriately used when a person’s conscience is burdened with a particular sin, when a person wishes to make a new beginning in the Christian life, or as part of a regular personal discipline.
 
The heart of confession is about God’s grace freely given to us, however undeserving we might be. The aim of this ministry is to offer comfort and counsel and to establish an individual in the freedom and forgiveness of Christ.
 
We confess our sins together each time we attend a Mass yet sometimes the knowledge that we are forgiven isn’t enough to settle us. The act of receiving sacramental assurance of forgiveness is an authoritative declaration that our sins are washed away and we are released of guilt.
 
How confidential is it?
 
The confidentiality of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is absolute. The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and cannot be violated under any pretext. This is to say that the priest may not disclose anything that the penitent has confessed to them under any circumstances or use the information gained in any way. Any priest who breaks this will face very severe penalties.
 This is one of the most serious obligations of a priest, even if someone confesses a serious crime However the priest may in such a case insist that the penitent agree to confessing the crime to the appropriate authorities before giving absolution.