April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CATHOLICS AND CONFESSION
Reconciliation: not your grandparents' sacrament
Many parishes told The Evangelist they offer a scheduled time for the sacrament prior to weekend Masses and by appointment. Some priests said they can count on one hand the number of penitents they see during those times; they read, pray or plan homilies while they wait.
In some areas, deanery-wide communal penance services - with music, Scripture readings, examinations of conscience and individual or general absolution - have replaced individual confession.
Rev. William Gorman, pastor of St. John the Baptist parish in Newport and St. Joseph's in Dolgeville, said Catholics prefer the communal rite because of the anonymity. But hearing an individual confession "would not change my opinion of them," he noted. "I think they're self-conscious. I think that holds some people back."
Father Gorman can understand that: as a child at St. Peter's parish in Troy, he once overheard another boy's confession: "I heard the priest say, as loud as anything, 'You [did] what?'"
Father Gorman makes himself available for reconciliation in each of his churches for a half-hour to 45 minutes once a week.
"If you get one or two [people] a weekend, that's how it goes," he remarked. "It's a nice sound, hearing someone coming in. The big question is, why don't they come? It's because their concept of sin is different."
Why not?
Priests interviewed by The Evangelist agreed this has contributed to the sacrament's decline. Other factors include lack of time, shame at the prospect of confessing after a long absence from the sacrament, and a lack of religious education on sin.
Nationwide, the number of Catholics receiving the sacrament has spiraled downward over the last four decades. According to a 2008 study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, three-quarters of Catholics never participate in the sacrament or do so less than once a year.
The decline began after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Between 1965 and 1975, the percentage of Catholics confessing monthly fell from 38 percent to 17 percent.
Vatican II shifted the emphasis from guilt and damnation to love and forgiveness and re-termed the sacrament "reconciliation." The celebration of Mass in English made Catholics more aware of the elements of penance and reconciliation in every liturgy. Previous bans, like eating meat on Fridays, were lifted.
"Not every single sin, mistake, that we make is necessarily so grave as to keep someone from receiving the Eucharist," explained Rev. John Close, pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in New Lebanon.
Father Close hears confessions on weekends and by appointment, getting about six penitents per month. Deanery-wide communal penance services at Lent and Advent have attracted more than 100 penitents.
When Father Close served as a military chaplain in Djibouti for nine months in 2008, he found that many soldiers sought the sacrament weekly or more. But back stateside, he finds himself trying to teach several generations of Catholics about reconcilation.
"We need to revitalize it and help people understand that this is a spiritual remedy," he said. "This is how you have a well-balanced spiritual life."
In his homilies, Father Close points out Scripture readings that mention reconciliation: "I generally speak about it by Christ giving the sacrament to the Church. We are not only forgiven of our sins, but we receive grace to strengthen us to do better in the future.
"We come to Jesus as a friend. [If] you do something to a friend, you say you're sorry. [Jesus] wants us to do this so He can restore us to the relationships He truly wants to have with us."
The sacrament is about forgiveness, not punishment, Father Close said. In fact, when he meets with First Communicants, he tells them: "If a priest ever yells at you in confession, you have my permission to get up and walk away."
Changing Church
Rev. Thomas Zelker, ordained in 1983, said he's never served in a parish with long lines for confession.
"They voted with their feet. They're not coming," he said of Catholics at Immaculate Conception parish in Hoosick Falls and St. Patrick's in Cambridge, where he currently serves.
But the priest doesn't see reconciliation as having declined: "It's just changed. People have changed and they don't have the fear that they used to. They've learned that they can reconcile with God and with each other on their own."
Communal penance services draw up to 300 people, he noted. "We're really connected to each other. What I do affects somebody else, and that's what I should be mindful of. God's forgiveness is there before I even ask."
Still, Catholics need to be reminded the Church does not teach that it's acceptable to go directly to God with sins. "Jesus gave [priests] the authority to forgive sin," said Rev. David Mickiewicz, pastor of St. Mary's parish in Oneonta. "The continued healing and redemption of the person is to be carried through."
In only three months at St. Mary's, "I've probably heard more [confessions] here than the 28 years previous," Father Mickiewicz said.
On the other hand, "I don't see great depth in the examination of conscience," he continued. "People aren't reflecting on, 'Am I living a Christian life?'"
He cares less about sexual sins, bad language and missing Mass than neglecting the poor, gossiping, illegally copying music and harboring anger: "A lot of things in life are gray."
Look back
He and other priests pointed to the history of the sacrament: In the early Church, serious sinners confessed their sins publicly before a bishop and the local community. In the seventh century, Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, spread to continental Europe the practice of private confession, which doesn't require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church.
Today, parish leaders say the actual confession is just a small part of the sacrament.
"Jesus came to heal the whole person," Father Mickiewicz said. "He made this so easy, and we've made it very complicated.
"I don't think you can make people go" to confession, he added. "You're treating people like children, and I think we need to get out of the parent-child relationship in the Church."
When Rev. Joseph Arockiasamy became pastor of St. Mary's parish in Granville almost two years ago, he reinstituted confession after the parish's long absence from the sacrament.
At first, parishioners chuckled at the idea; now, up to 90 at a time come to communal penance services. Individual sessions are on par with other parishes. Father Arockiasamy has launched adult faith formation classes to further educate people on the sacrament. The pastor said being available for penitents is an important step in restoring some of the frequency the sacrament used to enjoy.
"This is our ministry," he said. "That is a part of our pastoral care. This one, a deacon or layperson can't do."
Franciscan friars at St. Francis Chapel in Colonie make themselves very available to hear confessions: six days a week from 10:45 a.m.-6:15 p.m.
According to both chapel director Rev. Gerard Lee, OFM, and Rev. John Provost of St. Mary and Sacred Heart parishes in Albany, Catholics aren't interested in making individual appointments to confess.
When Father Provost was appointed pastor of St. Mary's, parishioners asked him to maintain the daily reconciliation schedule before noon Masses, so workers from downtown Albany could take advantage of the sacrament.
That's "very significant," the priest said. "People are really trying to deepen their spirituality. You have these professional people trying to integrate the Eucharist in their daily life. Everybody should be this blessed."[[In-content Ad]]
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