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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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5

Confession Isn't Therapy, Church Warns

Priests told to get tough on sinners instead of providing counseling sessions

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(Newser) – The Vatican plans a campaign to remind priests that the confessional isn't a psychiatrist's couch, the Guardian reports. A handbook will be issued to emphasize that sinners are in confession to be given penance, not counseling sessions. The number of Catholics going to confession has slumped in recent years and church officials believe getting tough might win back those who miss traditional practices.

"An ever decreasing number of people see a clear difference between good and evil, between truth and lies and between sin and virtue, and therefore fewer are taking confession," a Vatican official said.

Pope Benedict XVI waits for the faithful inside a confessional in the St. Peter's Basilica.
Pope Benedict XVI waits for the faithful inside a confessional in the St. Peter's Basilica.   (AP Photo/)
A priest awaits confessions in a church in Sicily.
A priest awaits confessions in a church in Sicily.   (©emilio labrador)
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About 30 years ago the church started calling penance 'reconciliation,' which to some Catholics might sound more like therapy than a sacrament - Francis Rocca, Vatican correspondent for Religion News Service

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5 comments
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Nwambe
Jun 4, 09 5:55 AM CDT
Waitaminnit... So your idea is to get MORE strict to get people back into the Church? *Slow applause* You guys are geniuses. The idiot kind. Reply
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Doctor_Zaius
Jun 4, 09 6:10 AM CDT
You can't put the Genii back in the bottle. Once people start to see through your magic show there is no going back. Reply
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+2
Cat-Lover
Jun 4, 09 7:51 AM CDT
Why does the Catholic church continue in its fast and furious drive to return to the 14th century? With the exception of Pope John the 23rd, this century has seen Pope's cannot accept that even their God moves contemporarily in the "fullness of time." What may have required penance/remorse in the past may not today and, as such, the ability of witnesses to God's grace to counsel is the strongest weapon the church has in its hands. Claiming that the distinction between good and evil, right and wrong is dissolving gives more power to the need to counsel rather than expect people to search for answers in themselves. The Catholic church errs again.... Reply
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TerrifiedCitizen
Jun 4, 09 11:34 PM CDT
Like politicos, Big Religion does whatever it takes to win contributors. It took a wrong turn in Constantine's time and sacrificed the truth of the sacred scriptures to mediate between opposing factions. A State Church was instituted which then became governments harlot; blessing their immorality, deceit, wars and even their guns in return for power and authority. Now that it has become obvious that their lies and turning their back on the mandates that were issued straight from the son of God himself has cost them their credibility, and even caused a schism from their political allies, they look back too late with remorse. They are soon to be in even worse shape than they find themselves in now, as the nations are tired of their constant bickering and cleansing under the guise of ethnicity. They are soon doomed, and anyone found within them are doomed to the same fate. Reply
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pollyanna
Jul 5, 09 8:10 PM CDT
Confession is good for the soul.If something is good for you and it is free only the foolish avoid obtaining it.However there seems to be an awful lot of foolishness in our world at present.When a Catholic goes to confession it is the equivalent of a visit to the petrol bowser.The soul needs grace to continue travelling the highway towards holiness and confession and receiving Holy Communion access the graces that sustain the soul's stanima . Reply
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