Vatican secret confession tribunal opens

One of the Vatican's most secrecy shrouded tribunals, which handles confessions of sins so grave only the pope can grant absolution, is giving the faithful a peek into its workings for the first time in its 830-year history.

The Vatican has long lamented that fewer and fewer Catholics are going to confession, the sacrament in which the faithful can receive forgiveness if they sincerely confess their sins to a priest.

To combat the decline, the so-called "tribunal of conscience" invited the public into the frescoed halls of its imposing 16th-century palazzo for a two-day conference that ended Wednesday.

The aim was to explain what the Apostolic Penitentiary actually does, and thereby encourage more of the faithful to go to confession.

My question to my fellow POEvillers is:

1. Do you think that confession to a priest (or to anyone else) is necessary?

2. Are there crimes to which the veil of secrecy that governs the confessional should not apply?

I can only answer this in the perspective of what I've learned culturally of the world and in history. To "move on" one must "forgive" and to do that it generally takes an confession of wrong-doing or even having been involved with the matter, after that it takes "repentence" which is basically another word for "change" and not repeating the event. There are varying degress of wrong doing also...and other situations that might edge on rather something known as an "wrong" was "right" also...most often in survial issues. Killing others can be done as much "mentally" as it can be done by an "weapon" these days you know...while we tend to make "justice" for physical harm of the body, not to many say an thing about mental harm. I think the most dramatic epsiode of informaiton I've ever ran across was in "Shaman's" and in this case an young girl lost her speech, and so her parents asked for an sweat lodge to be set up and her family were to attend...they did some kind of ritual of "calling the earth"..because the young girl was female, and they associate them with the "mother earth" embodiment. What they got was an "earthquake" inside the sweat lodge so strong they thought the ground was going to fall under them all and perish, and then it was revealed to the "shaman" (or priest) that this young girl's "uncle" had been raping her and she was told not to tell anyone or he would kill her or her parents, it got bad enough, that she had slipped into an "coma" trying to cope with the sexual abuse. He was present and heard the "spirit" talk, and then confessed his crime, when he did, the girl came out of the coma. The  uncle left the area thereafter to live elsewhere. But it is this shows the "power" of confession perhaps. It si in several self-healings groups, such as AAA or alcholhics annonmous, as over-eaters anonmous, where by you have to dedicate your life to "God" and understand yourself as an "incompetent" without the help the higher power of God constantly to advoid wrong-doing. That reminds me what the Dali Lama said one time, though the person was trying to get him to take an issue on being "Gay"or not....he said that we all were born with some physical ailment that we, in our lifetimes, have to master..it can be great or small, but it always there as being part of the human race...it is through our mastering it that we become truly from within..outward... "spiritual" in "wholeness" personally. That seems to agree with this latest Hypnosis regression supposedly by an man found to been "Paul/Saul" in an past life, he says that "Jesus" healed by bringing forth the spiriit of the goodness of God from within, for that person to be free...and he said that most people must start by forgiveness of some kind to call "God" into their lives...for repentance. Then they must remain with this "God (good) escence" to stay connected and whole. When I do my healings and I call forth "God" it comes through me as pure "energy" to the person needed and I step aside so it can do it's healing work, I can not conjur this up myself, it comes from an universal source not of my own...and I ususally don't discuss my healings these days, as I don't want to be known for them, they come by way of simply helping others in need as I travle the road of life myself. Teh most interesting aspect is that I can not helpmy own family by them either, I am just as much a victim of life as are others when it comes to my family. Maybe so I don't get to "God" eggo headed perhaps?...I don't know. But well do I understand Jesus at the cross and others saying, well, if he's so great, how come he can't save himself statement. Maybe we are an "I help you, you help me" in this life also. I am well aware of "God's will also. Also aware of "free choice" descions also. I think confessions should stay secret in the church. But I also think that if someone is getting away with an true "crime" endangering the lives of others that they should be stopped by someone in some way also. It's an delicate balance as to when to act...and when not to act. But I do think people need an certain amount of Privacy to their lives also. Airing their complaint helps other people to cope with life when it's hard for them to do otherwise, and confessions help to release pent up emotions.     

I read somewhere once that Psychology attempts to do what confession used to accomplish. I think there is some truth in that. Hopefully, either way, you clear your conscience and try to turn your life around to be a better person.

I think confessing is a great way help you on the road to forgiveness..

Only God the Father has the power of complete forgiveness.

If someone has sinned it is not our place to condemn them; the saying is true, condemn the sin not the sinner, though that is very hard when you see such atrocities happening, especially to the young.

As I said above, I don't believe that anyone on earth has the power to absolve serious sin.

If someone has sinned against us, then we must forgive. That doesn't mean that the person doesn't need to ask forgiveness from above thuough.

I've sinned, I have seeked forgiveness, nothing bad of course. I've offended others, and asked forgiveness. I've offended God at times and asked for forgiveness.

We all sin.

I think what Shirley says here, and what you said, Diana, was the original intent of confession.  But over the centuries, the church has formalized it and then held it over people's heads to keep them "faithful" through fear.  But it is definitely a valuable thing if the confessee and the confessor aproach it in light of desiring repentance and not "you're going to burn in hell if you don't go to confession."  It is a grace filled sacramet, and as a practicing Catholic, I must say that I feel "absolved," after going to confession, but the priest doing the absolution is only acting as God's agent, as a way for the confessee to actually hear a person say, "your sins are forgiven" and maybe have the priest offer a little spiritual direction if the person is truly repentant.  But the actual forgveness comes from God and is available to anybody, anytime through, (my favorite topic lol) prayer.

I once heard a Catholic priest give a talk about how absurd it is to believe that sins can't be forgiven unless you go to confession.  It was great to hear a priest say that.  The Catholics believe it to be, like they believe all the sacramets to be, a physical manifestation of God's grace.  The unfortunate thing is that over the years, the church has emphasized the ritual and not the repentance.  Just going thru the motions doesn't mean you've truly confessed. And I think people sense that nowadays, and that's why fewer people go to confession.

 I don't think you can get any more "Catholic" then my Italian sister in-law, (from the  old country)and the priest of their church would not forgive her for having an hysterectomy because her doctor told her "any more kids lady an your going to die"...and she nearly did on the last. She had such an "guilt trip" that finally her maternal grandmother sat down an had an "talk" with her about the church, she told her to go to an Catholic Church with not such an young ardent "die hard" priest. That sometimes it takes "expereince" in life to understand others problems as an representative of "God" also...she was needed to raise the children she had already had first and formost. She never did go back to the old church, but did indeed change over to another Catholic church and has been most happy as far as I can see. It's easy to tell another what to do in circumstances that don' t affect you. It was sad to see how depressed she was and feeling like she was an "sinner" because she wouldn' t "die" in shelling out an kid every nine months.