Word: priestly
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...Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church, Kavanaugh...
Dissatisfaction with the conventional format has led both priests and laymen to speculate on new ways to practice confession. Many theologians favor some form of return to the early church custom of group confession-as is done in many Protestant churches. In some Dutch churches, members of a congregation mentally express their sorrow for sin while publicly reciting an act of contrition, then receive absolution in a group from their priest, though private confession is available for those who want it. Still other Catholics have questioned whether confession need always be made in the presence of a priest. Although there...
...confession has firm Biblical roots; the Epistle of James advises: "Confess your sins to one another, that you may be healed." In the early church, penance was usually a public ritual at which penitents openly disclaimed serious wrongdoings before the assembled congregation. Not until 1215 was confession to a priest made the norm for the church, by the Fourth Lateran Council. According to canon law, Catholics must confess any mortal (serious) sins before receiving Holy Communion, and as a rule they are expected to do so at least once a year...
...role of the priest has changed as well: he is less of a judge, more of a counselor. "A legalistic church was very easy," says a Dominican in Seattle. "I could say to a person 'you are wrong,' exact promises from him never to do it again, give him absolution, and slam the sliding door. But that isn't what confession is all about." Theologian James Burtchaell, 33, of Notre Dame, describes the priest's new confessional role as "nondirective counseling," by which he means "not giving advice but helping you talk your way through problems...
Outside Church. The new conversational spirit of confession means that more and more encounters between priest and penitent are taking place outside of church. At numerous Catholic colleges, chaplains will hear confessions in their own rooms, or even while walking on campus. Many priests no longer insist that penitents recite a detailed account of their sins, prefer freeform discussions about their wrongdoing. Occasionally, devout Catholic husbands and wives will approach a priest together for a joint examination of their spiritual failings, prior to individual, private confessions...