The release this month of a watershed report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in France has sparked another debate over the secrecy of confession. The Catholic Church declares that every priest ...

Catholics Return to Confession Focused on Grace, Not a Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free Card The Lenten period for penance started this week with Ash Wednesday, and some Catholic priests are happily bracing for ...

Pope Francis addressed participants in a course on the sacrament of confession and issues of conscience, by suggesting a reflection on the Act of Contrition, the prayer a penitent says in the ...

After the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, there is a worldwide push to end the guarantee of secrecy of confession – called “the seal of the confessional.” On Sept. 11, 2019, two ...

CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis gave an address on March 8 to clerics participating in a course on the “internal forum,” and encouraged them “to live each Confession as a unique and unrepeatable ...

Throughout the Christian way of life, and especially in Lent, believers are called to examine their consciences and repent of their sins. The deeper the repentance, the greater the conversion of heart ...

Vermont is the latest state trying to remove priest-penitent privilege to combat sexual abuse. The latest attempt to force members of the clergy to report information they learn in confidential ...

Does Scripture Refute the Sacrament of Confession? The Lord declares in Isaiah 43:25, I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Psalm 103:2-3 ...