The baptised need to rediscover the sacrament of reconciliation so that they can experience "the boundless renewing power of divine love," Pope Benedict XVI said earlier this week."In the gesture of absolution, uttered in the name and on account of the Church, the confessor becomes the conscious means of a wonderful event of grace," the Holy Father said in an address to the congregation in Rome that looks after the area of prayer and repentance.
Fr Christopher Crowley OCarm, Prior of the Carmelite monastery in Whitefriar Street, says it is a great joy for priests to hear confession.
“We would never get bored with it. It is always a great joy when people want to be reconciled with God because our lives are given to God.”
Fr Crowley is one of fourteen priests living in the monastery, where Confessions are heard from between four and seven hours Monday to Saturday.
Fr Crowley told ciNews that the demand for confession has gone down, but that people of all ages and backgrounds, including many immigrants, still come to the sacrament. The demand is higher during Lent, on the week leading up to a first Friday and on special feast days.
“It is very enriching for people to utilise the sacrament and to let us minister a gift from God. You don’t have to be a criminal or a murderer. Sin is an ordinary thing in all of our lives.”
Fr Martin Daly, who is also a psychotherapist, says that the sacrament of Confession alleviates the feeling of guilt, and the very fact of speaking to another person is psychologically good for people.
“Grace is built on nature,” he told ciNews, but he emphasised that you cannot ignore nature “which has to be worked on”.
“There are issues that need to be dealt with professionally, and confession is not enough.”
The parish priest of Chapelizod in Dublin, was originally a psychologist, and now works as a psychotherapist, in particular with prisoners.
During his address, the Holy Father invited priests to experience God's forgiveness themselves. "We cannot preach forgiveness and reconciliation to others, if we are not personally penetrated by it.”
He called on priests to give priority to the sacrament of confession.
"How many people in difficulties seek the support and consolation of Christ! How many penitents find the peace and joy in confession that they have been pursuing for a long time! How can we not acknowledge that also in our time, marked by so many religious and social challenges, this sacrament must be rediscovered and proposed again.”
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