Catholic Confession

According to the Boston Globe, less than two percent of Catholics attend confession regularly. When was the last time you attended confession? Good morning Ms. Cassels and class, today I will be discussing throughout this presentation, confession according to the Catholic Church and confession according to the online alternatives, such as: Confession: A Roman Catholic App for iPad’s and iPhones; and the importance of this ritual for all Catholics. The online alternatives to Catholic Confession will never be able to take the place of the traditional Sacrament of Penance.

Firstly, we must establish what a ritual is. A ritual is the performance of traditional ceremonial acts. Rituals can be a formal ceremony that is performed in a series of acts that are continuously performed in the same way. Lovat established a five stage model to analyse the movements of a ritual. The five stage model begins with the leaving of the ordinary – a participant leaves their normal lives to a sacred space; then follows the preparation of the ritual; the climax is the key point of the ritual; next is the celebration or the winding down; lastly is the returning to the ordinary – participants feel that their lives have a new sense of purpose. The purpose of Lovat’s five stage model is to analyse the movements of a ritual.

Confession’s official name is the Sacrament of Penance; which is one of the seven sacraments recognised by the Catholic Church. It is believed that the sacraments were established by Jesus Christ. Before confession we begin with an examination of conscience and the leaving of the ordinary. The examination of conscience is where we evaluate our lives since our last confession; we review our words and actions and whether they conform to...

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...t with the Sacrament of Penance, although it is not a personal confession and it does not allow the user to reach absolution. Mrs. Child supports Fr Pat in agreeing that confession, to be really genuine and authentic it needs to be a personal encounter.

It can be concluded that using media alternatives to perform confession, such as: the Catholic Confession App is not a valid or a significant Sacrament of Penance. Catholic Confession is seen as one of the most significant and important rituals and as a sacrament should be performed as a traditional ritual. Research has clearly shown that many dislike the idea of using iPhone apps to replace this significant ritual. Significant rituals, such as Confession, should be performed properly and in keeping with tradition; instead of invalid, media forms taking over significant religious rituals. Thank you for listening.