NEW JERSEY
The Record
APRIL 6, 2014
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
One of loneliest places in church these days is the confession line. The act of confessing one’s sins, a requirement for Catholics, has sharply fallen over several decades with evolving views on sin, penance and the stature of the priesthood.
But now Pope Francis and church leaders, in a push to draw people back to confession, are highlighting what clergy say are the healing, uplifting aspects of the sacrament and focusing less on themes like punishment and condemnation.
A penance service in Dumont. Many Catholics remember when making confession meant waiting in long lines.
The Paterson Diocese and Newark Archdiocese are using websites, newspaper ads and highway billboards to get the message out. Under diocesan guidance, local churches have also added one extra day a week to hear confession during Lent, the period before Easter when penance is considered a Catholic duty. And the pope, in an image seen and talked about around the world, confessed to a priest last week in public view.
But will these efforts change attitudes among Catholics, many of whom believe confession no longer is a necessary part of the faith?
“It’s not something I look at as something I need to do to be a good Catholic, but I always know it’s there if I feel a need to go,” said Keith Ahearn, a churchgoer who lives in Oakland. …
The sex-abuse scandals that erupted in the church during the 1980s and ’90s made it less appealing to confess sins to priests, whose own sins and flaws were being exposed, especially amid reports that confession was used in some cases to groom victims.
“I think that does play into it. It’s what broke the image that priests are infallible,” Ahearn said.
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