Word: confessional
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"The fact is that Church scholars have given scant attention to parvenu Freud and extremely few Catholics have ever been analyzed. People who manifestly are unaware of the true nature of either psychoanalysis or confession have often facilely claimed that Catholics have confession, therefore do not need psychoanalysis. On the...
Celibacy Is Better. The most conspicuous Shaker practice was celibacy. Men & women lived separately in communal houses. A Shaker elder once explained to Novelist William Dean Howells: Shakers did not so much believe that marriage was sinful as, with St. Paul, that marriage is good but celibacy is better. To...
Even among Roman Catholics, who normally begin regular confession at about the age of seven, there is often misapprehension about what kind of sins should be confessed. In a new book, Pardon & Peace (Sheed & Ward; $2.50), Father Alfred Wilson, a British Passionist, deals lucidly with this problem.
"Did I Pretend?" All mortal sins must be confessed, but confession of minor offenses (like wife-nagging) is optional. Father Wilson says that there is no use worrying about long forgotten sins: "If [the Lord] does not recall the sin to your mind, He has no one to blame but...
"Almost Always." More important than the confession itself is the contrition of the penitent; an ounce of true repentance is worth a pound of remorse. Cut for the habitual minor sinner. Father Wilson has a counsel of moderation: merely resolve to cut down on the sinning, don't make...