Word: confessionally
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Dissatisfaction with the conventional format has led both priests and laymen to speculate on new ways to practice confession. Many theologians favor some form of return to the early church custom of group confession-as is done in many Protestant churches. In some Dutch churches, members of a congregation mentally...
...they have sinned. "I used to consider anger a sin," says one Los Angeles housewife who goes to Communion frequently, although she has not been to confession since Christmas. "But now I simply don't feel guilty about yelling at the kids." Another is the repugnant medievalism of confessional practice-lining up before a dark, grilled box to recite one's inner secrets to an unseen judge...
...person 'you are wrong,' exact promises from him never to do it again, give him absolution, and slam the sliding door. But that isn't what confession is all about." Theologian James Burtchaell, 33, of Notre Dame, describes the priest's new confessional role as "nondirective counseling," by which he means "not giving advice but helping you talk your way through problems you already know the answer to but can't face...
Outside Church. The new conversational spirit of confession means that more and more encounters between priest and penitent are taking place outside of church. At numerous Catholic colleges, chaplains will hear confessions in their own rooms, or even while walking on campus. Many priests no longer insist that penitents recite...
Nat Turner's story is told in the first person, and some readers will feel that it is told almost too well; at times the narrator's lyrical style suggests Styron more than Turner. Most of the time, though, the author's impersonation rings true enough. Nat...