....or, at least make room for it in the Metro section: Confession Rite Evolves To Meet Changing Need (washingtonpost.com; marketing questions)
First, a quibble -- is it "the Rite" that's evolved? Or is it that people are realizing that they're not "too evolved" to go to Confession (unlike those who "left behind" the sacrament, presumably because they thought they no longer needed it?) The option for face-to-face Confession has been around since the seventies, and it is an option -- not the norm. The vast majority of people I talk to seem to prefer the screen, and from what I've seen, it's the screened confessionals that have the longest lines.
I was pleased to see Monsignor Kane quoted in the article. During Lent, he arranged extra time for individual confessions, with four priests available for several hours on a weekday evening. Attendance was, shall we say, underwhelming. The next Sunday he addressed the matter from the pulpit, saying (in almost these words), "We're going to try this again next week and I KNOW we're going to have more people there." (His parishioners took the hint.)
One of my favorite quotes from the article (emphasis added):
The Rev. William Byrne, Catholic chaplain at the University of Maryland's College Park campus, also promotes confession. As a result, "we have pretty solid lines, probably 30 kids on Sundays before Mass," he said."The thing that makes me mad is hearing 40- to 60-year-old Catholics talk about 'Catholic guilt' " in the context of confession, said Byrne, who is 39. "I say that's baloney. We're the only ones who have sacramentalized the system of offering absolution and forgiveness for sin. Our emphasis is forgiveness."
Byrne, who goes to confession every two weeks because it "helps keep me honest and on my toes," said that many Catholic students at U-Md. are "tired of this subjective sense of right and wrong. It doesn't match what their hearts are saying." But since many have not been to confession since they were 7 or 8 years old and preparing for their first communion, he passes out a "confession cheat sheet" that explains, step-by-step, what to do.
I get so tired of this "Catholic guilt" wheeze. If you've left the Church and you don't think you've done anything wrong, what are you feeling guilty about?
My husband once had a co-worker inform him that his reservations about disciplining a subordinate too harshly were driven by "Catholic guilt." (When he told our friend Iris, who attends a fundie-leaning Church, the story, her reponse was "If she said that to me, I'd show her my Catholic fist.")
I also get impatient when people start accusing others of "making them feel guilty." Please -- if you don't think you did anything wrong, why should you feel guilty? How can someone else make you feel guilty?
Are all these people complaining about guilt because they're trying to drown out the voice of their conscience?
They should check out some Arlington parishes to see that in some places people are still going to Confession in droves. St. Timothy's, anyone? You wouldn't believe how quickly the line lengthens on Wednesday nights, and not even before or after a Mass! St. Anthony's in Falls Church always seems to have healthy lines, and it doesn't have the same "conservative" feeling some parishes do, though I am not saying they're not "orthodox." Funny thing is our parish doesn't have the longest lines on Saturday afternoon, yet it is definitely not dominated by minimalists or opters-out. Maybe SAHMs take advantage of weekday afternoon Confessions at the rectory or others go Sunday mornings between Masses, or have regular confessors elsewhere.
I feel just the same way when I hear people talking about "Catholic guilt." Back when I was a child (this was 40 years ago), and a Unitarian, I heard about confession. I envied the Catholics for their opportunity to confess their sins to someone who they knew would never reveal them. There were times when, passing the Catholic church, I was tempted to go in so that I could confess something I'd done and was ashamed of. The worst kind of guilt is to feel that you have done wrong and there is no one who can forgive it.
Dm, that's a good point about Saturday afternoons. Perhaps making Confessions available at different times during the week is part of the solution. (In the article, Msgr Vaghi and Fr Byrne both do this.)
I know for myself that Saturday evening is a terrible time for me; I prefer to go during the week. My husband also goes during the week, at one of the downtown churches. Perhaps scheduling just forty-five minutes before Saturday vigil Mass is part of the problem -- it's a bad time for people, or they perceive that they're going to be rushed (hurry and confess before Mass starts!) I have been to Saturday evening Confession lines where some people at the end of the line were unable to go -- the priest had stop hearing Confessions and go get ready for Mass.
One of the great things about St. Margaret Mary's, our geographical parish in Oakland (where they celebrate both the Tridentine as well as the Latin Novus Ordo), is that they offer confession before EACH mass (with additional opportunities on Tuesdays and Saturdays). The people take advantage of that and the faith life at this church is exemplary.