re: Pope says Catholics who can’t go to confession can ask God directly for forgiveness

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Sounds like they just make up shite as they go. With that said, I thought you could always ask God for forgiveness directly? But confession just made it "more official"

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Apparently not many read the article. It is no different what is being taught than early church when they had to deal with distance and persecution.

To put some context into the OP which obviously he intended to just shite all over the Church.

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The pope said his response would be, “Do what the Catechism (of the Catholic Church) says. It is very clear: If you cannot find a priest to confess to, speak directly with God, your father, and tell him the truth. Say, ‘Lord, I did this, this, this. Forgive me,’ and ask for pardon with all your heart.”

Make an act of contrition, the pope said, and promise God, “‘I will go to confession afterward, but forgive me now.’ And immediately you will return to a state of grace with God.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, N. 1452, says: “When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’ — contrition of charity. Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.”

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Also I want to add that for sins to be truly forgiven before God, is that the confession has to be a perfect act of contrition. Most of us, as sinners, are incapable. The Sacrament with the ordained priest exists to bridge the imperfect confession to a perfect Sacramental confession.

And to add because of other comments regarding crappy priests, it does not really matter how terrible the priest is as long as he conducts the Sacrament, in persona Christi, then the sins will be forgiven as a "perfect confession".

ETA: Bestbank put it a little more succinctly on top of page 4.

this pope is just the worst.

Old testament

Leviticus 19:20-22 is equally unequivocal:

If a man lies carnally with a woman… they shall not be put to death… But he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord… And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

New testament
John 20:21-23:

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Jesus setup confession as it has existed in the Catholic Church for nearly two millennium. He sent out his Apostles and their successors(Bishops) to carry his ministry in the way he wanted it done(who are we to question why he set it up that way?). There a lot of proud angry people in this thread that are triggered by a rule instituted by Jesus Christ.

All the Protestants were ex-Catholics who realized the vanity in the Catholic concord.

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I do that anyway.

I haven't been to confession since I was a kid.

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Yeah, me too- now I know my way was ok all along!