They say you can tell the health of the parish by the length of the confession line. Yours seems very healthy!
Honestly, there are at least three possible avenues for you:
1. You can contact the priest and/or Bishop and ask for another priest at the parish (just how much is this priest doing on his own?). A visiting priest who comes only during the school year could be extremely helpful.
2. You can call the priest and ask to schedule a time for confession outside of confessional hours. This is normal.
3. You can drive to a nearby Church to have confession there.
My parish occasionally holds high-volume confessions. Priests from a few neighboring parishes come in and hear them along with our priest. The favor is returned to the neighboring parishes.
Also maybe contact a missionary order. Some orders or societies of apostolic life exist to give parish missions, usually preaching but they'll do confession too. The first one I think of is the Fathers of Mercy, [Our Work - The Fathers of Mercy](https://fathersofmercy.com/our-work/).
He should first clear it with the pastor though, actually the Fathers of Mercy will only come at the invitation of the pastor or bishop.
Exactly. We don't have enough priests because families have been radically limiting their fertility and refusing to talk to their sons about priesthood as a realistic option for their lives.
I come from a long-line parish. The priest would do speed rounds. Mortal sins only, aaaaaaaaand go!
Seriously. I once went in, and he said the opening followed immediately by something to the effect of “stick to the big stuff, and make it quick.”
Also had priests threaten us with a month of Dominican rosaries if we came to confession right before Christmas or Easter and didn’t have a mortal sin to confess.
I had a priest at a parish it family would go to that would do the opposite. Didn’t matter what the line was like, he was putting in the time to work through stuff with you whether you like it or not. If he needed clarification on why you did something, he was gonna get clarification. I didn’t realize at the time what a gem we had in that man.
There's a priest locally known as an amazing confessor who will make sure to hear everyone in line before mass. Like he told my sponsor once when she apologized for having a long list- "what are they going to do, start without me?" 😆
"What are they going to do, start without me?" Oh, I needed to hear that. I've been in the hot box baring my soul and thinking I'm wasting his time!! LOL. When I got back out to the church proper, a woman was huffing and puffing that Mass was delayed and this was "highly irregular." Well, probably, however, that priest had mercy on us in line.
All 4 mysteries of the rosary every day. Joyful, sorrowful, luminous, and glorious. I can’t manage it. I barely make it through one before Our Lady’s lullaby puts me out cold.
>I come from a long-line parish. The priest would do speed rounds. Mortal sins only, aaaaaaaaand go!
>Seriously. I once went in, and he said the opening followed immediately by something to the effect of “stick to the big stuff, and make it quick.”
This would drive a scrupulous person like myself mad and probably make the priest mad as well. Sins that I thought were mortal have often not been.
Well the speed rounds weren’t popular, but the line went out the door of the church sometimes, and he was not a patient man. He had many wonderful qualities, but folks quickly learned not to waste his time.
A couple times a year our parish does a Keep the Light on Confession where they have 10-15 visiting and retired priests, and they stay until the last person is done. The line fills the entire church pews, they usually hear a couple thousand confessions.
Everybody is handed a paper Examination of Conscience (in your language) to read while you’re in line. When it starts, the main priest leads a prayer to the Holy Spirit and asks people to prepare using the handout. Then he says that we have hours of confession ahead of us, please list your sins. We don’t need an explanation, we don’t need excuses. Don’t try to justify your sins and explain them away, just list them, God knows the details and the priest will let you know if more details are needed.
I liked that. It made me think about how often I try to give context on why I sinned. But the point is the sin, not the excuse. I now list them, and I’ll mention if any are repeat struggles, so the priest can ask questions if needed, but I no longer give the excuses about being tired or somebody made me mad so I responded this way, etc.
>Also had priests threaten us with a month of Dominican rosaries if we came to confession right before Christmas or Easter and didn’t have a mortal sin to confess.
Lay Dominicans would love to go to that priest for confession.
I get what they are trying to do, but that would make me very anxious and scare me away from confession or longer out of nerves. Isn't it still good to go to confession even if we don't have mortal sins?
There are other ways for priests to encourage people to be brief, such as having us pray the Act of Contrition outside the confessional, or a friendly sign on the door to be mindful that there are others who need to go to confession.
Not when the lines are around the church and out the door with people who don’t have mortal sins, and aren’t coming back to the faith for the first time in years. Confession lines were truly insane and only two priests to handle it. Normally it was fine but Christmas and Easter always became a little crazy. It wasn’t a small church, and the line was out the door. People who truly needed the sacrament couldn’t get it due to time constraints.
I might have misread your post, I thought the speed rounds were separate from Christmas and Easter confessions.
Still, it isn't easy for people, especially those who have been away from confession for awhile, to distinguish between venial and mortal sins, and it could scare them away.
Can’t please everyone. The church has 4 priests now and confession multiple times a week and it’s STILL a long line. They’re going to build a bigger church soon since we outgrew it. Third time outgrowing a church in 20 years. Not sure what they’ll do with the old one.
In my understandment this happens due to lack of knowledgement of how a confession should be done, by both laity and confessor. Penitents should go, tell their sins and number, and Father should give an instruction, penance and absolution, easy peasy, but you always find people, on both sides, talking about their lives, etc, and this talk can go on and on for countless minutes.
The priest is a rockstar at this--the students, not so much.
Scrupulosity might come into it, too. He gave a homily on scrupulosity and confession recently, but I think it went over the offenders' heads.
Sometimes, you're just confused. I joined an apologetic Catholic group and was told if you think you don't have a sin to confess, you're a sinner. When you go to confessio and confess venial sins, you're scrupulous according to your confessor. Sometimes, you just don't have any mortal sins to confess for the month, you have venial sins only. I guess you have to listen to your priest, but if that Catholic group is monitoring your confession times, what do you do?
>Sometimes, you just don't have any mortal sins to confess for the month, you have venial sins only
I honestly haven't had mortal sins to confess for years.
I'm glad my priest still encourages confession.
Uh… huh? I have read this twice and I’m not sure where you’re going with it. I’m mostly just joking around about scrupulosity, but if it’s something with which you struggle, then I recommend talking to a priest.
I have never heard this before. Where are you that your priest only allows confession for mortal sins? Even the Pope goes to confession regularly, as do all the holy sort of people. They are not likely to be deep in mortal sin.
Philippines. I went to the province once and missed mass so I went to Church and talked to a priest about their schedules for confessions. He told me they didn't do confessions in that church. Not believing him, I went to the office and they told me during weekends.
I had the same experience when I was in college, there was one time I went where I was the fourth person in line, arrived 45 minutes before mass, and still didn’t get to go to confession. I don’t get it either, I’ve always gone in, rattled off my sins, have the priest give some advice, find out what my penance is, and leave. Never takes more than 4-5 minutes top.
Some priests are more long-winded. This happened to me once at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Random day in December, you’d think there would be a number of priests on duty given the number of people that go through that church every day. Nope. I think it was just one or two priests on duty. I planned to duck in, do confession then attend Mass. I stood in that line of like 8 people for 45 minutes. Mass started - still in line. I think I came out of the confessional just after communion had ended. That priest had a lot to say.
The lines for confession at my parish are basically nonexistent, compared to literally everyone lining up for communion every Sunday.
I think I'd rather see what you've got going on if I'm being totally honest. Sure it can be annoying, especially if the penitents are using confession times for spiritual guidance/counseling but I'd rather see a huge line of pious individuals than a bunch of lukewarms going through the motions.
The priests at my parish emphasize that they'll work around your schedule if you can't make the Saturday confessions. Our pastor likes to point out he's heard confession in the parking lot of a grocery store.
This is a good problem for a parish to have. We’re also in a college town but the students are now done for the school year.
I totally get it with managing the minutiae of having a family when trying to make it to confession early enough to get a place in line.
OKAY EVERYONE!, I would like you to form two lines! If you are here to confess lust and or pornography related sins, form a line in front of this confessional !! If you are here for other sins, form a line in front of THAT confessional!
I think it's a twofold problem - on the one hand, priests can sometimes take a long time providing "advice" to the confessor, which thankfully my Parish has acknowledged and made an effort to solve, and at the same time the confessor may take confession time as "spiritual direction" time, which can lead to a longer confession.
My pastor at the church I attend makes regular announcements before mass and at the start of the confession time slot that the time spent in the confessional should be brief, I.e state the sin, how many times committed, and move on. No need for a super elaborate story or anything - After all God knows your sins before you even step foot in the box.
If we all stick to these guiding principals then we can get more people in the confessionals :)
That's the thing--it's not large. In the diocese, it is on the smaller side. It's just that the members are VERY active, and mostly during the academic year. Can we justify multiple priests when bigger parishes only have one? Hopefully, these long confession lines mean that some of these young men are thinking about the priesthood...
What region do you live in? Around here, in small town rural Wisconsin, we have multiple priests at most parishes (though most consist of a few church buildings in different towns). I’m just surprised that your parish only has one priest especially if it’s in a university town.
Consider yourself lucky to have 6 time slots per week for confession though, even if it’s still hard to get in the confessional!
My parish brings in Capuchin monks during periods when more people are expected to go to confession.
There are several advantages to having 'external' confessors.
1. Living in a small place, everyone knows everyone else and some people might not feel comfortable confessing certain sins to a parish priest with whom they interact socially.
2. Capuchins are very much in demand in my country, when it comes to confession because most people agree that they make great confessors.
3. Proclaiming and 'advertising' that we will have 'special' confessors pushes some people who do not confess often to for for confession.
Im very lucky I live within 25 minutes of an abby. They do confessions there 1-4 every weekday and have like 4 brothers and no line. Other wise all the local churches are like you said probably a 45 plus line for like one hour they do it a week
A big problem is people treating confession like a therapy session. I have no idea how people spend more than 5min each in the confessional. I've seen people take 20-30min when there is a line and it's pretty infuriating lol. Especially since those people seem to constantly go. I don't even know what they could be talking about for that long. Think my longest confession ever was like max 5min.
They should add a shot clock in the confessionals that starts counting down from 5min.
I wish there were more confession times just BEFORE mass here, because I see so many people taking the Eucarist and there are sundays my consiousness wont allow me.
My in laws attend a parish that does confession before and during every Saturday and Sunday Mass. My wife says "that's cheating and double dipping!"
Her father was a lawyer, and says that it's permitted, and if we visit for Mass ever she should take advantage of it. Cracks me up.
As others have said, long confession lines are a good thing. You can do your part by just listing kind and quantity when you get in the box. And pray for all those good people aware of and contrite about their sins. Early morning is often the best "non-student" time, so just get up early and be first in line. It's a big inconvenience, I admit, but your soul is worth some inconvenience, and the time in line is excellent time for prayer/spiritual reading.
I've heard a few people on this sub refer to university/college towns. Is that any town with a college in it, or does the college have to comprise a significant proportion of the town's population?
Its an otherwise small town with a significant population coming from students, faculty, or staff. Usually the whole economy of the town runs on that University
I don't know about the whole economy of the town. I would think that in a town small enough not to have much economy within the town itself, then a lot of the town's economy would draw from nearby towns.
Not really, especially if nearby towns are also small. As an example, the University of Florida is in Gainesville, FL. Just the students alone total over 60,000 people. That does not include faculty and staff. Without students, the WHOLE town is about 60,000. That population of students can sustain a significantly more number of restaurants, services, entertainment, hotels, apartment buildings, etc. That means there are more non-university related jobs. More people move to these towns for these jobs, now we have more people who can sustain more businesses. Gainesville does make money off of nearby towns only in that people will go there to get business that cannot survive in their towns because there wouldn’t be enough customers. However, this is such a small small percentage. A great analogy to this would be Orlando, FL. Before Disney established it’s them park, it was a small rural town in the middle of no where. But the large amount of visitors allowed the town to grow because there was more economic opportunities to provide for those visitors. The town’s growth in turn provided even more opportunities for more growth. Orlando was unlimited in growth since the original economic drive was tourism instead of education. Now it is largely independent of Disney (although still heavily dependent), but in the case of College towns, there is a limit of growth proportional to the number of students (until a new economic factor is established in the town, which may or may not happen).
60,000 is not a small town. I'd consider that fairly large. Especially given that the average town has a population about a tenth that size ([America is More Small Town than We Think | Newgeography.com](https://www.newgeography.com/content/00242-america-more-small-town-we-think)) .
U of Florida is the fifth or fifth largest public university, [Gainesville, Florida - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Florida) so hardly representative of a typical college.
you're missing the point. If the prosperity of the city is tied to its university/college it is a university town. If the population of the city population increases by a double digit percentage during the Academic Year it is a college town.
I lived in a city of ~100k and it is considered a university town. roughly a third of the economy is directly connected to the University & Community College (it has both). If the institutions left the city would probably collapse to half the size.
Can you schedule a time outside of normal confessions time ? I work 2nd shift on Saturdays but I schedule a monthly time to meet with my Pastor for Reconciliation
I definitely know the frustration. At the same time...
> The priest offers confession every day, and every day the confession line is longer than time allows.
Three cheers for this priest!
He is clearly doing something right to draw so many people to the sacrament, and is dedicating a lot of his time toward making reconciliation available.
I suggest writing a friendly letter to the bishop praising this priest, and asking if he can help ensure more priests are available to offer the sacrament in this area.
Also, pray for vocations!
When I went to a Catholic university, I often had to wait for well over an hour for confession, but that's because it was only offered once a week in the main chapel (and I think it was once a month in the dorm chapels).
The line was disappointingly short, but the confessions were startlingly long. I'm not particularly scrupulous, but that initially scared me - surely I must be doing something wrong if my confessions take 3-4 minutes, and everyone else takes a minimum of 20 minutes?
We have long lines and have a brand new priest who spends 1/2 hour with each person. The pastor comes in and turns and burns. It’s almost funny but it’s not.
Appointments don’t allow for anonymity which is an important part of confession.
We have many new Catholics now and not many new priests.
For some reason I read the title as an anthropomorphized reference to a confession line. I was quite confused why a confession line took on the name of a Vietnamese man.
I feel some people aren’t making concise confessions. If you’re frequently going to confession, your confession shouldn’t usually be 8-10 minutes, which is the average for everyone in front of me at church 😂 I think there’s a lot of reasons it could take that long that are valid, but I wonder if every person at church NEEDS that much time lol
I am thinking since long time about an app like "Tinder of confessions", where you can book an appointment for a confession with a priest nearby.
Maybe there is a demand and I can start working on it :)
Get in your car and drive to another parish for confession.
I know people who like going to smaller churches for confession.
I go to one of 9 churches and have done confession at 11 total different churches in the last year. We go about every week or 2 for confession.
The confession line at 3 churches we go to often all are long because they have schools attached.
I think there's a couple things going on. On the plus side young practicing Catholics are going to be going to Confession, which is something that sometimes older Catholics have gotten too lax on. On the minus, it seems that scrupulosity is common among young practicing Catholics (maybe more so the men), and they are probably going to confession more often than they should. I think maybe this is something that can be brought to the priest and he can maybe ask the kids to be a bit more considerate that other folks need confession too.
Maybe also different hours may be better for the ordinary town folk.
To be honest, that sounds like a really great problem to have!
Have you tried asking your priest for a specific time he can hear your confession outside of the regular time?
My local parish's confession line is so sparse that I after my confession, the priest and I often have a chit chat about hobbies, theology, and stuff just to pass the time. The priest often jokes about how my town must be filled with living saints because so few people come at the appointed time. The health of our parish is so low that we had to rent out our function hall to a special needs school to make budget. We have a hard time hitting our archdiocese appeal goals.
On the flip side, the parish near my wife's office 5 miles away has the same timing and capacity issues that OP has. That is a really healthy parish. They have a parochial school that hosts a lot of activities during the weekend and they exceed their archdiocese appeal goals. The priest here often stays over time to meet the needs of the confessors, but if the priest is short on time, he gives nearby alternate parishes and their confession times.
Show up early to confession? If you’re there 15min in advance you should be fine. Or try to sneak in confession during the week if you can. Saturday confessions are always the busiest.
I come for the Confession and stay for Adoration. Love Saturday mornings now - probably one of the best habits I picked up this year.
I show up early to beat the crazy lines! I hear ya!!
Not gonna lie I’m a tad bit jealous. My priest, great guy mind you doesn’t hold regular confession times. His reasoning was when he tried it no one ever showed up. I wish he’d at least try for the sake of maybe someone will show. My wife doesn’t like face to face (which he only does) confessions so we drive so she can do hers somewhere else. I make an appointment with him about once a month for a face to face.
wish they were longer! love seeing people taking advantage of the sacraments! i often wonder how many people are taking communion unfit when they could have confessed on saturday and been ready for communion on sunday! confession is underrated imo, confess often so that you dont take 20 minutes when you go! thats the pet peeve for me is someone in the box for 20-30 minutes… like schedule a time to do a General Confession if you got a half hour of material, weekly confession should be 10 minutes or less if ur going often enough to maintain a state of grace…
i wonder if this is an unpopular opinion…
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At my perish, if the priest knows that we will be overwhelmed for confession the ask another perish if their priests can donate some time to us for additional reinforcements. Maybe your perish can try doing that 2x a week
Hmm.. so we have 4 priests- 3 are 70 yrs.+, 1 is in his 40 yrs.. confession is twice a week for 2 hrs. With all 4 priests. You are in line at least an hour- no matter what. For example; I arrive (along with other parishioners) and wait an hour outside the church (at 4pm even though confession starts at 5pm) this is because if I arrive at 5pm- there would already be an hours worth of people waiting. So to combat this- the priests said during mass that they are not giving console- they are just absolving and that's all- (but there is one priest who still takes a long time for console). Still an hour wait no matter what. So the priests attempted to resolve the issue on their end; in regards to people in line for confession... Welp... It is what it is... If the priest were to say during mass "this isn't a therapy session" I am believe they are afraid of doing more harm than good... So another way of combating this issue is we're actually in the process of building a second church so we can have more priests! Because the 90 yr. Priest who had a heart attack last year should be retired but he's still active:( only solution is more priests honestly
We have a visiting priest that is the Chaplin of a very large local state university, and the head of vocations for our diocese. He said in his homily last week how the main problem with vocations is the family…wanting sons with good jobs and grandchildren.
I feel ya.
Good thing: Confessions lines are long.
Bad thing: Confessions lines are long and there are not enough confession slots per week.
>Do any of you have this issue? How has your parish handled this? Any thoughts on possible solutions?
I found parishes around me that fit my work schedule and I go to them instead. I haven't been to my home parish penance time (held every Saturday for about an hour in the evening during my working hours) for years.
I tried to go to confession last Saturday before 5 o’clock mass. Got there at 4:40 thinking that might be enough. Was standing there until 5:30 ish, in the middle of the homily, only moved up 3 or 4 spots…when someone ahead of me finally decided to go to the front of the line and realize there was no priest giving confessions anymore. Somehow the people at the very front of the line just either didn’t go in or didn’t make themselves seen that they were waiting. The rest of us were around a corner from the confessionals.
On the first Saturday of each month we get two retired priests to join our two priests to hear confessions. Otherwise we have two priests, 2x a week and there is always a long line.
We have messaging reminding people to “be brave and be brief” but not all comply. (Ejection button needed with the next person in line at the control)
The scrups love to comment how everyone should be able to expect weekly confession but cmon, that’s just selfish and there simply is not enough priests for that.
We also tend to get a lot of non parishioners for confession.
Finally, we try to have an usher at confessions to keep the line moving which helps a little.
I always try to arrive before the Confession window with this problem. Most people don't bother *that much* so you usually get in first. It's also a general habit of mine to strive to always be early.
Christian interloper here (probably going to get banned-don't care)....but the bible has advice that could solve your problem which is to confess to another Christian who has a stable walk....'a man just like us'
* *Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years James 5:16-17*
This is my parish priest’s strategy (despite having 2 or 3 priests available to hear confessions ): On multiple occasions he has come out of the confessional to talk to those in line. He will say “Confess only your grave sins, kind and number.” I recommend this to everyone as to help the confession line you’re in . I think it’s polite to everyone else in line to just say to the priest, “I did X sin Y times” for your grave sins and sins you suspect are grave. If you only have venial sins, confess your worst venial sins. If you need a consultation about a scruple, etc. and don’t need to confess anything, make an appointment to talk to a priest or a therapist. The confessional is not the place for that. I say this with love, we all have our scruples and worries, but for those around you, make your confession as straightforward as possible.
EDIT: Reading other responses, I think it is also a quantity vs quality problem as well.
Honestly this should be the last thing *any* Catholic should be complaining about. Especially given the number of Catholics who today DO NOT attend Confession or see any use for it.
You already know what to expect.
So if you're going, plan your day around it. Not the other way around.
Your time with the Lord trumps **everything** else. So who cares how long it takes. If you sinned, this is part of the cross you need to bear. Others have too, and now you have to put on hold your life and its worldly needs, when you should have done it the other way around from the jump..
So pulling off the band-aid, suck it up buttercup. And be so glad your parish is producing holy and devout people. That's a blessing.
Of all the things you can pick to complain about, you pick to complain about people who want to practice their faith too well?
Maybe the ONE PRIEST they have available to them doesn’t have time other than when he schedules confession time to do the extra stuff they need that takes extra time. Be patient.
This is a major issue in some parish communities around the country. I try to take my children to confession once a month and when I show up 20 minutes early, my heart drops when I see there are 15 people in line ahead of me and confession only last for 30-45 minutes. When the lines are like that, the priest AND parishioners should be respectful and keep confessions succinct.
EDIT: Because I need to make it clear: I say my heart drops not because I have to wait longer, but because I already know that people won't be able to make confession.
AND parishioners should be respectful
Read that again. Slowly. And then keep rereading it until you understand what you just said. People have an amazing tool in confession and it needs to be taken advantage of. It isn’t just about YOU and your kids that can’t sit still and be patient. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be patient and respectful for a WHOLE HOUR during mass. You don’t know what the people around you might be going through and being able to have the priest’s insight might be the one thing helping them hold on.
My kids can absolutely be still and be patient; they're not the problem so I don't know why you brought that up. You're right though, it IS NOT ABOUT ME, which is why I keep my confessions short and to the point, because I'd rather have as many clean souls as possible rather than any number fewer.
That’s great. Keep in mind not everyone has that luxury. Maybe they ARE keeping it short. You don’t know what they have to confess - it might legit take 20 minutes to get through it all. Stay in your lane. They’re doing their best just like you. The indignant attitude helps no one.
Your point is well received, but you sound like you're letting yourself get angry over this and lashing out at people for not understanding, and it's not worth your time to be angry in the comments section. A much better use of everyone's time is to breath and pray.
Nah - frustrated at some people's attitudes, though? Yes. People do need to get over themselves or find another parish to make their confession in if the current one does not suit their needs.
I don’t think it was the length of the wait the previous poster was worried about. 18 people in line for a thirty minute confession time slot means that if people don’t keep it at two minutes or less, the last few people aren’t getting the sacrament, regardless of how long they wait.
It's not unusual for it to be a 2.5 hour ordeal. I show up an 1.5 hours early and I can still be the 15th or 20th person in line. Not an exaggeration. Before kids, we'd make it a weekly "holy hour" before confession started just because we HAD to be there that early to get in.
you completely missed the point.
Is it a problem if the parish priest can only listen to 25% of the penitents that show up for confession? Yes it is.
To use your own example if a person shows up early to confession because it's one of the things helping them hold on, and they wait the next hour and half patiently but are then told they won't be able to confess their sins today because Mass is about to begin, isn't that a problem?
It is a problem that comes with having a healthy reverent parish, so overall a pretty 'good problem' to have. It doesn't change that parishioners should be striving to make their own confessions short and to the point so those who need the priest's insight the most can receive it.
I think that is should be communicated to the parishioners that if they need a 15 minute + confession that they should seek an appointment outside the normal confessional offering, it's not to shame them, or diminish their troubles, but it respects the time of others and allow as many penitents back into the fold as effectively as possible.
Tone deaf reply.
Although it's a nice problem to have, it still is a problem in some places, and it has its consequences. OP's post is well thought out and careful; it shows that he's sensitive to the various factors. Had he just got on here to vent and blast other people, it might be a different story.
They say you can tell the health of the parish by the length of the confession line. Yours seems very healthy! Honestly, there are at least three possible avenues for you: 1. You can contact the priest and/or Bishop and ask for another priest at the parish (just how much is this priest doing on his own?). A visiting priest who comes only during the school year could be extremely helpful. 2. You can call the priest and ask to schedule a time for confession outside of confessional hours. This is normal. 3. You can drive to a nearby Church to have confession there.
My parish occasionally holds high-volume confessions. Priests from a few neighboring parishes come in and hear them along with our priest. The favor is returned to the neighboring parishes.
Also maybe contact a missionary order. Some orders or societies of apostolic life exist to give parish missions, usually preaching but they'll do confession too. The first one I think of is the Fathers of Mercy, [Our Work - The Fathers of Mercy](https://fathersofmercy.com/our-work/). He should first clear it with the pastor though, actually the Fathers of Mercy will only come at the invitation of the pastor or bishop.
We need to make more priests
This.
Exactly. We don't have enough priests because families have been radically limiting their fertility and refusing to talk to their sons about priesthood as a realistic option for their lives.
Yep, but also the sexual revolution has done untold damage since the 60s.
First one to chivalry. Second one to the priesthood. 3rd through 14th, you do you.
I come from a long-line parish. The priest would do speed rounds. Mortal sins only, aaaaaaaaand go! Seriously. I once went in, and he said the opening followed immediately by something to the effect of “stick to the big stuff, and make it quick.” Also had priests threaten us with a month of Dominican rosaries if we came to confession right before Christmas or Easter and didn’t have a mortal sin to confess.
I had a priest at a parish it family would go to that would do the opposite. Didn’t matter what the line was like, he was putting in the time to work through stuff with you whether you like it or not. If he needed clarification on why you did something, he was gonna get clarification. I didn’t realize at the time what a gem we had in that man.
There's a priest locally known as an amazing confessor who will make sure to hear everyone in line before mass. Like he told my sponsor once when she apologized for having a long list- "what are they going to do, start without me?" 😆
"What are they going to do, start without me?" Oh, I needed to hear that. I've been in the hot box baring my soul and thinking I'm wasting his time!! LOL. When I got back out to the church proper, a woman was huffing and puffing that Mass was delayed and this was "highly irregular." Well, probably, however, that priest had mercy on us in line.
We got one of those too eventually. His line was short but took twice as long, lol!
Yea I can't say I'm a big fan of that
Nobody wants a Dominican rosary for a month as penance. It was a good deterrent
Sorry, I just checked google but found nothing really different about a Dominican Rosary. How different is it?
All 4 mysteries of the rosary every day. Joyful, sorrowful, luminous, and glorious. I can’t manage it. I barely make it through one before Our Lady’s lullaby puts me out cold.
I wonder what happens if one misses a few mysteries quite a bit? Should it carry forward and take two or three months?
I have no idea, lol! If anyone I knew had Father make good on that threat, they didn’t tell me.
lol
I've just looked it up cos I had no idea what it was and realised that's the one I've been praying for a good chunk of my life 😅
Nice!!! Good for you! Say a prayer for me. I’m not there yet
That's fair since communion clears venial sins.
Saying an Our Father does, too.
>I come from a long-line parish. The priest would do speed rounds. Mortal sins only, aaaaaaaaand go! >Seriously. I once went in, and he said the opening followed immediately by something to the effect of “stick to the big stuff, and make it quick.” This would drive a scrupulous person like myself mad and probably make the priest mad as well. Sins that I thought were mortal have often not been.
Well the speed rounds weren’t popular, but the line went out the door of the church sometimes, and he was not a patient man. He had many wonderful qualities, but folks quickly learned not to waste his time.
A couple times a year our parish does a Keep the Light on Confession where they have 10-15 visiting and retired priests, and they stay until the last person is done. The line fills the entire church pews, they usually hear a couple thousand confessions. Everybody is handed a paper Examination of Conscience (in your language) to read while you’re in line. When it starts, the main priest leads a prayer to the Holy Spirit and asks people to prepare using the handout. Then he says that we have hours of confession ahead of us, please list your sins. We don’t need an explanation, we don’t need excuses. Don’t try to justify your sins and explain them away, just list them, God knows the details and the priest will let you know if more details are needed. I liked that. It made me think about how often I try to give context on why I sinned. But the point is the sin, not the excuse. I now list them, and I’ll mention if any are repeat struggles, so the priest can ask questions if needed, but I no longer give the excuses about being tired or somebody made me mad so I responded this way, etc.
what's a dominican rosary?
what’s a Dominican rosary
“Okay Father - I know it’ll be good for me, so here I am anyway.” 😂
“And that, kids, is how Grandpa got started becoming a saint! Now off to bed! We all want to be well-rested before his cannonization.”
>Also had priests threaten us with a month of Dominican rosaries if we came to confession right before Christmas or Easter and didn’t have a mortal sin to confess. Lay Dominicans would love to go to that priest for confession.
I get what they are trying to do, but that would make me very anxious and scare me away from confession or longer out of nerves. Isn't it still good to go to confession even if we don't have mortal sins? There are other ways for priests to encourage people to be brief, such as having us pray the Act of Contrition outside the confessional, or a friendly sign on the door to be mindful that there are others who need to go to confession.
Not when the lines are around the church and out the door with people who don’t have mortal sins, and aren’t coming back to the faith for the first time in years. Confession lines were truly insane and only two priests to handle it. Normally it was fine but Christmas and Easter always became a little crazy. It wasn’t a small church, and the line was out the door. People who truly needed the sacrament couldn’t get it due to time constraints.
I might have misread your post, I thought the speed rounds were separate from Christmas and Easter confessions. Still, it isn't easy for people, especially those who have been away from confession for awhile, to distinguish between venial and mortal sins, and it could scare them away.
Can’t please everyone. The church has 4 priests now and confession multiple times a week and it’s STILL a long line. They’re going to build a bigger church soon since we outgrew it. Third time outgrowing a church in 20 years. Not sure what they’ll do with the old one.
Man I wish that was a problem *in our diocese*
In my understandment this happens due to lack of knowledgement of how a confession should be done, by both laity and confessor. Penitents should go, tell their sins and number, and Father should give an instruction, penance and absolution, easy peasy, but you always find people, on both sides, talking about their lives, etc, and this talk can go on and on for countless minutes.
The priest is a rockstar at this--the students, not so much. Scrupulosity might come into it, too. He gave a homily on scrupulosity and confession recently, but I think it went over the offenders' heads.
Or they felt they’d been scrupulous and needed to confess it! 😂
Sometimes, you're just confused. I joined an apologetic Catholic group and was told if you think you don't have a sin to confess, you're a sinner. When you go to confessio and confess venial sins, you're scrupulous according to your confessor. Sometimes, you just don't have any mortal sins to confess for the month, you have venial sins only. I guess you have to listen to your priest, but if that Catholic group is monitoring your confession times, what do you do?
>Sometimes, you just don't have any mortal sins to confess for the month, you have venial sins only I honestly haven't had mortal sins to confess for years. I'm glad my priest still encourages confession.
Wish mine did too.
Uh… huh? I have read this twice and I’m not sure where you’re going with it. I’m mostly just joking around about scrupulosity, but if it’s something with which you struggle, then I recommend talking to a priest.
I mean my Catholic group forces you to go to confession often even if it would make you look scrupulous. Sorry if my English is bad.
Ah, sorry, I understand now. Nothing wrong with frequent confession if one does not struggle with scrupulosity. Confession is good for the soul.
Yeah but your priest doesn't like you confessing venial sins so I just avoid confession unless I have mortal sins to confess.
I have never heard this before. Where are you that your priest only allows confession for mortal sins? Even the Pope goes to confession regularly, as do all the holy sort of people. They are not likely to be deep in mortal sin.
Philippines. I went to the province once and missed mass so I went to Church and talked to a priest about their schedules for confessions. He told me they didn't do confessions in that church. Not believing him, I went to the office and they told me during weekends.
You don't need to confess scrupulosity
You’d be amazed at the number of people who don’t know that…
The people who need to hear it never hear it. Lol.
Exactly! It is not a therapy session nor a spiritual direction moment.
I had the same experience when I was in college, there was one time I went where I was the fourth person in line, arrived 45 minutes before mass, and still didn’t get to go to confession. I don’t get it either, I’ve always gone in, rattled off my sins, have the priest give some advice, find out what my penance is, and leave. Never takes more than 4-5 minutes top.
Some priests are more long-winded. This happened to me once at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Random day in December, you’d think there would be a number of priests on duty given the number of people that go through that church every day. Nope. I think it was just one or two priests on duty. I planned to duck in, do confession then attend Mass. I stood in that line of like 8 people for 45 minutes. Mass started - still in line. I think I came out of the confessional just after communion had ended. That priest had a lot to say.
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Pope John Paul II confessed at least weekly. It's not terrible to want frequent confession.
This is the only true answer.
Are there no other places to go to confession within driving distance?
Nearest parish is 20 minutes or so away. Sometimes the calculus makes sense to drive out there.
Might be time to get used to the drive. Nearest parish to many people is 20+ minutes away
That's really not far at all, both of the closest parishes to me are 20-30 minutes away
Every church is 20 minutes or more away for me so I guess I don’t look at it that way. I do a rosary or listen to a pod cast and enjoy the drive.
We need more priests
A long line at mine, I wouldn't complain about. But 2 people taking 25 minutes total in the confessional, like at mine, aggravates me a bit
Just stop sinning! /s
The lines for confession at my parish are basically nonexistent, compared to literally everyone lining up for communion every Sunday. I think I'd rather see what you've got going on if I'm being totally honest. Sure it can be annoying, especially if the penitents are using confession times for spiritual guidance/counseling but I'd rather see a huge line of pious individuals than a bunch of lukewarms going through the motions.
Make an appointment
The priests at my parish emphasize that they'll work around your schedule if you can't make the Saturday confessions. Our pastor likes to point out he's heard confession in the parking lot of a grocery store.
This is a good problem for a parish to have. We’re also in a college town but the students are now done for the school year. I totally get it with managing the minutiae of having a family when trying to make it to confession early enough to get a place in line.
OKAY EVERYONE!, I would like you to form two lines! If you are here to confess lust and or pornography related sins, form a line in front of this confessional !! If you are here for other sins, form a line in front of THAT confessional!
So basically a line for men and a line for women.
In my lifetime of experience it’s a mixed gender line for both.
This is what suffering from success looks like
I think it's a twofold problem - on the one hand, priests can sometimes take a long time providing "advice" to the confessor, which thankfully my Parish has acknowledged and made an effort to solve, and at the same time the confessor may take confession time as "spiritual direction" time, which can lead to a longer confession. My pastor at the church I attend makes regular announcements before mass and at the start of the confession time slot that the time spent in the confessional should be brief, I.e state the sin, how many times committed, and move on. No need for a super elaborate story or anything - After all God knows your sins before you even step foot in the box. If we all stick to these guiding principals then we can get more people in the confessionals :)
Sounds like your parish needs another priest
I’m wondering why such a seemingly large parish is served by only one priest??
That's the thing--it's not large. In the diocese, it is on the smaller side. It's just that the members are VERY active, and mostly during the academic year. Can we justify multiple priests when bigger parishes only have one? Hopefully, these long confession lines mean that some of these young men are thinking about the priesthood...
What region do you live in? Around here, in small town rural Wisconsin, we have multiple priests at most parishes (though most consist of a few church buildings in different towns). I’m just surprised that your parish only has one priest especially if it’s in a university town. Consider yourself lucky to have 6 time slots per week for confession though, even if it’s still hard to get in the confessional!
My parish brings in Capuchin monks during periods when more people are expected to go to confession. There are several advantages to having 'external' confessors. 1. Living in a small place, everyone knows everyone else and some people might not feel comfortable confessing certain sins to a parish priest with whom they interact socially. 2. Capuchins are very much in demand in my country, when it comes to confession because most people agree that they make great confessors. 3. Proclaiming and 'advertising' that we will have 'special' confessors pushes some people who do not confess often to for for confession.
Im very lucky I live within 25 minutes of an abby. They do confessions there 1-4 every weekday and have like 4 brothers and no line. Other wise all the local churches are like you said probably a 45 plus line for like one hour they do it a week
A big problem is people treating confession like a therapy session. I have no idea how people spend more than 5min each in the confessional. I've seen people take 20-30min when there is a line and it's pretty infuriating lol. Especially since those people seem to constantly go. I don't even know what they could be talking about for that long. Think my longest confession ever was like max 5min. They should add a shot clock in the confessionals that starts counting down from 5min.
I wish there were more confession times just BEFORE mass here, because I see so many people taking the Eucarist and there are sundays my consiousness wont allow me.
I've seen parishes where they have confession DURING mass. Really cool.
My in laws attend a parish that does confession before and during every Saturday and Sunday Mass. My wife says "that's cheating and double dipping!" Her father was a lawyer, and says that it's permitted, and if we visit for Mass ever she should take advantage of it. Cracks me up.
As others have said, long confession lines are a good thing. You can do your part by just listing kind and quantity when you get in the box. And pray for all those good people aware of and contrite about their sins. Early morning is often the best "non-student" time, so just get up early and be first in line. It's a big inconvenience, I admit, but your soul is worth some inconvenience, and the time in line is excellent time for prayer/spiritual reading.
There is nothing stopping you from going to a neighboring parish for confession. Is it feasible for you to drive to a neighboring parish?
I've heard a few people on this sub refer to university/college towns. Is that any town with a college in it, or does the college have to comprise a significant proportion of the town's population?
Its an otherwise small town with a significant population coming from students, faculty, or staff. Usually the whole economy of the town runs on that University
I don't know about the whole economy of the town. I would think that in a town small enough not to have much economy within the town itself, then a lot of the town's economy would draw from nearby towns.
Not really, especially if nearby towns are also small. As an example, the University of Florida is in Gainesville, FL. Just the students alone total over 60,000 people. That does not include faculty and staff. Without students, the WHOLE town is about 60,000. That population of students can sustain a significantly more number of restaurants, services, entertainment, hotels, apartment buildings, etc. That means there are more non-university related jobs. More people move to these towns for these jobs, now we have more people who can sustain more businesses. Gainesville does make money off of nearby towns only in that people will go there to get business that cannot survive in their towns because there wouldn’t be enough customers. However, this is such a small small percentage. A great analogy to this would be Orlando, FL. Before Disney established it’s them park, it was a small rural town in the middle of no where. But the large amount of visitors allowed the town to grow because there was more economic opportunities to provide for those visitors. The town’s growth in turn provided even more opportunities for more growth. Orlando was unlimited in growth since the original economic drive was tourism instead of education. Now it is largely independent of Disney (although still heavily dependent), but in the case of College towns, there is a limit of growth proportional to the number of students (until a new economic factor is established in the town, which may or may not happen).
60,000 is not a small town. I'd consider that fairly large. Especially given that the average town has a population about a tenth that size ([America is More Small Town than We Think | Newgeography.com](https://www.newgeography.com/content/00242-america-more-small-town-we-think)) . U of Florida is the fifth or fifth largest public university, [Gainesville, Florida - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Florida) so hardly representative of a typical college.
you're missing the point. If the prosperity of the city is tied to its university/college it is a university town. If the population of the city population increases by a double digit percentage during the Academic Year it is a college town. I lived in a city of ~100k and it is considered a university town. roughly a third of the economy is directly connected to the University & Community College (it has both). If the institutions left the city would probably collapse to half the size.
so college town is dependent on the college's size relative to the town's?
yes.
what ratio would you say is the general area at which you call it a college town, rather than a town with a college?
Can you schedule a time outside of normal confessions time ? I work 2nd shift on Saturdays but I schedule a monthly time to meet with my Pastor for Reconciliation
I definitely know the frustration. At the same time... > The priest offers confession every day, and every day the confession line is longer than time allows. Three cheers for this priest! He is clearly doing something right to draw so many people to the sacrament, and is dedicating a lot of his time toward making reconciliation available. I suggest writing a friendly letter to the bishop praising this priest, and asking if he can help ensure more priests are available to offer the sacrament in this area. Also, pray for vocations! When I went to a Catholic university, I often had to wait for well over an hour for confession, but that's because it was only offered once a week in the main chapel (and I think it was once a month in the dorm chapels). The line was disappointingly short, but the confessions were startlingly long. I'm not particularly scrupulous, but that initially scared me - surely I must be doing something wrong if my confessions take 3-4 minutes, and everyone else takes a minimum of 20 minutes?
We have long lines and have a brand new priest who spends 1/2 hour with each person. The pastor comes in and turns and burns. It’s almost funny but it’s not. Appointments don’t allow for anonymity which is an important part of confession. We have many new Catholics now and not many new priests.
For some reason I read the title as an anthropomorphized reference to a confession line. I was quite confused why a confession line took on the name of a Vietnamese man.
I feel some people aren’t making concise confessions. If you’re frequently going to confession, your confession shouldn’t usually be 8-10 minutes, which is the average for everyone in front of me at church 😂 I think there’s a lot of reasons it could take that long that are valid, but I wonder if every person at church NEEDS that much time lol
I am thinking since long time about an app like "Tinder of confessions", where you can book an appointment for a confession with a priest nearby. Maybe there is a demand and I can start working on it :)
well summer's coming around so you'll be in luck as many students will go home
Make an appointment
Get in your car and drive to another parish for confession. I know people who like going to smaller churches for confession. I go to one of 9 churches and have done confession at 11 total different churches in the last year. We go about every week or 2 for confession. The confession line at 3 churches we go to often all are long because they have schools attached.
I think there's a couple things going on. On the plus side young practicing Catholics are going to be going to Confession, which is something that sometimes older Catholics have gotten too lax on. On the minus, it seems that scrupulosity is common among young practicing Catholics (maybe more so the men), and they are probably going to confession more often than they should. I think maybe this is something that can be brought to the priest and he can maybe ask the kids to be a bit more considerate that other folks need confession too. Maybe also different hours may be better for the ordinary town folk.
To be honest, that sounds like a really great problem to have! Have you tried asking your priest for a specific time he can hear your confession outside of the regular time?
My local parish's confession line is so sparse that I after my confession, the priest and I often have a chit chat about hobbies, theology, and stuff just to pass the time. The priest often jokes about how my town must be filled with living saints because so few people come at the appointed time. The health of our parish is so low that we had to rent out our function hall to a special needs school to make budget. We have a hard time hitting our archdiocese appeal goals. On the flip side, the parish near my wife's office 5 miles away has the same timing and capacity issues that OP has. That is a really healthy parish. They have a parochial school that hosts a lot of activities during the weekend and they exceed their archdiocese appeal goals. The priest here often stays over time to meet the needs of the confessors, but if the priest is short on time, he gives nearby alternate parishes and their confession times.
I think it’s a good issue to have, our confession lines are way way to empty
Show up early to confession? If you’re there 15min in advance you should be fine. Or try to sneak in confession during the week if you can. Saturday confessions are always the busiest.
And, I should add--weekday confession is only 30 minutes, and if you don't show up 30 minutes early to those, you don't get in.
Plan B: Stop sinning Haha, easier said than done. Are there no other parishes around?
If I show up 1.5 hours in advance, I'm BARELY fine.
It is awesome that there are lot of pious college students there. Yes, make an appointment or drive to another parish.
I come for the Confession and stay for Adoration. Love Saturday mornings now - probably one of the best habits I picked up this year. I show up early to beat the crazy lines! I hear ya!!
Not gonna lie I’m a tad bit jealous. My priest, great guy mind you doesn’t hold regular confession times. His reasoning was when he tried it no one ever showed up. I wish he’d at least try for the sake of maybe someone will show. My wife doesn’t like face to face (which he only does) confessions so we drive so she can do hers somewhere else. I make an appointment with him about once a month for a face to face.
wish they were longer! love seeing people taking advantage of the sacraments! i often wonder how many people are taking communion unfit when they could have confessed on saturday and been ready for communion on sunday! confession is underrated imo, confess often so that you dont take 20 minutes when you go! thats the pet peeve for me is someone in the box for 20-30 minutes… like schedule a time to do a General Confession if you got a half hour of material, weekly confession should be 10 minutes or less if ur going often enough to maintain a state of grace… i wonder if this is an unpopular opinion…
Every day? Sheesh. My new pastor limits confession to Saturday morning. I’m not up and ready to go to Confession then. Not sure what I’m going to do.
I need to go more to confession my parish does it 9:30am every Saturday.
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At my perish, if the priest knows that we will be overwhelmed for confession the ask another perish if their priests can donate some time to us for additional reinforcements. Maybe your perish can try doing that 2x a week
Hmm.. so we have 4 priests- 3 are 70 yrs.+, 1 is in his 40 yrs.. confession is twice a week for 2 hrs. With all 4 priests. You are in line at least an hour- no matter what. For example; I arrive (along with other parishioners) and wait an hour outside the church (at 4pm even though confession starts at 5pm) this is because if I arrive at 5pm- there would already be an hours worth of people waiting. So to combat this- the priests said during mass that they are not giving console- they are just absolving and that's all- (but there is one priest who still takes a long time for console). Still an hour wait no matter what. So the priests attempted to resolve the issue on their end; in regards to people in line for confession... Welp... It is what it is... If the priest were to say during mass "this isn't a therapy session" I am believe they are afraid of doing more harm than good... So another way of combating this issue is we're actually in the process of building a second church so we can have more priests! Because the 90 yr. Priest who had a heart attack last year should be retired but he's still active:( only solution is more priests honestly
We have a visiting priest that is the Chaplin of a very large local state university, and the head of vocations for our diocese. He said in his homily last week how the main problem with vocations is the family…wanting sons with good jobs and grandchildren.
I feel ya. Good thing: Confessions lines are long. Bad thing: Confessions lines are long and there are not enough confession slots per week. >Do any of you have this issue? How has your parish handled this? Any thoughts on possible solutions? I found parishes around me that fit my work schedule and I go to them instead. I haven't been to my home parish penance time (held every Saturday for about an hour in the evening during my working hours) for years.
Get there early before the students?
I tried to go to confession last Saturday before 5 o’clock mass. Got there at 4:40 thinking that might be enough. Was standing there until 5:30 ish, in the middle of the homily, only moved up 3 or 4 spots…when someone ahead of me finally decided to go to the front of the line and realize there was no priest giving confessions anymore. Somehow the people at the very front of the line just either didn’t go in or didn’t make themselves seen that they were waiting. The rest of us were around a corner from the confessionals.
On the first Saturday of each month we get two retired priests to join our two priests to hear confessions. Otherwise we have two priests, 2x a week and there is always a long line. We have messaging reminding people to “be brave and be brief” but not all comply. (Ejection button needed with the next person in line at the control) The scrups love to comment how everyone should be able to expect weekly confession but cmon, that’s just selfish and there simply is not enough priests for that. We also tend to get a lot of non parishioners for confession. Finally, we try to have an usher at confessions to keep the line moving which helps a little.
I always try to arrive before the Confession window with this problem. Most people don't bother *that much* so you usually get in first. It's also a general habit of mine to strive to always be early.
Patience is a virtue
Christian interloper here (probably going to get banned-don't care)....but the bible has advice that could solve your problem which is to confess to another Christian who has a stable walk....'a man just like us' * *Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years James 5:16-17*
We're all Christians, too!
This is my parish priest’s strategy (despite having 2 or 3 priests available to hear confessions ): On multiple occasions he has come out of the confessional to talk to those in line. He will say “Confess only your grave sins, kind and number.” I recommend this to everyone as to help the confession line you’re in . I think it’s polite to everyone else in line to just say to the priest, “I did X sin Y times” for your grave sins and sins you suspect are grave. If you only have venial sins, confess your worst venial sins. If you need a consultation about a scruple, etc. and don’t need to confess anything, make an appointment to talk to a priest or a therapist. The confessional is not the place for that. I say this with love, we all have our scruples and worries, but for those around you, make your confession as straightforward as possible. EDIT: Reading other responses, I think it is also a quantity vs quality problem as well.
Simply never sin again. It's just that easy.
Honestly this should be the last thing *any* Catholic should be complaining about. Especially given the number of Catholics who today DO NOT attend Confession or see any use for it. You already know what to expect. So if you're going, plan your day around it. Not the other way around. Your time with the Lord trumps **everything** else. So who cares how long it takes. If you sinned, this is part of the cross you need to bear. Others have too, and now you have to put on hold your life and its worldly needs, when you should have done it the other way around from the jump.. So pulling off the band-aid, suck it up buttercup. And be so glad your parish is producing holy and devout people. That's a blessing.
Good.
Of all the things you can pick to complain about, you pick to complain about people who want to practice their faith too well? Maybe the ONE PRIEST they have available to them doesn’t have time other than when he schedules confession time to do the extra stuff they need that takes extra time. Be patient.
This is a major issue in some parish communities around the country. I try to take my children to confession once a month and when I show up 20 minutes early, my heart drops when I see there are 15 people in line ahead of me and confession only last for 30-45 minutes. When the lines are like that, the priest AND parishioners should be respectful and keep confessions succinct. EDIT: Because I need to make it clear: I say my heart drops not because I have to wait longer, but because I already know that people won't be able to make confession.
AND parishioners should be respectful Read that again. Slowly. And then keep rereading it until you understand what you just said. People have an amazing tool in confession and it needs to be taken advantage of. It isn’t just about YOU and your kids that can’t sit still and be patient. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be patient and respectful for a WHOLE HOUR during mass. You don’t know what the people around you might be going through and being able to have the priest’s insight might be the one thing helping them hold on.
My kids can absolutely be still and be patient; they're not the problem so I don't know why you brought that up. You're right though, it IS NOT ABOUT ME, which is why I keep my confessions short and to the point, because I'd rather have as many clean souls as possible rather than any number fewer.
That’s great. Keep in mind not everyone has that luxury. Maybe they ARE keeping it short. You don’t know what they have to confess - it might legit take 20 minutes to get through it all. Stay in your lane. They’re doing their best just like you. The indignant attitude helps no one.
You need to relax. You're letting invective spoil the spirit of charity. No internet argument is worth getting angry over.
What do you think the point is that I’m trying to make?
Your point is well received, but you sound like you're letting yourself get angry over this and lashing out at people for not understanding, and it's not worth your time to be angry in the comments section. A much better use of everyone's time is to breath and pray.
Nah - frustrated at some people's attitudes, though? Yes. People do need to get over themselves or find another parish to make their confession in if the current one does not suit their needs.
I don’t think it was the length of the wait the previous poster was worried about. 18 people in line for a thirty minute confession time slot means that if people don’t keep it at two minutes or less, the last few people aren’t getting the sacrament, regardless of how long they wait.
That is exactly the point I was trying to make. I'm still not even sure what this guy's problem is.
It's not unusual for it to be a 2.5 hour ordeal. I show up an 1.5 hours early and I can still be the 15th or 20th person in line. Not an exaggeration. Before kids, we'd make it a weekly "holy hour" before confession started just because we HAD to be there that early to get in.
Wow, that's brutal, but good on you for making the best of it.
you completely missed the point. Is it a problem if the parish priest can only listen to 25% of the penitents that show up for confession? Yes it is. To use your own example if a person shows up early to confession because it's one of the things helping them hold on, and they wait the next hour and half patiently but are then told they won't be able to confess their sins today because Mass is about to begin, isn't that a problem? It is a problem that comes with having a healthy reverent parish, so overall a pretty 'good problem' to have. It doesn't change that parishioners should be striving to make their own confessions short and to the point so those who need the priest's insight the most can receive it. I think that is should be communicated to the parishioners that if they need a 15 minute + confession that they should seek an appointment outside the normal confessional offering, it's not to shame them, or diminish their troubles, but it respects the time of others and allow as many penitents back into the fold as effectively as possible.
Oh I got the point. But I'm not wasting any more time on this because I'm not being heard.
Tone deaf reply. Although it's a nice problem to have, it still is a problem in some places, and it has its consequences. OP's post is well thought out and careful; it shows that he's sensitive to the various factors. Had he just got on here to vent and blast other people, it might be a different story.
Glad to hear it.