Fr. Roger J. Landry
Text for the Missionaries of Mercy USA
August 27, 2021
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This is the introduction to the text:
As the Steering Committee for the Missionaries of Mercy in the USA were preparing were preparing for our National Gathering August 30 through September 2, 2021 at Saint Meinrad Seminary and Guest House, we wanted to have some sessions not just on the special faculties in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation we have received from Pope Francis, but also some feedback from the people we serve through confession, so that we might continuously better minister to their needs. There was the suggestion to have some lay people and religious speak to us of their experiences, but we thought that their suggestions might be too tied to their individual experiences. We decided, rather, to do a survey through social media and the internet, to get a much wider series of response.
The survey was carried out between May 12 and May 31, 2021. Missionaries of Mercy in the USA put the survey on their personal and parish FaceBook and Twitter feeds, parish websites and bulletins and other media. We also reached out to some priests who are social media influencers to try to make sure that the survey reached the broadest possible audience. We received 1499 responses, which forms the basis of this book. It was not a scientific survey of random Catholics; the responses all came from those who saw the postings on social media or elsewhere and took the time to respond. But what was generously shared is a very valuable resource of first person experiences in penitents’ own words.
We asked six basic questions:
- Besides absolution, is there anything else you look for when you go to Confession?
- What have been your best experiences in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation?
- Have you had any difficult experiences in Confession? What made them difficult?
- Do you choose a consistent confessor most of the time or do you go to whoever is hearing confessions? Is there a reason behind your choice?
- What qualities and virtues do you look for in a good confessor?
- If you were speaking to a group of priest confessors, what advice would you give them to help you to experience more profoundly God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation?
We hope that the results will be of benefit to Missionaries of Mercy in the USA and elsewhere, to every priest who hears confessions, to seminary faculties who prepare the next generation of confessors, to seminarians and those men who believe God is calling them to the ministerial priesthood and to anyone interested in a broader understanding of the practice of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation beyond their own personal experiences.
You will find listed in here best practices, worst practices, common practices (both effective and ineffective) and strange practices. The brutally honest responses from people will lead you on occasion to thank God for the holiness of some priests who have helped multitudes experience the depth and beauty of God’s merciful love. On other occasions, you will be shocked and moved to reparation for the hurt some priests in the confessional have caused. On balance, you will see some things that every priest privileged to hear confessions should take to his prayer and the whole Church should intercede priests act upon.
One clear take away is that the vast majority of penitents who have responded are asking that priests, despite their busy schedules and reduced numbers, make the Sacrament more available so that penitents are able to take advantage of the gift of Divine Mercy without feeling rushed or without having the opportunity for confessors to share some ways for them to grow in holiness and in the fight against sin. Some respondents think that priests’ adding extra time for confession is an easy ask; most recognize that it’s a challenging one. Nevertheless, you will hear expressed over and over again the need for more.
Another obvious request is for what hundreds have called “meaningful penances.” It is somewhat shocking how many repondents complained at being given the same penance of a certain amount of Our Fathers and Hail Marys no matter what they have confessed. Regardless of the priest’s intention to give penances people can do, with prayers that most will know, penitents routinely receive that penance as if the priest really isn’t listening to what they have said and therefore that they really don’t care. Many have asked for Scriptural penances, corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and other actions that respond medicinally to the spiritual illnesses they confessed.
As Pope Francis said to the Missionaries of Mercy gathered in Rome on April 10, 2018, “We truly must remember that God’s mercy knows no bounds, and with your ministry you are tangible signs that the Church cannot, must not and does not want to create any barriers or difficulties that obstruct access to the Father’s forgiveness. The ‘prodigal son’ did not have to pass through customs; he was welcomed by the Father, without obstacles. … Those who are God’s co-workers and administrators of mercy must be careful not to foil God’s grace.” Rather, as imitators of the Merciful Love of God, they “are called to support those who approach the confessional, to give them the strength to believe and hope.”
The results have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and readability. Responses from trolls attacking the Catholic practice of the Sacrament have been eliminated, as have simple replies of “yes” or “no” to the questions, which would be onerous to read continuously in a work like this. Many of the responses are similar, because they describe similar experiences, but they have been retained so that readers can assess how common are the practices to which they attest.
These responses will be digested in several presentations during the Missionaries of Mercy national gathering at St. Meinrad, but they are shared both so that Missionaries may prepare better for those presentations as well as so that many more than those present may profit.
Father Roger J. Landry, Editor
Missionary of Mercy
Memorial of Saint Monica, 2021
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Merciful Like the Father Final Text II
