Yes, Pope Francis went to Confession, publicly, in St. Peter’s Basilica, after leading a penitential service.
The Holy Father said the Christian way begins with taking a step backward, with removing oneself from the centre to make room for God.
This same criterion, this same outlook, applied to confession, can provoke a revolution in the life of each person: I am no longer at the centre of the sacrament of penance, humiliated with my list of sins — perhaps always the same ones — to be told with difficulty to the priest.
At the centre is the encounter with God who welcomes, embraces, forgives, raises up.
“One does not go to confession,” the Pope explained, “as chastised people who must humble themselves, but as children who run to receive the Father’s embrace.
And the Father lifts us up in every situation, He forgives our every sin. Hear this well: God always forgives! Do you understand? God always forgives!” One is not going to a judge to settle accounts, but “to Jesus who loves me and heals me”.
Confessions for Christmas
Tuesday 21st – 7-8pm, Church of The Immaculate Conception, Tenure
Thursday 23rd – 7-8pm, Church of our Lady of The Nativity, Fieldstown
Friday 24th – 1-2pm, Church of The Immaculate Conception, Tenure
Monasterboice Parish 