This is also known as confession.  In the Roman Catholic Church people go to confession to say sorry for the wrong (sin) in their lives and to experience God’s healing through forgiveness.  Confession also permits reconciliation with the Church, which is wounded by the sins people commit.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS NEEDED FOR RECONCILIATION

Four elements make up the sacrament of reconciliation.  They are essential for absolving sins.  These elements are contrition, confession, satisfaction and absolution.

Contrition – sorrow for sins.  Contrition requires sincere examination of conscience.  To do this, a person must ask themselves questions based on the 10 Commandments, to see if they have sinned.

Confession – owning up honestly about sin, accepting responsibility for sin.  Confession involves stating all the mortal and venial sins to the priest.

Satisfaction – doing what is possible to repair harm of offense.  The two parts of satisfaction are penance and prayer of sorrow (act of contrition).  Penance is when the priest states the satisfaction to be made (this could be returning stolen goods, paying compensation for damage done, a prayer).  A prayer of sorrow can be a prayer in the person’s own words, or a formal prayer.

Absolution – forgiveness by Jesus through the priest.  Priests have the same spiritual gifts to forgive sins just as Jesus did.