Confession dilemma

[possiblesista]

So I have a bit of a dilemma over confession. I have a really big problem with a particular sin. I don’t want the priest to know who I am,I think he will still recognize me even if I use the screen. Which do you think is preferable the screen or face-to face? Any advice on the above would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Luigi]

YOu don't have to go to confession to your parish priest. Going to the next parish over, or across town, is the oldest trick in the confessional book. 

[Theoketos]

Our sins are like garbage. The person of Christ is the driver of the Garbage truck. Thank God He comes to take them away. In this allegory, our pastors are like the men who jump off the truck and collect the bagged garbage in our dumpsters. Don't miss trash day though because these things: sin, and garbage, pile up.

Maybe the first week he a new priest or garbage man notices particular dumpsters and their weird trash. Maybe one person puts their toilet wipes in the trash instead of the toliet. Maybe one person butchers their own meat and about once a month there are chicken guts and heads in the trash (guilty of this second my self). But probably closer to hour two of the job on the first day, it just all becomes garbage just like everyone else. It's all smelly and not particularly memorable. 

Go across town if it makes it easier. God knows that I have down this. That pilgrimage to another parish is not a sin. But it is vanity to think your sins are so bad that even though you are contrite your priest will not treat you with the medicine of mercy. 

[fides' Jack]

What you're feeling is shame.  The best thing to do is just to go to confession as you normally do, and if the priest recognizes you, then it's another sacrifice.  Swallow the shame and let it be another reason for you to avoid the same sin in the future.

[Lilllabettt]

On 4/13/2019 at 4:56 PM, possiblesista said:

So I have a bit of a dilemma over confession. I have a really big problem with a particular sin. I don’t want the priest to know who I am,I think he will still recognize me even if I use the screen. Which do you think is preferable the screen or face-to face? Any advice on the above would be appreciated. Thanks!

There is no preference. Although if this is a habitual sin, the accountability of going to a priest who "knows" you may help. But the reality is Priests are trained to forget confession and 99% of the time they do. Unless your problem sin is habitually axe-murdering people, its unlikely the priest would be able to connect what you say to you.  Confession is actually boring and a drag for most priests.  So whether you go to your regular person or not, the results are the same. The main thing is, go to confession.  

[Guest]

Been in this situation a ton. Type into google Catholic Churches near you. Find one and see when their Confession time is. Then go there. If I couldn't be 100% anonymous when I go to Confession I wouldn't go.

[beatitude]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:56 PM, possiblesista said:

So I have a bit of a dilemma over confession. I have a really big problem with a particular sin. I don’t want the priest to know who I am,I think he will still recognize me even if I use the screen. Which do you think is preferable the screen or face-to face? Any advice on the above would be appreciated. Thanks!

You have said in other threads that you're not yet a Catholic, you are only fifteen years old, and won't be in a position to convert until you turn eighteen.

You seem to be ignoring all the advice people give to you about living as a teenager who hopes to convert. I know you're eager to become Catholic, which is wonderful, but you're putting the cart before the horse here. Confession will become part of your life after your baptism and reception into the Church. It would help if you could find a supportive understanding priest or youth minister to talk to in the meantime, and by the time you are ready to convert, you may find that your dilemma has solved itself.