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Day 2: Conference - Confession - The Church's Gift to the World?
Confession is perhaps the most misunderstood of all the sacraments. It is a new beginning, a means of renewing one’s hope for eternal glory, and of encountering again the forgiveness of the Father. Concerns about the Church’s care for the vulnerable, safe-guarding, means that the absolution confidentiality of what is said in private confession, the ’seal’ of confession, is both misunderstood and attacked by many today, both within and outside the Church. In what is sometimes called a ’therapeutic’ society, which self-care is understood and the hope of repentance is not, how what is the connection between what secular and ecclesial counselling and forgiveness? Finally, in an age which there are calls for the Church, organisations, and governments to apologise for things which took place in previous generations or centuries, how do we understand corporate responsibility, guilt, and forgiveness?
Although the practice and theology of confession have varied among the different traditions of the universal church, and yet there is enough in common for Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians to be united in cherishing the same gift.
Our conference will gather an ecumenical array of speakers from these different traditions to consider some of the pastoral challenges and contemporary issues that are being faced by clergy today in the ministry of hearing confessions, and by the Church and Christians more generally. This will include, among other concerns, how confession relates to the commitment to safeguarding and the protection of the vulnerable, to the inviolability of the seal, and to the wider significance of confession in a culture that preaches tolerance without practicing forgiveness.
We hope that this colloquium will be not only interesting, but also a source of encouragement for ordinands, seminarians, and clergy across different ecclesial traditions. This conference can also serve as a form of formation or education for those preparing to hear confessions, seeking renewal in this ministry, or looking to the hope which the Church offers the world through the gift of renewal and reconciliation.
More information here: www.puseyhouse.org.uk/conferences/confession
Date:
26 February 2026, 9:30
Venue:
Pusey House
Speaker: Various Speakers
Part of:
Pusey House Lectures and Events
Booking required?:
Required
Booking url:
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/pusey-house/confession-the-churchs-gift-to-the-world/e-yzqmmj
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Mehmet Ciftci
