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Bless me father, for I have sinned.

My last confession was – checks notes – never, and I intend to keep it that way.

But, if you are the type who believes in The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, which is central to the Catholic church, then you’ll be familiar with how the confession works.

Usually, I assume these things are kept in-house, but now a new book, Je vous pardonne tous vos péchés (‘I Forgive You All Your Sins’), written by Vincent Mongaillard, has compiled the accounts of 40 anonymous French clergymen about what happens during confession.

More on that via The Guardian:

…in France it is estimated that up to 70% of confessions are related to some aspect of sex, be it infidelity, use of sex workers or addiction to pornography. It is apparently quite repetitive for priests to sit through…

According to one priest: “There’s parity, believe me”.

Another said: “I often hear: ‘I am cheating on my husband because I am not sexually satisfied by him, so I make up for it with others.’”

In order to protect the privacy of those whose confessions are being put down in print (perhaps a little too late for that), most of the details are kept rather vague.

There is one story, though, recounted by a certain Father Cédric, that goes into specifics:

He said that once a couple in their 50s took turns confessing. The woman went first and revealed that she had been cheating on her husband with a male friend of the couple. Then the man confessed that he had also been cheating on his wife with a male friend of the couple. It turns out that they were both having it off with the same man.

Imagine picking up a book whilst wasting time in a bookshop, flipping to a random page, and seeing your confession story there in print.

Seems like a bit of a betrayal to me.

As for the priests – well, let he without sin cast the first stone…

[source:guardian]