When and why was confession started in the Catholic church?

Answer 1

Roman Catholic AnswerConfession is one of the seven sacraments instituted by Our Blessed Lord, and is recorded in the New Testament. It has been around since the beginning of Christianity. The current form of the sacrament is specific since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's. So the short answer is that confession was never "started" by the Catholic Church, it was started by Jesus when He was on earth, and has been part of the Church since its inception. Thus confession was started by Our Blessed Lord, He not only forgave sins, but imparted this power to His apostles. From the Catechism:1446 Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance {confession} for all sinful members of His Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. the Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace." (Tertullian, De Paenit. 4, 2: J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina {Paris: 1841-1855})

Answer 2

Confession was started by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, as one of the seven sacraments in which He would dispense grace on His faithful people. It is one of the sacraments that forgives sin; and along with Holy Communion, should be received as frequently as possible, as it is the only normal way in which God has set it up for us to be forgiven for our sins committed after Baptism. The modern form of Confession, private and behind a screen to separate the priest from the penitent and protect the penitent's

anonymity started with the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century.

Answer 3

Confession to a priest goes back to our understanding of Jesus' words to the apostles in John 20:21-23:

"Whose sins you shall forgiven they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain they are retained."

Also the teaching of Paul that Christ has given MEN the ministry and word of reconciliation in 2 Cor 5:18-20. Confession of sins by itself is clearly taught in James 5:14-16 and 1 John 1:7-9.