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Can You Go to Confession Online?

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The short answer for Catholics is no. A phone call, a video call or a chat cannot be a sacramental confession. That does not mean there is nothing to do online. It means the online part comes before or after the sacrament, not in place of it.

What the Catholic Church teaches

The sacrament of penance needs the penitent and the priest to be physically present to each other. The Church has said so plainly about the internet: the Pontifical Council for Social Communications wrote in The Church and Internet (2002, §9) that “There are no sacraments on the Internet.” A priest on a call can listen, counsel and pray with you, but he cannot give sacramental absolution that way. The seal of confession, which binds what is said in the sacrament, is also a different thing from the ordinary confidentiality of a conversation.

If you truly cannot reach a priest, the Catechism (§1452) teaches that sorrow for sin out of love for God, together with the firm intention to confess as soon as you can, obtains forgiveness even of grave sins. It is a provision for when the sacrament is out of reach, not a replacement for going.

The Orthodox view

Orthodox churches also hold confession to be a mystery celebrated in person, usually standing before the Gospel book or an icon of Christ with the priest beside you. The norm is in person, and any exception is for your own priest and bishop to decide. Many Orthodox Christians stay in touch with a spiritual father by phone between confessions; that is guidance, not the mystery itself.

Protestant churches

Most Protestant churches do not treat confession as a sacrament. Christians confess sin to God directly, as Psalm 32:5 does (“I acknowledged my sin unto thee... and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin”), and many also confess to one another, following James 5:16: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” Lutherans and Anglicans keep private confession and absolution as a practice, usually in person. For most Protestants a conversation with a pastor, in person or by phone, is pastoral care rather than a rite.

What you can do online

Where Quiethaven fits

Quiethaven is not a confessional and does not offer confession. In the app for iPhone you can talk to a verified priest or pastor one-on-one, audio only and never recorded, as pastoral counseling. Our roster of counselors is still being built, and the app shows who is available before you ask. For the sacrament itself, go to a parish of your tradition. The difference is set out in pastoral counseling vs confession, and what to say to a pastor or priest the first time may help if starting is the hard part.

About the author

The Quiethaven Editorial Team — The Quiethaven editorial team writes about Bible reading, prayer and the Christian year, with theological review across Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

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