#12846 Every Questions on Confession Answered Part 2 - Karlo Broussard from Catholic Answers Live

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#12846 Every Questions on Confession Answered Part 2 - Karlo Broussard

1 seconds Posted Aug 13, 2026 at 12:00 am.

– Doesn’t the thief on the cross prove the whole sacramental system is optional? So why should any of us bother with the sacrament?

– Isn’t private confession a medieval invention, not something apostolic? (Doesn’t history show the confessional isn’t apostolic at all?)

– Isn’t the seal of confession a dangerous rule that shields criminals? (How is that not dangerous — protecting criminals and endangering the public?)

– Isn’t assigning penance works-righteousness that denies ‘Christ paid it all’? (Isn’t penance just topping up a payment Jesus already made in full?)

– But confession, penance, absolution sounds like works you perform to earn your way back. Isn’t that the opposite of the gospel?

– Doesn’t confession give a license to sin — sin, confess, repeat? (If it’s that easy to reset, why would anyone take sin seriously?)

– Is it appropriate for a woman to confess sexual sins to a celibate man? (Is it even against God’s design to have a woman confess her sexual sins to a man — and a celibate one at that? Doesn’t that put her in a humiliating position?)

– Why is confession good news, not a burden?

– For the person who says ‘I can just tell God I’m sorry from my kitchen table’ — what does the Catholic receive in that confessional that they’d otherwise miss?

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Show notes

Does the thief on the cross prove that Confession and the entire sacramental system are optional? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Catholic Answers apologists respond to major objections to the Sacrament of Confession, including whether private confession is a medieval invention and whether the seal of confession dangerously protects criminals. The discussion examines whether penance amounts to works-righteousness, whether Confession encourages a cycle of “sin, confess, repeat,” and why receiving absolution is not an attempt to earn forgiveness. They also address concerns about women confessing sexual sins to celibate male priests, explain why Confession should be understood as good news rather than a burden, and explore what Catholics receive in the confessional that they would miss by simply asking God for forgiveness privately.

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