Sacrament of Penance and confession of sins in general.

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Do Catholic priests have to report child abuse confessed in secret?

Is there any canon, regulation, norm or diocesan norm which requires priests to report confessions of child abuse? Are priests obliged to follow laws to this effect? I'm not asking in regard to ...
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How do Catholics justify confessing to a priest?

Roman Catholic churches have a practice where congregational members confess their sins and the like to a priest in a confessional. As I was saying to a friend a couple days ago, the practice doesn't ...
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What makes a confession sacramental?

In the Catholic tradition, confession to a priest is treated with special protection as a sacred rite. The priest is charged with maintaining the confidential nature of the confession, something they ...
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Is confessing to a priest the only way to be forgiven?

We first confess in our first communion and the priests say that we should always confess our sins, but is it the only way to be forgiven by God ? Can't we pray and ask for forgiveness? I've heard of ...
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What different acts do Catholic priests require of people who go to confession?

I understand that when people go to confessional in the Catholic Church, the priest will often prescribe certain things for them to do for penance in order for their sins to be forgiven. I have heard ...
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What is the basis for penance (satisfaction) in sacramental confession?

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, The Sacrament of Penance (Confession): As stated above, the absolution given by the priest to a penitent who confesses his sins with the proper dispositions ...
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Protestant rejection of the Catholic implementation of confession

(Pardon the length - my original post was more concise, but wasn't clearly conveying my question.) Background: I am currently studying the Spiritual Disciplines at a Protestant seminary. For those ...