To whom does Pope Francis confess?

Question

So, Popes sin too. (At least, I assume they do.)

Presumably, they confess their sin and do penance. Who hears his confession?

Is it an office that rotates, or one individual? And, does the Pope select that person, or is he selected for the Pope? And finally, clearly the confession would be protected by the seal of the confessional, but, is there a recorded instance of it being broken? Surely the secrets would have been tempting to give out...

Answer 1

Popes confess to another priest, like any other priest. Pope Francis' long-standing confessor is a Croatian Franciscan priest in Argentina, Fr Berislav Ostojic.

People get to choose their own confessor whom they are comfortable with and trust to give good advice. The Pope is no different to anyone else.

I'm not sure that confession can be conducted by telephone, so presumably one goes to see the other.

Answer 2

Pope Francis , like any other Roman Pontiff is free to have any confessor of his choosing just as Andrew Leach mentioned in his excellent answer.

Nevertheless Pope Francis is also free to confess to any priest at anytime as circumstances present to him.

At the end of his annual Lenten penitential service on Friday, Pope Francis was the first to go to the sacrament of confession, afterward hearing the confessions of seven laypeople, three men and four women, in attendance.- Pope Francis goes to confession

Here is a link to the YouTube video: Pope Francis goes to confession. Pope Francis himself is showing a great example for the need to confess one's sins to a priest.

As a side note: confessions over the phone are not valid.

As for the phone–the Apostolic Penitentiary stated that it is invalid because this Sacrament (all the rest, too, for that matter) demands a “physical immediacy” of the Parties (from L’uso dei mezzi tecnologici, October 23, 2002, in Enchiridion Vaticanum 21, p. 930). - ASK FATHER: Confession and absolution via text message? Phone? VOIP?