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Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.
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Q&A

Nuns can’t hear sacramental confessions – only priests, right?

Catholic Answers Staff

Question:

When I called a local university to find out the times for confession on campus, the answering machine informed me that confession was being offered by both a priest and a nun! I thought only priests could hear confessions.

Answer:

You are correct that only priests may hear sacramental confessions and absolve sins. Perhaps you misunderstood the message and Sister is offering spiritual direction rather than sacramental confession. Or, perhaps she is an Anglican offering her services only to non-Catholics. I recommend going to the university and confirming who is hearing the sacramental confessions of Catholics. If anyone other than a Catholic priest is attempting to offer sacramental confession to Catholics, then I recommend notifying the bishop of the diocese in which the university is located.

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