Do Priests, Cardinals, and Popes have a confessional to which they themselves can/should/must go?

score:10

Accepted answer

Any priest, or any level of priest, can hear confession from anyone. A priest will go to another priest for confession. Similarly, bishops, cardinals, and the pope can (and do) go to priests for confession. Apparently priests and the pope often have a specific confessor and are encouraged to visit him with "some regularity."

As for whether a priest can deny forgiveness, I can't find much information except that they can do it although it's apparently rare and usually only happens in cases where the person does the same thing repeatedly (like an ongoing affair). I don't see any reason why a priest confessor to a cardinal/pope would not be able to deny forgiveness.

Upvote:6

The short answer is yes.

Additionally, every priest and bishop, including the pope, is supposed to have a spiritual advisor. The priest they see for confession need not be any special priest, as far as I know. It just needs to be a priest. Confession is not a matter of hierarchical authority. It's just a matter of receiving absolution from "the Church."

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