Most communion children have to go to confession before the celebration of first communion, which is about to begin – a practice that has been criticized against the background of the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
Harald Dreßing led the study, which examined sexualized violence by priests and deacons in the German dioceses. The study showed that the confessional was also a crime scene for abuse, said the head of the forensic psychiatry department at the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim. Confession was also used to plan and prepare for crimes. “Children were questioned and spied on as potential victims.” Sexual abuse is about power – and that is magnified in the confessional, where the confessor has the power to absolve sins. “This is a highly frightening situation.”
Dreßing said that this also leads to the fundamental question of whether children under the age of 14 should confess at all. From a developmental psychological point of view, the children’s confession is not a suitable format. At the age of their first communion – around nine years of age – children are not yet able to grasp the topics of guilt and sin. That only started when I was about 14 years old. So confession either becomes a meaningless ritual – or stirs up fears.
All parishes would have to commit to a protection concept, which also had to be approved by the prevention department, emphasized Helmut Heiss, head of the specialist department for sacramental pastoral care in the archbishop’s office in Munich-Freising. For example, it makes sense that there is also the possibility of going to confession in a non-sacred room with the door open. Trusted persons could remain in sight, but not within earshot. The child also has the option to leave the room if they feel uncomfortable. “The sensitivity of the pastors towards the parents in relation to the first confession is very high.” As a rule, visual contact is always made possible if this is desired.
At First Communion, Catholic children receive Holy Communion for the first time. The children are mostly in third grade. It is traditionally celebrated in the weeks after Easter.
Figures from the German Bishops’ Conference Abuse study Diocese of Münster Community catechesis Diocese of Eichstätt
