History Main / Confessional

* On ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', Cardinal Ximinez of the Spanish Inquisition is trying to get an old lady to confess to sins against the Catholic church.

-->'''Ximinez:''' Confess, old lady. Confess. '''Confess!''' '''''CONFESS!! CONFESS!'''''\\

-->'''Ximinez:''' Confess, old lady. Confess. '''Confess!''' '''''CONFESS!! CONFESS!''''\\

'''Ximinez:''' '''''NOT YOU!!!'''

'''Cardinal Biggles:''' '''I CONFESS!!!'''\\

* In the film ''Little Witches'' the girls have a running competition as to who gets the most penance.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' did it a lot without the actual physical confessional, since their Catholic chaplain was a major character and the structure would have been difficult to keep Mobile. Notable instances included the crisis of conscience over disclosing the location of stolen medical supplies. In at least one circumstance, Mulcahy did violate the seal of the confessional, at least technically. In the situation of a soldier who confessed to stealing a dead comrade's identity so that he could go home, Fr. Mulcahy gathered up the dead soldier's letters to give to the trooper to nudge his conscience in the right direction. In real life, he could not even have done that, as any indication outside of the confessional of what was confessed without the penitent first bringing it up is forbidden.

-->-- Catholic Sacrament of Penance[[note]]also present in other branches of Christianity, but see below[[/note]]

Definitely related to ChristianityIsCatholic, since the Catholic Church encourages its adherents to practice Confession and a proscribed Penance once a year at the absolute minimum. Lutherans and some Anglican Churches also have the option of private confessions, too, though it's seldom exercised. And they don't have formal confessionals. Eastern Orthodox have confessions much like Catholics do, but face-to-face with the priest -- not in the "confession booth" most westerners are familiar with.

* The yaoi comic ''Little Lost Lamb'' has a storyline where a young priest is put on confessional duty and finds himself taking confessions from a young man he's attracted to. The man confesses being attracted to other men and masturbating, and the priest encourages him towards demonstrating such acts before God (including things that should not be done with icons EVER), before finally revealing himself for happy sexy times.

* ''Film/TheGodfatherPartIII'' has Michael Corleone confessing his sins to a priest (Cardinal Lamberto, who later is elected Pope). The priest considers Michael so evil that this is what he has to say: ''"Your sins are terrible. And it is just that you suffer. Your life could be redeemed, but I know you don't believe that. You will not change."'' Note that a precondition for the Sacrament of Confession is sincere sorrow and repentance, and willingness to change. A priest has the right to refuse absolution to someone who does not appear to be repentant. Pertaining to this, while the priest does chastise Michael for his lifetime of evil, Michael is visibly sorrowful for his sins, and the priest gives him absolution.

* Used rather badly in ''Film/Priest1994''. A great moral conflict is created when someone reveals to a priest in a confessional booth that he is committing, and has every intention of continuing to commit, a heinous and disgusting crime. From that point on, the priest is deeply conflicted about whether to reveal this information to the police. The only problem is that the seal of the confessional does not apply in this situation. The [[ConfessInConfidence seal of the confessional]] applies to all sacramental confessions, and to sacramental confessions only, regardless of where the priest hears them. Note to future criminals: if you go into a confessional booth and tell the priest that you have perpetrated a crime, intend to perpetrate the crime again, are not sorry or remorseful at all, and are not seeking any advice or counsel, that priest ''has every canonical right to turn you in to the police''. Though the movie does make a point of how said priest is not keeping up the seal of the confessional for the ''perpetrator'', but for the ''victim'' of the crime who has told him the same thing in the confessional and repeatedly asked him to keep silence.

* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'', one sidequest involves going into a confessional in Rouen. When you do, a parishioner gets in on the other side and confesses that he lost his wife's wedding ring, at which point Yuri has to decide what to tell him. Do it right (by telling him to be a man and tell the truth to his wife), and you get an item essential to getting a powerful Fusion... as well as the chance at Margarete's InfinityPlusOneSword.

* Used rather badly in ''Film/Priest1994''. A great moral conflict is created when someone reveals to a priest in a confessional booth that he is committing, and has every intention of continuing to commit, a heinous and disgusting crime. From that point on, the priest is deeply conflicted about whether to reveal this information to the police. The only problem is that the seal of the confessional does not apply in this situation. The [[ConfessInConfidence seal of the confessional]] applies to all sacramental confessions, and to sacramental confessions only, regardless of where the priest hears them. Note to future criminals: if you go into a confessional booth and tell the priest that you have perpetrated a crime, intend to perpetrate the crime again, are not sorry or remorseful at all, and are not seeking any advice or counsel, that priest ''has every canonical right to turn you in to the police''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'', Andrew goes to a Catholic church after being told that Jews feel guilt instead of shame, confessing that he [[ADateWithRosiePalms pleasured himself]] in his best friend's poolhouse. After being disappointed by the answer ("just do ten Hail Marys"), he ends up getting into a heated argument with the priest over religious stereotypes.

** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': In a flashback, Enrico Pucci (prior to becoming an actual priest) took a woman's confession and learns that years ago she switched out her own stillborn son for another baby born the same day. The child she took was none other than [[spoiler:Enrico's twin brother, Weather Report. [[BrotherSisterIncest And then later, he found out said brother is the guy who's been dating his sister]]]].

* In the Movie Adaptation of ''Film/GhostRider'', Blackheart goes into a church and says, ''"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned... I've sinned a lot."''

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': In the spin-off; ''Manga/ThusSpokeRohanKishibe'', Rohan visits Italy and goes inside the priest's compartment to examine it from the inside, until another man walks into the other side, mistakes him for a priest, and narrates his tragic history of mistreating a hungry beggar who turned out to be a spirit who would make him suffer greatly at his highest point of his life.

** Sitting on the right makes a ghostly woman appear and sit on the left. She will mime a tearful confession and disappear when Alucard gets up. Or laugh, pull the curtain closed, and try to impale Alucard with a spear through the screen[[note]]Like above, one can warned of the attack if the woman wear blue-green clothes[[/note]]. Confessional ghosts are weird like that.

* There's a confessional in the chapel area of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. Sitting in the chair on the left side causes the ghost of a priest to appear; he will nod his head as though listening to confession, cross himself, and disappear, dropping the [[FrothyMugsofWater grape juice]] item. Alternately, he'll laugh, pull the curtain closed, and try to impale Alucard with a half-dozen pointy objects through the screen.
** Sitting on the right makes a ghostly woman appear and sit on the left. She will mime a tearful confession and disappear when Alucard gets up. Or laugh, pull the curtain closed, and try to impale Alucard with a spear through the screen. Confessional ghosts are weird like that.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has Heather going into a confessional and overhearing an unnamed, unseen woman of The Order sobbing over what she has done -- having murdered someone as revenge for the death of her own daughter -- and asking to be forgiven for her sins. You have the option to forgive her or staying quiet. While nothing happens if you stay quiet (aside from maybe [[PlayerPunch feeling guilty and uncomfortable]]), but forgiving her puts you on a one-way trip to a BadEnding. The reason why isn't clear until a second playthrough: [[spoiler:all this time, Heather has the Order's god inside her body. By forgiving the woman, you aren't [[VideoGameCaringPotential soothing her fear and guilt]] so much as assuming the divine responsibility of said god.]]

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has Heather going into a confessional and overhearing [[BigBad Claudia]] sobbing over what she has done and asking to be forgiven for her sins. You have the option to forgive her or staying quiet. While nothing happens if you stay quiet, forgiving Claudia puts you on a one-way trip to a BadEnding. [[spoiler:Because Heather has the cult's god inside her body, forgiving Claudia means Heather assumes the responsibilities of a god.]]

-->-- Catholic Sacrament of Penance [[note]]also present in other branches of Christianity, but see below[[/note]]

* One of the errands for the second day in ''Postal 2'' is to confess.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the first true battle in the webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'', the anti-religious Joel casually walks into a confession booth and confesses his sins (murdering families, forcing a friend to commit pedophilia, etc.) before trying to kill Father Timothy with his alluded-to dark spiritual power. Oddly enough, the [[ReligionIsMagic Father also has great spiritual power]], and they fight to a psychic standstill. ''While separated by the confessional wall.'' Matt had also used the confessional earlier, looking for advice on his worries about his sexuality and his budding relationship with Joel. Father Tim warned him to stay away from Joel, but he didn't listen.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. The Corbettites are a monastic order that operate the railways across Europe. They offer [[SeekingSanctuary sanctuary]] and [[BadassPreacher safe passage]] provided the passenger tells them under the seal of the confessional an honest explanation of who they are, where they're going, and why. When Agatha Heterodyne takes the train and [[PreviouslyOn fills Brother Ulm in on these details]], his [[OhCrap reaction]] is to press the BigRedButton that puts the train on RedAlert.

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* In ''Manga/ThusSpokeRohanKishibe'', Rohan visits Italy and goes inside the priest's compartment to examine it from the inside, until another man walks into the other side, mistakes him for a priest, and narrates his tragic history of mistreating a hungry beggar who turned out to be a spirit who would make him suffer greatly at his highest point of his life.

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?", the boys (excluding Kyle) are being prepared for their First Communion; this includes making one's first confession. During his turn in the confessional, Eric Cartman mentions some particularly egregious transgressions that he committed against Father Maxi himself while in second grade. [[note]] Eric urinated in a holy water font and allowed the unsuspecting Father Maxi to bless himself on the forehead with the contaminated holy water for a week. On a separate occasion, Eric took a slice of bologna out of a sandwich belonging to Father Maxi and put it between his butt cheeks. Then he put the bologna slice back in Father Maxi's sandwich and watched him eat it. On yet another occasion, Eric made a bowel movement on a sidewalk in the park, and let Father Maxi's dog take the blame for it; Father Maxi was fined for not cleaning it up. [[/note]] Father Maxi loses his temper and rips through the confessional partition to assault him.
** Then later Father Maxi is caught having sex (with an adult female) in the confessional.

* In a flashback in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Part 6]] of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', the then-altar boy (later Corrupt Priest) Enrico Pucci takes a woman's confession and learns that years ago she switched out her own stillborn son for another baby born the same day. The child she took was none other than Enrico's twin brother. [[BrotherSisterIncest And then later, he finds out said brother is the guy who's been dating his sister]]. It gets worse...

* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam: The Second Encounter'' ends with Sam confessing his sins to [[BigBad Mental]]

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* BBC's recent ''Casanova'' series had a hilarious scene where Casanova reels off his many sins. He starts off just confessing to wanting money so his could marry his TrueLove but he keeps [[NoodleIncident referring to many]] "adventures" until the priest has a heart attack. Yes, even that's played for laughs [[spoiler:Casanova saves his life, and the priest repays him by making him his heir. [[TearJerker It goes downhill from there...]]]]

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. In "For I Have Sinned", the VillainOfTheWeek is a religious maniac killing churchgoers who have broken their vows. He brags to his priest in the confessional that he will kill another victim, and the priest is advised that he can't do anything which will identify the confessor. The priest does try to warn the victim but she's already been attacked by that point so all he does is get himself arrested as a RedHerring, though fortunately the police have already figured out why he's involved.

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. In "For I Have Sinned", the VillainOfTheWeek is a religious maniac killing churchgoers who have broken their vows. He brags to his priest in the confessional that he will kill another victim, and the priest is advised that he can't do anything which will identify the confessor. The priest does try to warn the victim but she's already been attacked by that point so all he does is get himself arrested as a RedHerring.
** In the same episode, Nick is staking out the church for the killer, but the religious icons are too much for him and he hides in the confessional to recover. When an old woman comes in the other side and starts to confess, he starts snoring loudly; she finds this ActuallyPrettyFunny and leaves. Then Nick's partner Schanke enters and starts confessing to infidelity. Nick puts on an Irish accent and plays along to troll him until Schanke realises what's happening and angrily pulls open the door to the priest's section. Nick maintains the accent and reiterates his command for Schanke to say his Hail Marys.