EWTN News (March 25, 2026) reports on “The Catholic Pulse Report: The Confession Study” by the Vinea Research Group, which surveyed 1,500 U.S. Catholics who attend Mass “at least occasionally.” The study finds that 67% of those who have not gone to confession in the past year are open to returning, with 75% citing God’s mercy as the primary draw. Only 20% attend confession regularly (four or more times yearly). The most common reason for avoiding confession is the belief that it is not necessary for forgiveness (63% overall, 73% among infrequent attendees). Other barriers include embarrassment (50%) and discomfort (53%). The report highlights positive correlations between regular Mass attendance, confession, and “human flourishing” metrics like meaning and peace. It promotes initiatives like “The Light Is On For You” and emphasizes the sacrament’s role in providing “knowledge of forgiveness” and “interior healing.” The article frames these findings as an “opportunity for renewal” within the post-conciliar church structure.
The article dangerously assumes the legitimacy of a sacramental system administered by a hierarchy in manifest heresy, ignoring the *sede vacante* and the automatic loss of ecclesiastical office by heretical prelates. This leads souls to trust in an invalid sacrament, diverting them from the uncompromising truth of Catholic doctrine on the necessity of confession and the absolute primacy of God’s justice alongside His mercy.
The Sacramental Illusion: No Jurisdiction, No Sacrament
The entire premise of the article—that confession is being offered and received within a legitimate Catholic framework—is fundamentally false. For any sacrament to be valid, the minister must possess **jurisdiction** (the right to act in the name of Christ) and **intention** to do what the Church does. The post-conciliar hierarchy, from the antipope “Leo XIV” down to the “bishops” and “priests,” are not in communion with the Catholic Church but with the conciliar sect, which has embraced Modernism, the “synthesis of all heresies” (St. Pius X, *Pascendi Dominici gregis*). As St. Robert Bellarmine definitively taught, a **manifest heretic** *ipso facto* loses all ecclesiastical office and jurisdiction: “A Pope who is a manifest heretic, by that very fact ceases to be Pope and head… he may be judged and punished by the Church” (*De Romano Pontifice*, Bk. II, Ch. 30). This is not a disciplinary penalty but a divine law consequence: “A manifest heretic is not a Christian… therefore, a manifest heretic cannot be Pope” (Bellarmine). The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 188.4) confirms that any cleric who “publicly defects from the Catholic faith” automatically loses his office. The “popes” since John XXIII have consistently promulgated doctrines condemned by the Church (e.g., religious liberty, ecumenism, Collegiality), thereby defecting from the faith. Consequently, the “priests” they ordain and the “bishops” they consecrate lack all jurisdiction. The “confession” they administer is a **null and invalid pseudo-sacrament**, a sacrilegious simulation that cannot forgive sins or impart sanctifying grace. The article’s entire discussion of “returning to confession” is thus a diabolical deception, directing souls toward a **spiritual dead end**.
Naturalistic “Mercy” vs. Catholic Doctrine of Judgment
The study’s finding that “mercy” is the primary draw for both regular and lapsed attendees is presented as a positive, yet it reveals a catastrophic **naturalistic and sentimental reduction** of the sacrament. The article quotes Hans Plate: “It’s not a feeling. It’s the knowledge first, not the feeling first.” This attempt to distinguish “knowledge” from “feeling” still operates within a psychological framework (“human flourishing,” “interior healing,” “renewed vigor”) that utterly omits the **supernatural reality** of the sacrament: the remission of sin, the restoration of sanctifying grace, and reconciliation with the **visible Church** (which, in this context, is the true Catholic Church, not the conciliar sect). The *Catechism of the Catholic Church* cited in the article is itself a modernist document that dilutes doctrine; the true teaching is found in the Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent: “If any one deny that the sacraments of the New Law are necessary for salvation… let him be anathema” (Canon 4 on Sacraments, Session VII). Confession is not an optional “opportunity for renewal” but an **obligation** for any Catholic in mortal sin. More gravely, the article’s emphasis on “mercy” without a co-equal emphasis on **God’s justice and judgment** contradicts the integral Catholic faith. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical *Quas Primas* on Christ the King, explicitly taught that Christ’s reign includes **judicial authority**: “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Christ’s kingship demands that all human laws and societies be ordered to His law, which includes the clear distinction between mortal and venial sin and the necessity of sacramental confession for the former. To isolate “mercy” from this juridical context is to promote a **false, sentimental religion** that denies the reality of sin and hell—a hallmark of Modernism, condemned by St. Pius X: “The dogmas of faith should be understood according to their practical function, i.e., as binding in action, rather than as principles of belief” (Proposition 26, *Lamentabili sane exitu*). The article’s focus on “comfort” and “uncomfortable” feelings further exposes its **subjectivist, human-centered** mentality, foreign to the Catholic doctrine that the sacrament is an **objective act** of the Church, administered *ex opere operato* (by the very fact of the action performed), regardless of the penitent’s feelings.
The Sede Vacante: The Unmentionable Crisis
The most glaring omission—the **elephant in the room**—is the complete silence on the *sede vacante*. Since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, the See of Rome has been vacant because the post-conciliar “popes” are manifest heretics and thus **cannot validly occupy the papacy**. This is not a “traditionalist” opinion but a theological necessity derived from the Church’s own laws and the teachings of her greatest doctors. The article treats “Pope Leo XIV” and the “USCCB” as legitimate authorities, thereby **endorsing the conciliar apostasy**. This silence is not neutral; it is **complicity**. It leads readers to believe they can “return to confession” within the very structures that have destroyed the Church’s integrity. Pius IX’s *Syllabus of Errors* condemns the error that “the Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free… but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church” (Error 19). By accepting the secularized, democratized “church” of the post-conciliar era, the article implicitly accepts this condemned error. The true Catholic Church, as Pius XI taught in *Quas Primas*, is a **perfect society** established by Christ, with inherent rights that no civil power can grant or revoke. The conciliar sect, by subordinating itself to the “civil power” in matters of doctrine and practice (e.g., accepting religious liberty, ecumenism), has forfeited all claim to be that Church. The article’s failure to recognize this is a **mortal sin of omission**, hiding the faithful from the truth that the **sacraments of the conciliar sect are invalid** due to lack of jurisdiction.
Modernist Hermeneutics in the “Renewal” Narrative
The article’s language is saturated with the **hermeneutics of continuity** and **evolutionary terminology** that characterize Modernism. Phrases like “opportunity for renewal,” “helping them more fully understand the meaning and power of the sacrament,” and “deeply encouraging” reflect a **immanentist, progressivist worldview**. This is the very error condemned by St. Pius X: “Truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him” (Proposition 58, *Lamentabili*). The article treats the sacrament as a **human institution** whose “meaning” can be “more fully” understood over time, rather than an **unchanging divine institution** whose essence is fixed by Christ and defined by the Church. The study’s methodology—surveying “Catholics” based on Mass attendance “at least occasionally”—presupposes a **sociological, not theological, definition** of Catholic identity. This is the error of **indifferentism** condemned by Pius IX: “Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true” (Syllabus, Error 15). By treating all who attend Mass in the conciliar structures as “Catholics” without inquiring into their doctrinal adherence, the article **relativizes the necessity of Catholic unity**. The initiative “The Light Is On For You” is presented as a pastoral success, yet it operates within the **abomination of desolation** (Matt. 24:15)—the false church occupying the Vatican. Such initiatives, devoid of true doctrine and sacramental validity, are **snares** that give the illusion of Catholic practice while leading souls away from the **uncompromised faith**.
The Only Remedy: Return to Integral Catholic Doctrine
The only response to this crisis is a **total rejection** of the conciliar sect and all its pseudo-sacraments. Catholics must recognize that the **hierarchy is vacant** and that the sacraments are valid only when administered by priests in **continuity with the pre-1958 Church**—namely, those ordained by bishops who maintained Catholic faith (sedevacantist or independent). The article’s call to “renewal” within the existing structure is a **diabolical diversion**. True renewal requires:
1. **Acknowledgment of the *sede vacante***: The papacy has been vacant since 1958 because the occupants have been manifest heretics (cf. Bellarmine, Canon 188.4).
2. **Abandonment of the conciliar “sacraments”**: Confession, Mass, etc., administered by post-conciliar clergy are invalid due to lack of jurisdiction. Seeking them is **sacrilege**.
3. **Return to the unchanging faith**: The doctrine of confession as **necessary for forgiveness of mortal sin** (Council of Trent, Session XIV, Canon 1) must be proclaimed without dilution. The sacrament’s purpose is not “human flourishing” but **reconciliation with God** and **remission of eternal punishment**.
4. **Emphasis on God’s justice and judgment**: Alongside mercy, the faithful must be taught the **reality of hell** and the **obligation to avoid mortal sin**. As Pius XI taught in *Quas Primas*, Christ’s kingship requires that all states and individuals order their lives to His law, which includes the **Ten Commandments** and the **Church’s moral teachings**.
The article’s optimism is a **spiritual poison**. It comforts the lukewarm while ignoring the **apostasy** that has consumed the institutional church. The “mercy” it preaches, severed from doctrinal truth and sacramental validity, is a **false mercy** that sends souls to perdition. The only path to salvation is **extra Ecclesiam catholicam nulla salus**—outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation. The conciliar sect is not the Catholic Church. Therefore, its sacraments are **null**, its “mercy” is **deception**, and its “renewal” is **apostasy**. Catholics must flee this **abomination** and seek the true faith, wherever it is found in the remnant of bishops and priests who have never compromised with Modernism.
Source:
Study finds nearly 70% of Catholics who have not gone to confession in the past year want to go (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 25.03.2026