- Title Pages
- Abbreviations
- 22 From Baptism to the Requiescat in Pace
- 23 Liturgical Worship
- 24 Sermons
- 25 The Curé's Prône and Parish Missions
- 26 Religious Practice
- 27 On the Margins of Official Religion
- 28 Confraternities
- 29 Popular Religion and Clerical Reformers
- 30 The Dark Side of the Supernatural
- 31 The Confessional
- 32 Commercial Loans and Lotteries
- 33 Sexual Passion
- 34 The Theatre
- 35 The Jansenist Quarrel
- 36 Unigenitus
- 37 The Appeal to a General Council
- 38 From the Regent to Fleury
- 39 The Changing Face of Jansenism
- 40 Fleury's Repression and the Interventions of the Parlement
- 41 The Mid‐Century Crisis
- 42 The Jesuits of France
- 43 The Fall of the Jesuits
- 44 The Huguenots: The Great Persecution
- 45 Cruelty and Compromise, 1700–1774
- 46 Lutherans and Jews: Routine Intolerance
- 47 Towards a Grudging Toleration, 1774–1789
- 48 The Twilight of Jansenism
- 49 The Political Role of the Bishops
- 50 The Revolt of the Curés
- General Index
The Confessional
The Confessional
- Chapter:
- (p.241) 31 The Confessional
- Source:
- Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century France Volume 2: The Religion of the People and the Politics of Religion
- Author(s):
John McManners
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Confession was a universal obligation for the Catholic people, but only a tiny minority from the upper classes would have a personal directeur de conscience providing moral and spiritual direction, with varying degrees of sincerity ranging from a genuine pious intensity to mere outward show. Absolution opened the door to receiving communion, and the secret of the confessional was inviolable. Confessional handbooks for priests laid down rigid rules, with the Jansenists being particularly harsh about penances, but were usually impractical if followed to the letter. The hope of the Counter‐Reformation that the confessional would generate discipline among the people and bridge the gap between belief and conduct was revealed in the eighteenth century as an illusion. Priests habitually condemned the vices of their parishioners, especially drunkenness and violent behaviour. Anti‐clericals attacked the harsh routine of the confessional, but genuine scandals were rare.
Keywords: anti‐clericalism, confession, Jansenists, Jesuits
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- Title Pages
- Abbreviations
- 22 From Baptism to the Requiescat in Pace
- 23 Liturgical Worship
- 24 Sermons
- 25 The Curé's Prône and Parish Missions
- 26 Religious Practice
- 27 On the Margins of Official Religion
- 28 Confraternities
- 29 Popular Religion and Clerical Reformers
- 30 The Dark Side of the Supernatural
- 31 The Confessional
- 32 Commercial Loans and Lotteries
- 33 Sexual Passion
- 34 The Theatre
- 35 The Jansenist Quarrel
- 36 Unigenitus
- 37 The Appeal to a General Council
- 38 From the Regent to Fleury
- 39 The Changing Face of Jansenism
- 40 Fleury's Repression and the Interventions of the Parlement
- 41 The Mid‐Century Crisis
- 42 The Jesuits of France
- 43 The Fall of the Jesuits
- 44 The Huguenots: The Great Persecution
- 45 Cruelty and Compromise, 1700–1774
- 46 Lutherans and Jews: Routine Intolerance
- 47 Towards a Grudging Toleration, 1774–1789
- 48 The Twilight of Jansenism
- 49 The Political Role of the Bishops
- 50 The Revolt of the Curés
- General Index
