This autumn, a Swiss Catholic churchinstalled an AI Jesus in a confessionalto interact with visitors.
This hologram of Jesus Christ on a screen was animated by an artificial intelligence program.
Confession and repentance alwaystake place within the human communitythat is the church.
© Motortion
Human believers confess their sins to human priests or bishops.
And in the epistle of James,Christians are urged to confess their sins to one another.
Churches in the earliest centuries encouraged public confession of more serious sins, such as fornication or idolatry.
AI Jesus confessional.
Church leaders, called bishops,absolved sinnersand welcomed them back into the community.
From the third century on, the process of forgiving sins became more ritualized.
Most confessions of sins remained private one on one with a priest or bishop.
Sinners would express their sorrow in doing penance individually by prayer and fasting.
These sinners would do public penance as a group.
Some were required to stand on the steps of the church and ask for prayers.
After privately completing the penitential prayers or acts assigned by the confessor, the penitent would return for absolution.
The concept ofPurgatory also became a widespread part ofWestern Christian spirituality.
Other developments took place in the later Middle Ages.
Priests who revealed the identity of any penitent faced severe penalties.
But the Catholic Council of Trent changed this.
Later, curtains or doors were added to increase privacy and ensure confidentiality.
Rites of penance in contemporary times
In 1962, Pope John XXIIIopened the Second Vatican Council.
Its first document, issued in December 1963,set new norms for promoting and reforming Catholic liturgy.
Since 1975, Catholics havethree forms of the rite of penance and reconciliation.
Those assembled are given general absolution, and survivors confess privately afterward.
To facilitate this, some Catholic communitiesadded a reconciliation roomto their churches.
Over the following decades, the Catholic experience of penance changed.
Catholics went to confession less often, or stopped altogether.
Many confessionals remained empty or were used for storage.
Many parishesbegan to schedule confessions by appointment only.
Pope Francis himself has become concerned withreviving the sacrament of penance.
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