A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward truth. It is an act of faith that Christians do on the outside to celebrate what God has done for them on the inside.

    Sacrament of Reconciliation

This is also known as confession. In the Roman Catholic Church people go to confession to say sorry for the wrong (sin) in their lives and to experience God’s healing through forgiveness.

Confession also permits reconciliation with the Church, which is wounded by the sins people commit.

Catholics believe that baptism removes original sin, the belief that all people are born tainted by sin. Therefore, baptism turns us back to God. Despite this, humans still commit sin. As a result, Catholics regularly confess their sins.

The act of confession is important because it allows Roman Catholics to put things right with God and to know that they have been forgiven.

Roman Catholics believe it is important to continue to confess sin (even though someone has already accepted Jesus as their Saviour) because we continue to sin and to be damaged by its on-going power.