(OSV News) -- A new poll certainly tells the Catholic Church what it wants to hear: That 67% of Catholics who haven't been to confession in the past year are open to returning, with roughly half expressing a clear desire to return.
The Vinea Research Group -- a Catholic nonprofit research initiative -- released the results in March through its "Catholic Pulse Report," a national research platform developed to provide quarterly insights into Catholic life.
Other key findings included that mercy is a motivating factor, which 83% of Catholics seeking confession cite as a primary reason for going; 75% of those who haven't been in the past year say mercy is the reason they would return, making it the strongest response in both groups.
Among those who go to confession, approximately two-thirds report a clear sense of forgiveness, reassurance of God's mercy, and interior peace. Catholics who attend Mass at least monthly score above national benchmarks on human flourishing, with those who go to confession regularly reporting the highest levels -- particularly in meaning, peace and overall well-being.
The most common barrier is the belief that forgiveness can be sought directly from God without confession (63% overall; 73% among those who have not been in the past year). Discomfort is also a factor; among those who haven't been to confession in over a year, 50% report embarrassment about their sins, while 53% find the sacrament generally awkward.
Of those who go infrequently, 43% say they would go more often if they heard struggling with the same sins is normal, and an equal percentage desire a greater emphasis on mercy over judgment.
The paradox that stalks the polling industry is the question of response bias: Is this really what people think, or are people just saying what they think the pollster wants to hear?
Father Josh Johnson -- pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a house director in the Office of Vocations and Seminarians in the Diocese of Baton Rouge -- thinks the Church is witnessing a confession revival of sorts.
"It seems to me that this is a work of God because we've also experienced a lot of confessions here at my parish," said the priest, who is also co-author of "Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation" (Ascension Press).
And why are people returning?
"When I ask why they came back, especially people who've been away for a long time, most of them say, 'I just felt called,'" Father Johnson told OSV News. "There's not been one thing that they can point to -- a retreat or talk; a conference or book; a sermon or homily. It's been, 'I just felt called.'"
Father Johnson says he's convinced it's the fruit of the National Eucharistic Congress, held July 17-21, 2024, in Indianapolis, as the culmination of a three-year revival to renew belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
"I knew it was going to like have a ripple effect across our nation, and so I think the increase in Eucharistic adoration has just pierced a lot of hearts," he suggested, "and has drawn a lot of people back to the fullness of what the Lord desires for his people, particularly receiving his mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation."
Tim Glemkowski -- executive director of the ministry Amazing Parish, which exists to unburden pastors and transform parishes -- reinforced the reason for confession.
The Vinea study, he said, "really is highlighting mercy -- the idea that the sacrament of confession is not just ... sort of this archaic place to have our Catholic guilt relieved. It's actually a place where we come face-to-face with an encounter with Jesus, who offers us his mercy."
"This is how the priest says, 'I absolve you of your sins,' right?" said Glemkowski, who before taking his current position was CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress organization. "Standing 'in persona Christi' ('in the person of Christ'). That whole message -- that whole catechesis -- I think we'd be shocked by how many Catholics, even regularly engaged in the life of the Church, haven't really had that light bulb turned on for them."
Glemkowski said he believes there are two significant issues at play: education about the sacrament and the priest schedules.
"We don't really invite people to it (confession) well, or explain how to do it so that they feel comfortable with it," he said.
Glemkowski said putting confession times in the bulletin "works for very well-evangelized, very well-catechized Catholics." But he cautioned that form of communication is not going to reach everyone.
"Many Catholics have not had the grace of having that kind of formation. They struggle to understand what it is -- why they should do it; prioritize it; make time for it."
But the Vinea data may not really be sufficient to inform the Church about what needs to happen for a confession revolution.
"So 67% of people say, 'Oh yeah, I'd be open to do that; doing confession again.' Well, what does that tell me exactly?" James O'Toole, professor emeritus of history at Boston College and author of "For I Have Sinned: The Rise and Fall of Catholic Confession in America" (Harvard University Press) told OSV News. "I'm not sure what, if anything. People are open to lots of things that they don't in fact do."
Vinea's is not the first study to focus on confession.
A mid-1980s University of Notre Dame study revealed the number of Catholics going to confession at least once per month was only 6%; the same study found 26% of "active" Catholics no longer went to confession.
In 2005 and again in 2008, Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate -- a national research center conducting social scientific studies about the Catholic Church -- found three quarters of Catholics never participate in the sacrament of reconciliation, or do so less than once a year.
A 2025 Pew Research Center study noted only 23% of Catholics say they go to confession at least once a year.
These numbers point to the fact of Catholics' overall absence from this sacrament -- but more data is needed to get into exactly the factors, which may vary for different groups, that explain why. On economics alone, Pew Research data shows a wide difference in the Church as 36% of Catholic households make under $50,000, while 31% make over $100,000. Lower income Catholics who work multiple jobs and frequently on the weekends to meet basic necessities may factor into the reason a Saturday afternoon confession time is sparsely attended, just as much as higher income Catholics who may have the time on a Saturday, but don't make the sacrament a priority.
O'Toole cautioned against taking "solace" from seeing openness in Vinea's numbers and assuming that more catechesis about the sacrament of reconciliation is going to solve why people can't go.
"If there's one failing of the Church on this question over the decades, I think it's the response that seems to be, 'We'll just tell people again how important confession is, and how good it can be for them,'" O'Toole reflected. "'They haven't been doing it; it's outside of their regular religious practice -- but that's because they don't understand. If we just tell them again -- maybe better this time, than we did before -- that will bring them back.'"
"That," O'Toole emphasized, "seems to me to have a very low chance of success -- and the practice of the last several decades would seem to confirm it."
Even in the absence of more data, there are identifiable steps -- beyond formation -- that pastors who are close to their flocks can take to expand access to the sacrament mindful of their different demographics and needs.
Glemkowski said he is convinced that "if you talk to a lot of priests, they would hear as many confessions as they could -- if their schedules allowed for it. So in some ways, the question is, how can we free up priests?"
Father Johnson suggested one place to start is deciding how to allot the pastor's often scarce time.
"We priests, we're the only ones who can offer the sacraments. When it comes to ministries, anybody can do the Bible study. Anybody can facilitate a retreat. Anybody can work in the food pantry. I think we should do all those things," he emphasized, "but I think we ought to always prioritize, above everything else, the sacraments."
Father Johnson's own parish offers confession at various times throughout the week to accommodate different schedules.
"I think when people realize they have options, they're more likely to come. Sometimes what keeps people away is the practical thing of it's not available," he said. "And if we make it more available, people will begin to come."
"If you add confession times, I guarantee you," Father Johnson said, "people are going to start coming."
