Confessions w/in the Catholic Church

What do you mean by "physical steps"?

There is an introductory prayer that one says, then one tells the priest what sins one has committed. The priest can then assign a penance and forgive the sins. If the sin(s) have been especially great, then other arrangements can be made, and there is no requirement that the priest grant forgiveness.
You might look at this site and try searching around for more.
http://www.catholic.org/prayers/confession.php

You might try asking a priets. If you have a good story, then he might help, and he probably would be able to provide insights that one would only gain on the inside.

The environment in which the character gives his confession will probably vary somewhat depending on the church and location. I'm sure some churches still have the traditional confessionals, where the penitent may sit or kneel on one side of a screen, and the priest is on the other side. But in more modern churches, the sacrament of reconciliation may be more casual and take place face-to-face. In my old church, you just went into a private, brightly-lit room and sat across from the priest. When you were done, if the priest assigned you some prayers to say as penance, you could kneel at a pew to say them.

Though with something like murder, I'm not sure how the priest would react.

The link King Neptune posted seems to give a good run-down of the prayers that are said.

Most churches I'm familiar with have both options - the confessional and face-to-face - and have for quite some time.

Just a note - you're meant to say the specific words at the beginning of a confession and the Act of Contrition, but if you don't know them, don't remember them, are upset, etc., the priest will help/lead you.

That site is all 'start with your worst sin...' and stuff. You can certainly be all 'I took the name of the Lord in vain three times and ...' and 'I violated the nth Commandment...' and people who go to confession weekly may tend toward that model. You can just as well talk to a priest in plain English (or whichever language), be upset, etc., though.

He may ask questions, try to guide you to speak, depends on the priest - they're very often engaged by parishoners to counsel them on various matters, so they're mostly not inexperienced with that sort of thing, inside and outside the confessional.

Most of the time I have confessed face-to-face, sitting and facing the priest (I'm a Vatican II baby, as is anyone under the age of 50). There is also the option to confess behind a screen. Older churches have three "stalls," for lack of a better word, and the priest sits in the middle. One side has an open window for face to face, and the other has a screen. The only time I've done screen, the screen was a like a thick sheer curtain where you can see shadows but nothing else. New churches have a room, where the person can either kneel behind a screen and the priest sits where he can't see who enters, or you can walk around the screen and sit in a chair. And since the sex abuse scandals, many confessionals (maybe all) have a window in the door so although you can see who's in there (and what they're doing), you can't hear what's being said.

There is the "Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been X long since my last confession" part, then you go to it. Some churches have a little "examination of conscience" card you can look at before you go in. Some of these are pretty strict, and others are not as much, depending on which church-related organization prints the cards (some organizations will have you think it's a sin to breathe other people's air or read the horoscope in the newspaper, others are much more real world). After the sins are confessed, the priests I've confessed to will usually provide some words of encouragement and hopefully to "knock that shit off." There's an element of counseling, especially if someone makes an appointment to confess in the priest's office. "Penance" is meant to be helpful rather than punitive; and most priests I've used will suggest pertinent readings rather than "100 Hail Mary's" or whatever.

Theologically, God has forgiven the sins the minute we ask, and we don't need to see a priest for God to forgive the sins. Confessing to a priest not only shows we're (hopefully) willing to change our ways, but it restores our relationship to the church even if the relationship to God has already been mended by an inward confession.

As for anything that's illegal, including murder, the priest cannot be made to testify in court and is under no obligation to report what he's heard. What he can do, however, is encourage the person to turn himself in. I'm told there are only three sins a priest cannot forgive, but a bishop can: sins against a priest, sins against the pope, and (this is just one of those Catholic things that doesn't always make sense) abortion. Murder, rape, incest, molestation, yes, but abortion, no.

As for anything that's illegal, including murder, the priest cannot be made to testify in court and is under no obligation to report what he's heard. What he can do, however, is encourage the person to turn himself in. I'm told there are only three sins a priest cannot forgive, but a bishop can: sins against a priest, sins against the pope, and (this is just one of those Catholic things that doesn't always make sense) abortion. Murder, rape, incest, molestation, yes, but abortion, no.

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The abortion thing is sort of yes, sort of no. It's not about forgiveness - but that it's Canon law that abortion = auto excommunication. Except in specific cases (which is a decent list including stuff like if you're fearful or what have you).

I *think* it used to be that the priest had to ask a bishop or above to reverse that, but now they can. Not positive on that point but I think that's how it is.

However, in many cases, in which it wouldn't qualify for excommunication, wouldn't matter and it's handled like any other sin in confession.

DancingMaenid said:

Though with something like murder, I'm not sure how the priest would react.

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I'm not either, and such a confession would be so rare that there may not be a set process. When I was involved in such things I knew that there were things for which priests would not, or could not, grant absolution, but those are mostly crimes against the church. This is something about which you might get some insight from a priest.

Going back to the basics, and the issue of "steps" by the OP, I might add the stopping at the Holy Water font upon entering the church. Something about that part of the process was always soothing to me. (Back when I participated in religious ceremony, which was a while a go and things have probably changed since then.) I think it was the scent of the water. There always seemed to be an incense-y smell to it that was calming.

Since our parish church was an old building, my experiences also involved having to wait on the pew outside the confessional for the priest to finish up. My memory may be faulty here but there seemed to be set times for confession. Regardless, whenever I went, there were always a number of people. The waiting was a squirmy time. I can imagine that in the case of confessing murder, one would be especially twitchy.

We discussed this very hypothetical in religion class in high school. What our teacher (Fr. McCaffery) said was, in the circumstance, he would very likely say, "As your penance go to the nearest police station, tell the chief homicide detective what you just told me, then answer all of their questions fully, freely, and without evasion."

citymouse said:

No matter where, or in what manner the sacrament of confession / reconciliation is conducted, the final outcome is the forgiveness of the sin of murder, which in this case is also a civil offense.
The priest may not give absolution without first instructing the penitent about the grave state his immortal soul is in. Then he must instruct the penitent's to surrender to the civil authorities. What the priest would probably do after giving his instruction is perform a 'conditional' absolution that would take place when the penitent surrenders and confesses to the murder. The reason for this is because the penitent may not surrender himself.​

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I've never heard of even the theory of conditional absolution based on something like that. That'd be like a priest saying they'd only grant forgiveness IF you confessed to the neighbour that you coveted his wife or stole his umbrella.

Yes, it's a crime - so are many sins. Yes, you have to be willing to do penance but I've never heard of a priest demanding someone turn themselves in to civil authorities before they'd grant absolution. They'll certainly encourage it, offer to help if they can, but demand it as a condition? You know some hard-line priests.

Sorry to disappoint you, but as you may know, the validity of a sacrament lies with the recipient, not the officiant.
In the case of Penance/ Reconciliation, not only is repentance necessary, but so is atonement, and where the sin is murder, three Our Fathers and three rosaries, just won't do. The priest would normally say, "For this sin,and those confessed, you are forgiven. Here is your penance. Get thee to a police station." If that doesn't happen, the recipient, him/herself revokes the absolution. As the OP said, this is about murder, not a stolen umbrella. Although, if it were about something stolen, like and umbrella, it or something of equal value must be replaced. You can't separate atonement, from the sacrament. It's far better to take this world's punishment, than that of the next.

cornflake said:

I've never heard of even the theory of conditional absolution based on something like that. That'd be like a priest saying they'd only grant forgiveness IF you confessed to the neighbour that you coveted his wife or stole his umbrella.

Yes, it's a crime - so are many sins. Yes, you have to be willing to do penance but I've never heard of a priest demanding someone turn themselves in to civil authorities before they'd grant absolution. They'll certainly encourage it, offer to help if they can, but demand it as a condition? You know some hard-line priests.

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I have never heard of a priest demanding someone turn themselves in for anything. They may certainly suggest, offer to assist, etc. Demand? Not that I've ever run into.

I can see that as betrayal - you go to confess to your priest and he refuses forgiveness unless you turn yourself in? That's so close, to me, to violating the sanctity of the confessional. It's just forcing the confessor to do it so you don't have to, like doing something horrid so your wife will file for divorce saving you from doing it, though you really want to.

This discussion is straying from the OP.

cornflake said:

I have never heard of a priest demanding someone turn themselves in for anything. They may certainly suggest, offer to assist, etc. Demand? Not that I've ever run into.

I can see that as betrayal - you go to confess to your priest and he refuses forgiveness unless you turn yourself in? That's so close, to me, to violating the sanctity of the confessional. It's just forcing the confessor to do it so you don't have to, like doing something horrid so your wife will file for divorce saving you from doing it, though you really want to.

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ElaineA said:

Going back to the basics, and the issue of "steps" by the OP, I might add the stopping at the Holy Water font upon entering the church. Something about that part of the process was always soothing to me. (Back when I participated in religious ceremony, which was a while a go and things have probably changed since then.) I think it was the scent of the water. There always seemed to be an incense-y smell to it that was calming.

Since our parish church was an old building, my experiences also involved having to wait on the pew outside the confessional for the priest to finish up. My memory may be faulty here but there seemed to be set times for confession. Regardless, whenever I went, there were always a number of people. The waiting was a squirmy time. I can imagine that in the case of confessing murder, one would be especially twitchy.

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Nope, your memory is correct to current practice. And holy water does smell different, even if it was just city tap water. I don't know why that was. But good point on the rituals of entering the church. Catholics are supposed to (or at least almost to a one, I don't know if it's a REQUIREMENT) cross themselves with holy water upon entering the church. Churches also have a set time for confessions; my most recent church, which had about 300 families, had them on Tuesdays for a couple hours in the late afternoon. That was also during our time for Eucharistic adoration, so the eucharist was on display before people confessed. People would pray and reflect before getting in line, hence the "examination of conscience" materials I mentioned earlier. If there were a lot of people, a line would form outside the confessional, or if not many you just kind of knew who was there before you and went in when nobody got up when the last person left.

There would, usually before Christmas and Easter, be what was called "communal penance," where several priests from the area would come to one church and go to separate rooms or areas of the church, and you would pick one to go to. These were usually much better attended.

If the parishioner wanted, he or she could schedule time to do the confession in the priest's office.