Desire for Mercy is Pushing Catholics Back to Confession
As Lent continues, a first-of-its-kind national study finds that most Catholics who have stepped away from Confession haven’t given up on it. Among 1,500 U.S. Catholics surveyed in 2026, 67% of those who haven’t been to Confession in the past year say they are open to returning, with roughly half expressing a desire to go more often.
Findings from The Catholic Pulse Report: The Confession Study, conducted by Vinea Research Group, challenge the conventional narrative of a sacrament in irreversible decline. Distance from Confession, the research shows, is shaped more by hesitation, uncertainty…
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