Parish of St Peter and St Thomas More.

Reopening the Sacrament of Penance with COVID 19 Restrictions. 

From Saturday July 11th, between 11am and 12 midday, the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) will be available at St Peter’s Cathedral. As with the celebration of Mass, this Sacrament too has restrictions handed down from the Conference of Bishops of England and Wales, which will have some impact upon how the sacrament is celebrated. Here is a digest of such guidance. 

• Make your Confession brief. Examine your conscience before speaking your confession to a priest. 
• People making confession are asked to stand (not kneel) for the duration of the sacrament. Please use one of the holy images of The Lord on the wall of the confessional to focus your prayer. 
• Once you have confessed and made an act of contrition (the words of which now posted on the wall of the confessional near to where a person is asked to stand) the priest will then give absolution and ask you to go in peace. 
• The priest will then sanitise the door handle before the next person enters the confessional. 
• If you can pray your penance and make your thanksgiving at home it will prevent the need to sanitise the benches in church.
• Because there is no suitable space for the Sacrament of Penance at St Thomas More church it will only be available at the Cathedral. 

Fr Stephen Pearson. 

Cathedral Dean.