frjosh on Nostr: In the early days of Christianity, we actually did; Mass would not start ca. 1st ...

In the early days of Christianity, we actually did; Mass would not start ca. 1st Century without the entirety of the community confessing sins; the priest would offer absolution, and on the Mass went.

Obvious problem with that: Molly might hold a grudge against Mary for emptying her slop bucket on her stoop. Community resentment ran pretty high, as you can imagine. So the Irish engineered a private penitential system, one at a time, with a priest (who represents the community). The priest in turn then went to another priest in the community for confession, and this is the system we have today.