Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo urges Catholics to rediscover confession, calling for regular practice three times a year as a path to divine mercy.
Newsroom (24/03/2026 Gaudium Press )On the fifth Sunday of Lent, Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo released a pastoral letter urging the faithful to rediscover the sacrament of penance and embrace it as a vital part of Christian life. In a message both pastoral and deeply theological, Hansen calls on Catholics across his diocese to reintegrate confession into their spiritual rhythm—proposing a concrete schedule: at least three times a year—during Lent, before the feast of Saint Olav in summer, and in Advent.
The Heart of the Sacraments
From the outset, Bishop Hansen emphasizes that the sacraments form the living core of the Church’s liturgical life. “The sacraments are ordered to the sanctification of men,” he writes, underscoring that through them, believers encounter grace and divine transformation. Among these, he places special weight on the sacrament of penance—confession—as the tangible channel through which God’s mercy becomes real and personal. It is, he notes, the means “by which we receive forgiveness for the offense, that is, the sin that we have committed.”
In a tone both instructional and compassionate, he draws attention to sin’s rupture within the human spirit: “Every sin wounds our relationship with God, the Church, and one another.” Yet he balances this with a reminder that divine mercy always speaks the final word: “We do not go to confession to worry about our falls, but to go out to meet the inscrutable mercy of God.”
A Concrete Call to Habit
Bishop Hansen departs from general exhortation and offers a clear pastoral plan. He proposes that every Catholic in the diocese form a “stable habit of confession,” suggesting three key moments each year when this practice can renew faith: in Lent, before the feast of Norway’s national patron Saint Olav, and in Advent. He expresses a deep pastoral concern that “the path to the confessional should be short and free of obstacles,” urging parishes and clergy to provide accessible times and welcoming environments.
At the same time, he reaffirms the Church’s long-held teaching on the Eucharist: those conscious of grave sin must refrain from receiving Holy Communion until they have first sought reconciliation through confession.
Preparing the Heart
The pastoral letter also stresses personal preparation as integral to making the sacrament fruitful. Bishop Hansen counsels believers to engage in genuine reflection before coming to confession: to withdraw “in silence and prayer to make a deep examination” of one’s life. Here, the Ten Commandments and Sacred Scripture serve as instruments of insight and repentance, guiding the faithful toward sincere conversion and a “firm purpose of amendment.”
This process, he explains, is not one of anxiety but of grace—an invitation to renewed relationship rather than rebuke. The pause of self-examination becomes, in his vision, an act of hope rather than guilt.
Overcoming Fear, Embracing Mercy
Recognizing the hesitation many feel toward confession, Bishop Hansen acknowledges the barriers of insecurity and time. “Many have not confessed in years,” he notes, a reality that both burdens and distances believers from the sacrament’s healing power. To those who hesitate, he offers reassurance: confession is not a confrontation with failure but “an encounter with God’s mercy.”
He also directs a pastoral appeal to the clergy, urging priests to open their doors more often and to welcome penitents without judgment. He envisions confessional spaces that are “more accessible, easier to request,” where the focus centers not on ritual formality but on a “living encounter with the infinite mercy of God.”
Toward Easter Renewal
Fittingly for Lent, the bishop’s call concludes with an appeal to conversion and renewal as Easter approaches. Just as the Passion gives way to Resurrection, he writes, so too does confession lead believers from sin to grace. “Christ’s victory over sin,” Hansen reminds, “is made present in the life of the believer through the sacrament of penance.”
In his pastoral voice, Bishop Hansen reframes confession not as an obligation but as a pilgrimage of mercy—an ever-returning encounter where the human heart meets divine compassion. His letter stands as both a challenge and invitation to Catholics across Norway: to rediscover the confessional not as a relic of the past, but as a doorway to Easter joy.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Infovaticana
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