Reason 16

16. Because the New Mass does away with the Confiteor of the priest, makes it collective with the people, thus promoting Luther’s refusal to accept the Catholic teaching that the priest is judge, witness and intercessor with God.


The first question that must be addressed here is exactly how non-communal the Confiteor is in the traditional Mass. While it is true the priest himself alone recites it, the people would generally pray along side using their missals, as they did for most of the prayers. Further, the New Mass does not quiet do “away with” the Confiteor of the priest, rather it combines the two Confiteors together, though what the people recite more closely resembles the Confiteor of the priest.

The primary difference between the two Confiteors (besides their location within the Liturgy) is that the priest’s Confiteor includes the phrase “et vobis/vos, fratres” (“and you [pl] brethren”) where the other has “et tibi/te, pater” (“and you [sing] father”) when confessing and asking for prayer. Thus the priest ask for the prayers of the people, while the people (in the voice of the server) asks for the prayers of the priest.

At its core there is no theological problem with the people praying what was originally the priest’s Confiteor. They are within their theological right to ask each other for prayer. What is not communicated by this is any unique position of the priest as intercessor for the people. That is, this prayer structure does not make clear that the priest has, particularly in the Mass, a unique position in the economy of salvation.

I find it particularly unlikely that this change was made in attempt to pursue a Lutheran theology. More likely, it was oriented around the idea of ‘simplifying’ the Mass. If something is said twice, why not say it once instead? In addition, the Confiteor is no longer required as such, though a penitential rite still is. This broader penitential rite is the primary reason behind this change, not any attempt to supplant Catholic theology with Lutheran.