…who do priests confess their sins to? Each other?
Yes.
Yes. Even the Pope confesses to another priest.
I confess that I reported this thread for a forum change.
Was it good for your soul?
It could also use a title change.
You’re visiting a small town that only has two priests. One of them looks like a saint. He’s handsome and cheerful and always has a kind word for everyone. The other one looks sinister. He’s ugly and gruff and seems very unhappy.
Which priest should you confess to?
The one with the bad haircut?
The one with the biggest tits.
Oh wait, that’s the joke about the secretary…
Thread moved from Great Debates.
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As noted, priests and bishops confess to other priests. There is no hierarchy in terms of who would (or may) hear a confession. A pope could confess to a priest who had been ordained that morning.
As a side note, my step cousin is studying to be a priest. At they seminary they’re careful that the person the students confess to isn’t responsible for grading them, assigning them to a parish when they’re finished, etc.
In practice, a priest will usually find one other priest with whom he’s established a comfortable relationship, and then mostly confess to him.
Yes, they usually avoid confessing to someone who is an immediate supervisor to avoid situations where an errant priest might purposefully confess to a supervisor about an ongoing.. difficulty.. and that confession keeps the supervisor from acting on it, even if he finds out from other means.
Priests usually seek out a priest in some other parish or diocese or monastery as a spiritual adviser and confessor.
(my bolding) I don’t think that’s true. Yes, the secrecy of confession is absolutely inviolable in the catholic church, but that doesn’t preclude the priest from passing on or acting on information he obtains by other means. Otherwise you could have the odd case where a priest witnesses a murder, then hears the murderers confession, and becomes barred from testifying as to what he saw. Or more humorously, in a catholic school a student could get caught by a priest doing something stupid like defacing lockers, and slam a fast “BlessmefatherforIhavesinnedit’sbeen3weekssincemylastconfessionIdefacedsomelockersinschool” and the priest would have to let him go.
I wonder what sins he could commit.
He’s a person, not a living saint. Presumably a pope might have lustful thoughts, be envious, etc.
That’s what I was going to say- that was one of my favorite brain teasers when I was a kid.
Nitpick time.
Canon law provides that the Pope and all cardinals have the faculty to hear the confessions of Christ’s faithful everywhere. Bishops also have this faculty, but in their case the local Ordinary may specifically deny this faculty to visiting bishops.
The parish priest or his administrator have the faculty by virtue of his office to hear confessions within his parish.
All other priests in the diocese, whether incardinated or in residence, need permission of the Ordinary in order to hear confessions. (Such permission is routinely given, of course.) Such permission must be given in writing. Members of religious societies may not exercise this granted faculty with out at least presumed permission from their own Superior.
If the priest is resident in one diocese but incardinated in another, the Bishop must first (as far as possible) consult the priest’s own Ordinary before granting the faculty to hear confessions.
A priest’s appointment as chaplain for a community allows him to lawfully hear confession from any of that community.
The Superiors of religious institutes or of societies of apostolic life, if they are clerical and of pontifical right, have the faculty to hear the confessions of their own subjects.
I would think that also the confession would have to be within the parameters of the traditional rite, or at least ‘consented to’ by the priest, to be inviolate. Is there canon law or something regarding this too, or about the proper procedure for confession and absolution?
I know that it isn’t always done in those special little rooms, especially in the cases of deathbed confession. What’s the straight dope? 
I was actually unaware that cardinals had any such dispensation.
For the rest, I was just addressing the potential question of hierarchy without even considering jurisdiction. In general, a priest (or bishop) always requires the permission/authorization from the local ordinary (bishop) to celebrate several of the sacraments within that bishop’s diocese. Such permission is generally granted pro forma to priests travelling outside their “home” diocese, but the permission must still be sought and granted and, if not granted, the priest (or bishop) must refrain from engaging in that celebration.