Book Review - The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession - By John Cornwell

I had this book recommended by a friend of mine.  It is essentially a history of the sacrament of reconciliation (referred to commonly by the Catholic faithful as "confession.)  It was a very interesting book with a lot of history on the sacrament.  I did not always agree with the conclusions of the author, but overall, I would say that I did agree with some of the main conclusions, namely that confession can have a negative influence or a positive influence in someone's life, depending upon how that person and the priest approaches it.  As a priest, and as a person who goes to confession, I have seen both the negatives and the positives.  It gives the history of the sacrament throughout the ages, beginning with the way sins were confessed publicly in the Early Church, to the way that the monasteries and the Irish monks in particular popularized what we know as the private individual sacrament of confession.  In the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, communal confession service had been tried and then rejected by Church leaders, but embraced by a lot of the lay people and priests.  As a priest who hears confession on a weekly basis, this book and the themes it brought out really hit home to me.  I am glad that I read it.