Lutheran understanding[edit]

In early Lutheran practice, maintained only in the most conservative Lutheran churches today,^[12] when a Lutheran pastor offers the sacrament of Holy Absolution, he acts in persona Christi.^[1] This informs the theology behind the seal of the confessional.^[1] Because the priest "acts in Christ’s stead when he absolves a sinner (Luke 10:16; 2 Corinthians 2:10), he acts in Christ’s stead also when he hears a confession."^[1] As such, "He may therefore not reveal what Christ Himself does not reveal” (Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34)."^[1]


The current confessional Lutheran practice has however moved away from this early forms, based on Luther’s statement in his Formula Missae: “Now concerning private confession before communion, I still think as I have held heretofore, namely, that it neither is necessary nor should be demanded. Nevertheless, it is useful and should not be despised.”^[1]