confession

Confession is the act of admitting something to be true, often involving admission of guilt, sins, or secrets. It can be voluntary or compelled and may aim at personal reconciliation, social or legal resolution, or the disclosure of facts. The word comes from Latin confessio, from confiteri "to acknowledge or admit."

In many religions, confession involves admitting sins to God or to a religious authority. In Catholicism, the Sacrament of Penance (reconciliation) involves confession of sins to a priest, absolution, and penance. Other traditions emphasize private prayer, public testimony, or formal creeds, reflecting differing practices and theological emphasis on repentance and forgiveness.

In law, a confession is a statement by a suspect acknowledging guilt or admitting facts relevant to a case. To be admissible, confessions must be voluntary and not the product of coercion; many jurisdictions require warnings and the right to counsel, as established in cases such as Miranda v. Arizona. False confessions can occur and are a recognized risk of custodial interrogation, prompting safeguards and careful corroboration of admitted facts.

Confession also appears in psychology as self-disclosure intended to reduce guilt, gain social support, or improve functioning. In literature, confessional writing—often called confessional poetry—expresses intimate personal experience and emotion; notable works include Augustine's The Confessions and a broader tradition of modern confessional poets.

Overall, confession spans personal, religious, legal, and literary domains, reflecting a universal impulse toward truth-telling, accountability, and the processing of guilt or disclosure within social norms.