The sacrament of confession

This article focuses on the theology of the sacrament of confession in the Orthodox tradition, as presented through the thought of Bishop Anthony Bloom, a major pastoral figure of the twentieth century. Michel Evdokimov offers a study centered on the spiritual and sacramental vision of this theologian, examining the way in which he conceives of the penitential process. The main idea is that confession cannot be reduced to a single act, but involves a permanent interior conversion, grounded in the certainty that God welcomes without condition those who repent. On the theological level, the article highlights the anthropological dimension of the sacrament: self-discernment, the re-reading of one's actions, and the continuous movement of metanoia form the heart of an Orthodox ecclesiology of reconciliation, as formulated by Anthony Bloom.