Such confessions may help alleviate any guilt or regrets the dying person has, by allowing them to spend their last moments free from any secrets or sins they have been hiding for a long part of their life.
If religious, the confessor may believe that confessing will earn them forgiveness from a higher power, granting them entrance to a better place after death.
Further rationale may be that a person nearing death will not be able to face any significant punishments for the confession, such as shame or imprisonment.
Deathbed confessions can be given to anyone, with family members and medical staff particularly likely to hear them, as they are often present in a person’s last moments.
[1] In some cases, a deathbed confession may be legally admissible in a court of law despite rules on hearsay.
On the death bed, the dying will confess sins or mistakes they have made in their lifetime, and ask for forgiveness, so that they may move on to the afterlife according to their religion.
This kind of confession, known as a "dying declaration", can sometimes be admissible in court to get a conviction, depending on the circumstances of the statement.
[3] Another use for a deathbed confession in the criminal justice system is to re-open a case that may have gone cold to get closure for the victim's family or friends, even if prosecution is not an option.
Historically, it has been common for religious proponents to allege that non-believers or deists have converted to an orthodox religion upon death.
The priest, acting In persona Christi,[5] can then absolve the dying of their sins, so that they can be properly prepared for the afterlife.
These final confessions, sometimes along with the Last Rites, are often performed by a hospital priest or chaplain when a patient's quality of life suddenly declines.
According to Franz Hunolt, this is because: "Firstly: the grace of true repentance and a happy death is far too great for the sinner to expect it in his last moments.
"[8] Such a view is also put forward by St. Alphonsus Liguori who writes, "Miserable the sick man who takes to his bed in the state of mortal sin!
If someone confesses knowledge of a crime and then dies or their condition worsens, the law does not consider the statement to be hearsay and it can be used in a criminal trial.