Justification by grace alone was the ground-breaking point of departure of Luther’s new theology. He arrived at it not only through scholarly speculation, but also driven by his profound anxiety over the means of salvation offered within the framework of traditional western Christianity which he increasingly considered to be insufficient and illusory. Following through with his new discovery and unpicking sacramental theology led him eventually and logically to demolishing the edifice of the old Church hierarchy, in which, through the »power of the keys«, papal authority and individual salvation were bound together through the penitential cycle, and at its heart, sacramental confession. While Lutheranism maintained confession as a means of unburdening the soul, but not as a sacrament, the Roman Church strove to maintain and strengthen both – sacramental confession and papal authority, despite (or because?) of its patent failure to define either in a clear-cut fashion at the Council of Trent. The fact that the »confessional« and the Holy See are still the most recognized and tangible symbols of Catholic confessional identity arguably speaks to the success with which both institutions were re-invented not necessarily by, but in the aftermath of the Council. While it is undeniable that the sacrament was and is used for disciplining purposes, the »Whig«-interpretation that it was the sign of Catholic moral »enslavement« no longer holds up. My project will focus on the transformation of the understanding of confession, historiographically as well as historically, and to explore how the sacrament was used flexibly across the globe as a tool to expand and consolidate Catholic reform. Based on the analysis of confession manuals and adjoined material, I hope to show that confession was not only a means of top-down disciplining, but that it was also embedded in a process of devotional learning that shaped Catholic confessional identity and through which clergy and laity constructed a sense of »self«. (Nicole Reinhardt)