Liam Neeson's X-rated confession to priest left him 'never returning' to church

Liam Neeson opened up about an embarrassing encounter which led to him ditching the confessional.

The Taken star revealed the secret during an interview on the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend.

During the interview, Neeson shared a rather racy detail of an encounter in the confessional box.

Now, for context, for those who are not Catholic, when you go into confession that's supposed to be between you and the priest.

You tell the priest all the sins that you've done, they absolve you of them and send you on your way squeaky clean of sin.

The inviolability of the confession is a big deal in catholicism, so much that there has even been debate around whether a priest should inform the authorities if someone confesses a crime.

This is rather important due to how Neeson said the priest reacted when he made his confession.

So what exactly happened that put the future movie star off confession so much?

Liam Neeson revealed the priest did not have a good reaction to the confession. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Well, he made an x-rated confession about his masturbation habits.

Of course, touching oneself is frowned upon in catholicism, so needless to say this went down with the priest about as well as you might expect.

Speaking on the podcast, Neeson said: "So we start and I had learned how to pleasure myself at home, onto the sheets, right?"

He then went in for confession, and in the spirit of the encounter told the priest.

"I had looked up the appropriate word," Neeson said. "I remember that: 'Masturbate? Masturbation? Ok, that seems harmless enough. I'll say that.

"[I told him]: 'I got in an argument with my mom, my sister and I got in a fight, and I masturbated.'"

You might think that a confessional might warrant speaking in a hushed tone, but the priest did not speak quietly.

The priest was not impressed by the confession (stock image). (MEDITERRANEAN / Getty)

Neeson recounted how the priest had thundered: "You what?! The grass will grow over the palm of your hand before you're 21! Stop that evil practice!"

What an image, having grass growing over the palm of your hand!

Not only that but the priest was speaking loudly enough that 'old women just outside the confessional' could hear what was going on.

So much for the sacrosanct confession.

The young Neeson was left mortified by the experience after everyone heard and immediately clocked what he had been up to.

He said: "That was the last time I ever went."

Given the unfortunate reaction from the priest, that's perhaps not surprising!

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