From what I know Catholics go to confession. Do you actually repent from those sins and turn away from doing them again? If yes, good (in my eyes). Or do you just say a few Hail Mary's or Our Fathers as I've heard you do as "penance," and then repeat the same sin?
A Calvinist would have an assurance of salvation, no matter how much they do the same sin. An Arminian would say they could lose their salvation if they didn't confess and repent.
Which best describes Catholics?
I only go to confession when I really feel guilty about something I have done. We're supposed to go at least once a year. I don't. Part of the confession rite is that you tell the priest the last time you came to confession (which then includes the bit about not having come timely into the confession).
Confession, for me, has always been stressful and tearful. These are the things I am most embarrassed and disgusted by, the things that are the deep, ugly truths that nobody sees. They are the places where, were they thrown open to the world, people would rightly hate me or, the world being what it is, maybe they wouldn't, but they ought to. Lies, deceit, sexual immorality, all of the evil that I have done.
If I could turn back time, I would undo these things. But I can't. And they burden me. So finally I go to God and I admit the wrong and I ask for forgiveness.
The priest will talk about these things, and give what he thinks are words of encouragement or assistance. Sometimes they are really helpful. Other times they're not really, but I'm there to lay it all out in a structured manner before God, and the priest is experienced in drawing out not just the sins, but also their effects, and causes, and what drives them.
Then he pronounces the absolution. God forgives the sins, but it is good to hear it said aloud, with authority, by a priest. But also that means that that is done - it is past. I must not continue to dwell upon the past sin and pretend that it is still burdening me, as though I were the worst sinner who ever lived. That's pride and pretension. God has forgiven you, now YOU must also forgive you and stop dwelling on it. Your sins are not a bigger deal than they are. You are forgiven. Don't think you're so special that your sins are unforgiveable, and don't pretend that you are so special that your blemishes are especially bad and they make you, in particular, unforgivable. That is actually the sin of pride, vaunting yourself, even in your evil - you're not just a simple sinner, like everybody else, you're a VIRTUOUSO of sin, SO MUCH WORSE. No, really, you're not special in that regard. You're a garden variety sinner. You're not Dr. Mengele. You're forgiven - let it go.
Confession is cathartic, but it's also unpleasant. Who wants to reveal his inner darkness. One does not want to have to do it, and the fact that one feels compelled to itself acts as a brake on repeating those same acts. You've been forgiven, and that is reassuring, but what you did was still crappy, and you had to go tell somebody too - your desire not to get dirty like that again is strong (you know, that feeling of sin on you, how you feel unclean and you can't wash it off? Well, confession DOES wash that off and you don't feel it any more. When God touches you it cleanses you. Are you really going to do that again.)
For the most part I haven't repeated most of my sins again. And the ones I have not been able to stop - like a dog returning to its vomit - I admit have a grip on me that are an addiction, and I want to be free of them, but the demons come back.
Confession is a passionate time. You feel God in there. Most Catholics confess very little, but should do it.
The penances I've been given have mostly involved lingering in the sanctuary to pray over what we discussed, and to be thankful for forgiveness, and to pray to be healed and made whole and released from whatever grip sin has.
The only repetitive thing I've been given to do has been to say a prayer in the evening reminding me of my forgiveness and reminding me to be strong.
I would say that, of all of the Catholic sacraments, the most profoundly moving, terrifying and powerful is Confession. You feel God moving in you. You feel the dirt coming off. And you fully intend, by the time that is done, to never get dirty like that again. Mostly that sticks, except for the addictions, where your freewill is tainted by other forces. Then it is harder.