She could have confessed to a priest who is not allowed to speak out about confessions they hear
Confession (the Sacrament of Penance) is for Roman Catholics. Patsy wasn't Catholic. I believe she was Protestant, and I thought they were Episcopalian. While they do call their clergy "priests" (rather than minister) there is no confession in the way that you refer to. My daughter, raised a Roman Catholic, converted when she married an Episcopalian. While both are Christian faiths, there are some basic differences in the faiths, as there are with all the Protestant faiths. So now, she no longer goes to Confession, although to hear her tell it, she never does anything wrong.