If a married person commits adultery, and confesses it to a Priest, can that sin be forgiven? I know it’s one of the 10 Commandments but have always been curious about this?
Yes, it can be forgiven, provided the person is really sorry and repents, and has a firm purpose of amending his life and actions. Same for any mortal sin.
All sins can be forgiven (except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, accordin got Scripture).
If the person who comitted adultery is truly sorry for the sin, repents, confesses, and receives the Sacrament of Penance, he/she is forgiven.
I believe any sin can be forgiven as long as the person acknowledges the wrong-doing and understands the consequences and severity of the sin that was committed. If the person is also genuinely remorseful, repentant, and makes ammends, then they will be forgiven.
^
or at least thats what they taught us in CCD and Sunday School.
What if she has committed adultery but the husband is unaware, is it still forgivable? or does she need to tell her husband?
IMO, assuming she wants to remain committed to the marriage, the worst thing that could be done is for her to tell her husband.
If she is repentant and committed to never letting it happen again, she should work it out with her priest and carry knowledge of it to the grave by herself. Telling her husband at this point is going to make it much harder to keep the marriage alive.
BTW, “committed to never letting it happen again” means cutting off all contact with the person she cheated with. Also, never letting herself get into a similar situation again where the temptation can be acted on with someone else.
For the forgiveness of the sin, what matters is repentance and absolution, which is between her, the priest, and God.
Whether she should tell her husband or not is a separate matter.
That would be a question to ask her Priest…whether that would be part of an act of penance. I don’t actually know, though, so don’t take my word for it. It seems like the sin is still forgiven, but this is likely to cause a great deal of distress on the marriage (not telling the husband).
My understanding is that, because husband and wife are 1 flesh, 1 being, that the adultery affects the spouse. Because they are 1 flesh, the wife should tell the husband. This is also important because there is something going on in the marriage that has led to the wife committing adultery. She didn’t just wake up one day within a happy and wonderful marraige and decide “I’m going to commit adultery today.” Something led to that and it needs to be addressed, otherwise there is still potential for future problem/adultery.
This would be the spot at which the couple must now come to terms with what has happened, put it behind them, and focus on what caused or led up to the adultery. This is where marriage gains its strength…in facing the tough issues and working through them…trusting in God all the while…
ALL sin can be forgiven.
But as posted above, it must be confessed and contritely repented.
As for if one spouse must tell the other, that can be a condition of penance - the priest may ask the person to confide in the other spouse. It may also be that the priest suggests counseling and a follow up visit.
Yes, even murder can be forgiven…
[BIBLEDRB]1 John 1:9[/BIBLEDRB]
God bless :byzsoc:
David
Any sin can be forgiven, if Confessed properly and repented. There are no exceptions. One type sin Not forgiven is Living In Sin, and not willing to stop, Until the Sin is Stopped. Great example is Singles living together, as if Married, until the Living together stops. Living Together has been found one of the Most Destructive, to Finding True Love, Marriage.
Continueing to Live in Sin can not be forgiven , until that Sin condition stops. That is what Our Lord said in “Forgiven, Or Retained”.
Whether or not it would do her husband harm to tell him or do him harm not to tell him is something the penitent would discuss with her confessor. Contrition requires that we not only be willing to turn from the sin entirely, but that we be willing to do what can be done to make amends. That doesn’t automatically mean that telling the spouse is the right thing to do. Sometimes that only makes the offending spouse feel better, while it devastates the innocent party.
What the penititent ought to do will be decided based on what is best for the innocent spouse and the marriage, though, and not what is easiest for the penitent. Having said that, let’s face it: what will do the penitent the most good is to turn from the sin. There are priests, however, who will sometimes counsel the offending spouse that she ought not unburden the truth about her offense onto her innocent spouse, but should do the work of bearing that burden herself, sparing the innocent party that pain. Other priests and other situations will lead to other conclusions.
If you are the offending spouse in this position, renounce this sin, turn from it, and get thee to confession. If you know someone in that positions, counsel them to get to confession without delay. This situation will not clear up on its own. It needs a spiritual physician.
If you are the innocent spouse and you suspect you are in this position, it would be well for you to talk to a priest, as well. You have to decide how to handle your suspicion and the possibility that you have suffered this wrong in light of how to please God. Again, that doesn’t have an automatic answer. Wringing the truth out of your spouse won’t automatically fix anything, any more than repenting will automatically fix things for the offender. Just like a trauma patient taken to a surgeon, addressing wounds to a marriage takes skill, and the prognosis will be better if the wound is handled with skill. The bleeding has to be stopped, the wound has to be repaired, but there are better and worse ways to go about that.
A priest can encourage a penitent to reveal a sin to a third party. However, a priest can’t force a penitent reveal a sin by making it a condition of forgiveness or assigning its revelation as penance.
Correct. He might even discourage the pentitent from taking the intiative to reveal the truth to her spouse, depending on the circumstances. (I can’t imagine a priest would ever tell someone who admitted adultery that he or she had permission to lie.)
Forgiven yes, forgotten is another issue.
I didn’t say a person could be forced to do anything or that a priest would attempt to force anything . . . just that the priest might ask that the person fess yo to the innocent spouse . . . . or not depending on the people and the specifics of the situation.