Confessing sins that you might have committed

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Burning_Sapling

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Hi all,

I became Catholic (and received the Sacrament of Confirmation) at the age of 27, so I had had plenty of time to commit sins beforehand…and even to forget about some of them.

Once, I couldn’t remember whether I had committed a particular sin, but I thought I might have. My resolution to this problem was to confess, “If I committed this sin, I am sorry.” Here is my question: does such a confession count?

I guess the question might be irrelevant in my case, since I know that I did not deliberately hold back about confessing this sin. I genuinely could not remember.

Still, I am curious. If you can’t remember whether you’ve committed a sin, does it help to confess that you might have committed it?

Thank you for any help!
 
Going forward, it is a good practice to say at the conclusion of your sins
“For these and all the sins of my past life, I am sorry”.
We were taught this as children, and I have always done it. Covers all those bases.
 
One is NOT obligated to confess what one is UNSURE of having done wrong.
Imho you did the right thing by saying IF you did this your sorry.
 
Just go into Confession, explain you have chalked up 20 or so years of sin. Let the Priest guide you.
 
One is only obligated to confess mortal sins of which one is certain (and which were committed after baptism, pre-baptismal sins are not valid matter for confession), although in practice it is good for those who aren’t scrupulous to confess doubtful sins. If a doubtful sin is confessed as such, and the penitent later becomes certain of it, there is no obligation to re-confess.

Fr. Slater’s Manual of Moral Theology, p. 130-131:

 
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