Confession and Possibly causing the PRIEST to sin?

[KelseyBelsey]

What if you have to confess a sin that could possibly also cause the priest to sin? Like, he may think about the sin and it would cause him to sin too??? Eh…is it possible? What should I do?

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

Just confess it. You don’t need to go into detail. Priests are professionals in these matters, and have studied Moral Theology in the seminary. It gets to the point where these things become routine. While I’m not a priest, I worked in Corrections and had to work with offenders, including sex offenders. Nothing really phases me anymore. They would tell me what they did, I would make a note of the general offense, for case management purposes to ensure I’m not letting them live with/near children, etc, but whenever I would see them or anything I would never think of the offense.

 

[R_C]

What if you have to confess a sin that could possibly also cause the priest to sin? Like, he may think about the sin and it would cause him to sin too??? Eh…is it possible? What should I do?

This is truly kind of you, but remember that first of all the priest has received the presbyterate degree of the Sacrament of the Holy Orders:

Through that sacrament priests by the anointing of the Holy Spirit are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head

The Holy Orders give a special grace of the Holy Spirit, an indelible spiritual character. Furthermore, when he is in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he truly acts in persona Christi, that is, through His minister, Jesus Christ Himself is listening to you, giving His minister light to advice you, and absolving you.

In short: when you confess, you are addressing Christ, not the priest.

---

St. Francis of Assisi used to say, “If I saw an Angel and a priest, I would bend my knee first to the priest and then to the Angel.”

 

[KelseyBelsey]

So I don’t have to worry about sinning by causing the priest to sin in confession then?
I just say whatever I need to?

 

[MariaGoretti88]

Here’s some cute advice I’ve heard about Confession hard sins lol:

“Be blunt, be brief, be gone!”

Just say it with contrition and confidence that the Lord will heal you!

 

[CompSciGuy]

So I don’t have to worry about sinning by causing the priest to sin in confession then?
I just say whatever I need to?

No you should not be worried about this. This is being overly conscientious. The priest is there to hear confessions, he should be able to handle whatever you tell him. Don’t use this as an excuse not to go to confession.

 

[SonCatcher]

So I don’t have to worry about sinning by causing the priest to sin in confession then?
I just say whatever I need to?

If the priest does happen to fall into sin, he has recourse to the Sacrament of Confession to find cleansing.

 

[Elizium23]

You are obliged to confess your sins in kind and in number to a priest. This means that you do not have to go into explicit details and you can choose any priest in good standing to hear your confession.

If the priest asks you to describe sins in detail, you only need to relate details that affect imputability (how much guilt you should bear for the offense.) You are otherwise free to decline, and even to tell the priest that you do not feel comfortable giving details about that sin.

You can choose to go to another priest, and it is of course preferable to decide this before you begin a confession. Also remember that you have the right under Canon Law to a fixed grille between you and the priest for a more impersonal and anonymous setting.

 

[R_C]

So I don’t have to worry about sinning by causing the priest to sin in confession then?
I just say whatever I need to?

Of course you should not worry. Again, you are confessing to Christ!

St. Francis of Sales wrote on this Sacrament:

examine closely what special reason you have for accusing yourself thus, and when you have discovered it, accuse yourself simply and plainly of your fault.

say so plainly, just as it is, and do not deal in generalities, which, so to say, blow neither hot nor cold.

Again, do not be satisfied with mentioning the bare fact …] but accuse yourself of the motive cause which led to them.

Say whether you continued long to commit the fault in question, as the importance of a fault depends greatly upon its continuance

So you must mention the fact, the motive and the duration of your faults.

Do not spare yourself in telling whatever is necessary to explain the nature of your fault, as, for instance, the reason why you lost your temper, or why you encouraged another in wrong-doing.

As for changing confessor often, he wrote:

Do not lightly change your Confessor, but having chosen him, be regular in giving account of your conscience to him at the appointed seasons, telling him your faults simply and frankly

Taken from “*Introduction to the Devout Life *”, Chapter XIX, “On Confession”.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Here’s some cute advice I’ve heard about Confession hard sins lol:

“Be blunt, be brief, be gone!”

Just say it with contrition and confidence that the Lord will heal you!

Um, no. That’s better applied to public speaking than to confession. We need to be truthful, be trusting, and be transparent.

Blunt is sometimes too graphic. Brief - no, we need to confess our sins in number and kind. And “Be gone?” From Christ’s presence? :nope:

 

[Ben_F]

Has anyone had a priest tell you to abstain from the Holy Eucarest for a month, as your pennance? If that happened, would that be a sin on the Priests´ soul.? God bless:thumbsup:

 

[REDfan4Lyfe]

Just confess it. You don’t need to go into detail. Priests are professionals in these matters, and have studied Moral Theology in the seminary. It gets to the point where these things become routine. While I’m not a priest, I worked in Corrections and had to work with offenders, including sex offenders. Nothing really phases me anymore. They would tell me what they did, I would make a note of the general offense, for case management purposes to ensure I’m not letting them live with/near children, etc, but whenever I would see them or anything I would never think of the offense.

Priests usually do forget about the matter after hearing confession anyways.

 

[Elizium23]

Has anyone had a priest tell you to abstain from the Holy Eucarest for a month, as your pennance? If that happened, would that be a sin on the Priests´ soul.? God bless:thumbsup:

If I received that penance, I would stop going to that priest for confession, and immediately seek out another priest who could relieve me of that penance and impose another that will not deprive me of the many graces available through the Eucharist. A priest who imposed such a penance clearly has a poor understanding of Eucharistic theology: its primary effects are the forgiveness of venial sins, and preservation from future sin.

 

[SonCatcher]

Has anyone had a priest tell you to abstain from the Holy Eucarest for a month, as your pennance? If that happened, would that be a sin on the Priests´ soul.? God bless:thumbsup:

That isn’t penance. It’s withholding of vital medicine!

However, if the priest discerned that he needed to retain a mortal sin for a time (probably due to unrepentance) then he would need to caution the person to abstain from Communion to avoid further sin. That, again, isn’t penance but mercy.

 

[Ben_F]

That isn’t penance. It’s withholding of vital medicine!

However, if the priest discerned that he needed to retain a mortal sin for a time (probably due to unrepentance) then he would need to caution the person to abstain from Communion to avoid further sin. That, again, isn’t penance but mercy.

He didn´t retain the sin. Absolution was given. God bless:thumbsup:

 

[R_C]

Has anyone had a priest tell you to abstain from the Holy Eucarest for a month, as your pennance? If that happened, would that be a sin on the Priests´ soul.? God bless:thumbsup:

How could it be a sin?

It is a matter between the Minister and the Lord…us poor sinners can only do the penance, by virtue of obedience.

Here’s a nice story I read: one of the first Discalded Carmelite nuns, Ana de Jesús, was very much in love with the Eucharist, and her confessor St. John of the Cross, wanting to mortify her in order to increase her sanctity, denied her Communion for a certain time. She obeyed, and when after a time her confessor allowed her to receive the Eucharist again, she felt in her soul such an extraordinary joy that - her words - “the heart jumped out of its place to never go back”. St. John told her: “do not be afraid, daughter: do you know what your spirit did? Just like little birds in the morning look like they are going mad in praising the Lord, so id your heart at the pleasure of receiving Him”.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

What if you have to confess a sin that could possibly also cause the priest to sin? Like, he may think about the sin and it would cause him to sin too??? Eh…is it possible? What should I do?

You should not provide the details of a sin against chastity, which would cause temptation for your confessor.

Just tell him you sinned against chastity.

Jim

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

Just tell him you sinned against chastity.

Jim

You have to be more specific than that. How did you sin against chastity? Fornication? Adultery? Impure thoughts? Touches? Glances? An impure act done with oneself? Bestiality? Homosexual acts? Were they with other people? Was the person married? Religious? Clergy? Are you married? Consecrated? etc.

We need to be specific to the degree necessary so that the priest knows what we’re confessing and can make a proper judgement of our soul. We aren’t to go into specific details.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

You have to be more specific than that.

Not really.

If you commited adultery, you’d confess that you committed adultery without providing details of what went on in the bedroom.

Adultery and violating chastity are two different things, the latter being more serious,

Jim

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

Deo Gratias42;9530420:

You have to be more specific than that.

Not really.

If you commited adultery, you’d confess that you committed adultery without providing details of what went on in the bedroom.

Adultery and violating chastity are two different things, the latter being more serious,

Jim

That’s what I was referring to. One can’t simply say “I committed sins against chastity 4 times” because that could mean anything.