Confession Question

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Wilhelm_Stoever

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For the last 5 or so years when I am confession, if I commited a mortal sin more than once, I will simply say that I commited it multiple times. My confessor has never asked for a specfic number. is this still valid?
 
Sounds fine. The main purpose of stating a number is so that the priest knows whether your sin was a one-off event or something that you’ve really been struggling with, and can advise you appropriately.

You gave him the necessary information by indicating that it was more than a one-off.

For future reference - the priest in confession acts among other things in the role of judge, and like any judge can determine that you’ve told him enough, even if you haven’t told him literally EVERYTHING.

Upshot - if he gave you absolution without asking further details, and you didn’t deliberately omit a critical detail (which an exact number isn’t - many of us dont’ have good memories and can’t give more than your type of rough guesstimate anyway) and he gave you absolution anyway, then you’re good to go.
 
Hi Wilhelm,

For future reference:

Can. 988 §1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.

Note the qualifier “of which the person has knowledge”. If you can’t recall the exact number of times, an approximation seems to be in order: “about 5 times” or “about twice a week for half a year”, etc. If even that is impossible, than phrases like “a lot” or “a few” would have to suffice.

I think the number is more than just a way to let the priest know you’ve done it more than once. Each mortal sin is a unique event, even if they are the same species. In other words, robbing a bank three times is markedly different than robbing a bank twice.

I think the key is that if you are aware of the number you should confess it.

VC
 
Wilhelm_Stoever said:
For the last 5 or so years when I am confession, if I commited a mortal sin more than once, I will simply say that I commited it multiple times. My confessor has never asked for a specfic number. is this still valid?
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Wilhelm,
You’ve actually answered your own question. The fact that the priest did not ask you for a specific number means that for whatever reason, he didn’t need to hear the exact number, so yes it was valid. Lily and VC are both giving you sound information. Trust the judgment of your confessor. (the word “number” should not be taken in the strictly mathematical sense). By saying the words “multiple times” you are clearly saying that you’ve done it more than once or even twice, so you are not holding back anything. You would only be holding back if the priest asked you to clarify and you intentionally lied about the number.

If this thread should go on, whatever happens, please DO NOT post what the sin(s) is. Others have done that in other posts. Please don’t.

PS yes, there are times when the number must be exact, but that depends on the sin. Murder for example, would require an exact number. But for this to be the case, the sin itself would have to be in the extreme. If you’re confessing the same sin often, it is probably not in that category, and if the priest isn’t asking you to clarify, then it’s not in that category.
 
Wilhelm,

Please know I direct the following solely to Fr. David and I am not speaking to the validity of your past confessions.
FrDavid96 said:
there are times when the number must be exact
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I know you mean exact as humanly possible.
FrDavid96 said:
, but that depends on the sin. Murder for example, would require an exact number. But for this to be the case, the sin itself would have to be in the extreme.
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** Fr. David**, I was not aware that the obligation to confess number and kind was affected by the species of sin; I thought only the gravity touched upon the obligation (i.e. mortal sins must be confessed in number, whereas venial do not).

As I understand it we have a (Divinely ordained!) obligation to confess our mortal sins in number and kind, to the best of our ability, regardless of their kind. I am speaking, of course, of the penitent confessing the number at the outset (and not after any type of (name removed by moderator)ut or lack of (name removed by moderator)ut from the priest). So, if a penitent comes to confess his mortal (for the sake of argument please) sins consisting of murder, theft of a $5,000, willfully missing Mass, etc., he must confess the number of times for each, correct?

Thanks,
VC
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Wilhelm,

Please know I direct the following solely to Fr. David and I am not speaking to the validity of your past confessions.

I know you mean exact as humanly possible.

** Fr. David**, I was not aware that the obligation to confess number and kind was affected by the species of sin; I thought only the gravity touched upon the obligation (i.e. mortal sins must be confessed in number, whereas venial do not).

As I understand it we have a (Divinely ordained!) obligation to confess our mortal sins in number and kind, to the best of our ability, regardless of their kind. I am speaking, of course, of the penitent confessing the number at the outset (and not after any type of (name removed by moderator)ut or lack of (name removed by moderator)ut from the priest). So, if a penitent comes to confess his mortal (for the sake of argument please) sins consisting of murder, theft of a $5,000, willfully missing Mass, etc., he must confess the number of times for each, correct?

Thanks,
VC
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Well, let me address that by giving some examples.

Married man has an affair with married woman. Adultery. A mortal sin. No question about it.
“about once a month for the past 3 years”
That could mean anything between 30 and 40. But as for the requirement of number, I personally would think that’s been met.

Bank robber. Kills in the act of holding up a bank. Again, mortal sin.
“I killed a few people” wouldn’t cut it. That would require an exact number.
“I killed the teller, I killed the guard, I killed a customer, that makes 3”

That’s what I was getting at. Does that make sense or am I too tired to make any sense? Wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Well, let me address that by giving some examples.

Married man has an affair with married woman. Adultery. A mortal sin. No question about it.
“about once a month for the past 3 years”
That could mean anything between 30 and 40. But as for the requirement of number, I personally would think that’s been met.

Bank robber. Kills in the act of holding up a bank. Again, mortal sin.
“I killed a few people” wouldn’t cut it. That would require an exact number.
“I killed the teller, I killed the guard, I killed a customer, that makes 3”

That’s what I was getting at. Does that make sense or am I too tired to make any sense? Wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.
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Sure. You are speaking to a case where the very frequency of mortal sin makes it difficult to give an exact number within the *limitations *of our fallible human memory.

I just wanted to be clear about the requirement of number (or as close as we can get it) for all mortal sins (no matter what kind they are.)

Thank you for clearing that up for me!
VC
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Sure. You are speaking to a case where the very frequency of mortal sin makes it difficult to give an exact number within the *limitations *of our fallible human memory.
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Right. The adulterer might not be able to give an exact mathematical number (unless he takes his Palm Pilot into the confessional:rolleyes: )

The bank robber must give the exact number because there’s no way he could get the number wrong.
I just wanted to be clear about the requirement of number (or as close as we can get it) for all mortal sins (no matter what kind they are.)
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Thank you for clearing that up for me!
VC
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There are times when the number is “as close as we can get” and there are times when there’s no excuse for not getting the number right.

It’s not always a matter of frequency, as such. Someone poisons a well. Single act. Many people in the village died.
How many?
Don’t know. Didn’t stick around to find out but:
“about 8” or
“about 200”
Only one act, but the severity of the sin is greater if the greater number of people died as a result of it.
 
I am still a bit worried about this. is there any chance that for the last 5 years my Confessions have been invalid?
 
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