Confession Questions

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tyler_1

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Hello,

I have two questions concerning Confession. I have gotten different responses from different priests on these, and so I would like an official answer from some where. I hope you all can help me.

1.) If you recall a sin from your past that you forgot to confess in subsequent confessions, should you confess it at your next confession? For example, you just get out of confession and say “hey!, i forgot to confess such and such sin from last week or years ago”. It is forgiven, but must you confess it the next time you go to confession?

2.) If you are not sure if you are in a state of Mortal Sin, should you still go to Communion? For example, on your way to Mass something happens which you know isn’t good. You aren’t sure if it was a mortal sin or not, but you strongly feel it could have been (enough to bother your conscience), but you also have doubts about it meeting all three requirements for Mortal Sin. Should you still go to Communion or not?

I would like to know what are the official answers from the Church concerning these questions. I have various answers from the writings of the Saints and from priests I’ve asked and now that they are starting to conflict I am looking for an official ruling to settle my mind.

Thanks for your help. This will help me so much, and I will take the correct answers and bring them back to the folks whom I’ve asked in the past.

Regards,

-Tyler
 
Tyler,
You are going about this the wrong way. You have already asked priests and other people and you are getting conflicting answers. You are just going to get more from us. You should choose a priest you think is holy and honest and faithful to church teaching and talk to him and abide by what he says. Claire
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Tyler,
You are going about this the wrong way. You have already asked priests and other people and you are getting conflicting answers. You are just going to get more from us. You should choose a priest you think is holy and honest and faithful to church teaching and talk to him and abide by what he says. Claire
Click to expand...
👍 👍 👍 We’re only ordinary people, Tyler. Seems as if you might want to take a gander here, here and here.
 
On the first question, from the 2005 Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“304. Which sins must be confessed?
1456
All grave sins not yet confessed, which a careful examination of conscience brings to mind, must be brought to the sacrament of Penance. The confession of serious sins is the only ordinary way to obtain forgiveness.” (The full Compendium is at vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html ).

Code of Canon Law, canon 988 has much the same: “… all serious sins committed after baptism and not yet directly remitted through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confessions, of which one is conscious after a diligent examination of conscience.” See vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM
.
 
On your second question … if the Pope was coming to visit you in your home, would you take the time to clean up and put on your Sunday best for your meeting with him? How much more effort would you go through if the God of the Universe was going to pay you a visit?

Well, the God of the Universe IS coming into your soul. Would if be appropriate to invite Him into your soul if it wasn’t as clean as it could possibly be?
 
If you are scrupulous, please follow the advice of your confessor/spiritual advisor and stick to that advice.

But in general, if you forget to confess a mortal sin, confess it the next time you go to confession. You can tell the priest that you have not confessed the sin before, but have been to confession since committing it etc.

If you are scrupulous, it can be difficult to discern between mortal and venial sins. If this is your case, you should follow the guidance of your regular confessor. But in general, you cannot commit a mortal sin without being aware you are doing it! (You can still commit the sin, but you are not culpable for it, since you were not aware it was mortal).

For people who do not suffer from scruples, it is very clear when one has committed a mortal sin.

I tend to get scrupulous myself and have found it helps to not spend so much time worrying about whether it might be mortal or “just venial” because the Church strongly encourages us to confess venial sins too. Instead of worrying, I tell God I am sorry, and then get myself to confession. When I confess it, I state the sin, and if needed, the circumstances. That way the priest can help guide me.

My comments here meant in regard to scrupulous people, I am not trying to downplay the seriousness of mortal sin. I think the bottom line is to get to confession often, and follow the advice of your spiritual advisor/regular confessor.

Sincerely,

Maria12112
 
Wow,

Thank you everyone. So many good replies. I’d like to reply to each of you in turn, but first I want to zero in on one particular point:
All grave sins not yet confessed, which a careful examination of conscience brings to mind, must be brought to the sacrament of Penance. The confession of serious sins is the only ordinary way to obtain forgiveness." (The full Compendium is at
Click to expand...
Does the Catechism here refer to recalling sins from before your previous confession which you forgot to confess in your previous confession, or to sins brought to mind since your last confession, or both?. This is the exact distinction I am trying to make.

Thanks,

-Tyler
 
It means both. Sins you forgot to confess are “not yet confessed”. So if they are serious and you bring them to mind in the examination of conscience, you should confess them.
 
I decided to ask some priests in my area and interestingly, almost all the priests I’ve asked say that as long as you didn’t intentionally withhold any sins in your confession, there is no need to confess things you remember from before that confession at a later time.

You know, something like that could drive a person crazy; reflecting on your whole life trying to recall each sin you may have forgot to confess.

The priests have been telling me “just the sins since your last confession”.

Now, I don’t know what to make of the Catechism passage in light of the advice of the spiritual directors I’ve spoken with.
 
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