How explicit are we supposed to be in the confessional?

[rpcgirl]

I’m wondering how explicit we are supposed to be in confession. This has always been a struggle for me. If we have stumbled and commited a sin should we be blunt in exactly what the act is? Should we tell the preist/Christ exactly what our sins are instead of just mentioning what ‘category’ they fall under? Or is it enough that we are confessing out sins to Christ since he knows all our deeds and sins?

Just wondering…God Bless to you all!

 

[JimG]

I’m wondering how explicit we are supposed to be in confession. This has always been a struggle for me. If we have stumbled and commited a sin should we be blunt in exactly what the act is?

Yes.

Should we tell the preist/Christ exactly what our sins are instead of just mentioning what ‘category’ they fall under?

Yes. State the specific sin, not the category.

Or is it enough that we are confessing out sins to Christ since he knows all our deeds and sins?

No, you still need to confess the specific sin in the sacrament of confession.

 

[thistle]

I’m wondering how explicit we are supposed to be in confession. This has always been a struggle for me. If we have stumbled and commited a sin should we be blunt in exactly what the act is? Should we tell the preist/Christ exactly what our sins are instead of just mentioning what ‘category’ they fall under? Or is it enough that we are confessing out sins to Christ since he knows all our deeds and sins?

Just wondering…God Bless to you all!

You MUST go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to confess mortal sins and it is highly recommended for venial sins. The priest is the representative of Christ and the Church and through the absolution you are given you become reconciled to both Christ and his Church.
You should be as detailed as possible about the sin.
By the way you can be assured that there is nothing you can say to the priest that he has not heard before so you shouldn’t be embarrassed at all.

 

[kage_ar]

On EWTN one day, the Priest was speaking about confession. He said that a confession should be brief and to the point:

"I’ve sinned against the 1st commandment 4 times

Against the 3rd commandment 1 time"

Etc. That the Priest will as for more detail if he feels a pastorial reason, to give consel and advice if asked - but start with “just the facts”.

 

[m134e5]

On EWTN one day, the Priest was speaking about confession. He said that a confession should be brief and to the point:

"I’ve sinned against the 1st commandment 4 times

Against the 3rd commandment 1 time"

Etc. That the Priest will as for more detail if he feels a pastorial reason, to give consel and advice if asked - but start with “just the facts”.

Oh I’d be more specific then that. A good confessor will give you counsel on your sins, not just hear what you have to say, and say the same thing he always says to you and everybody else. Don’t go into the details of what you did- but say what you did and how many times you did it. You have to be specific enough so he has some idea of what it was- if you just say “I sinned against the 1st commandment”, that could mean anything from excessive love of money to satanism.

Just say what you did, how many times you did it, and be sure to mention any circumstances of the sin that make it especially serious (if there are any- like if you stole that’s one thing, but stealing from a church tacks on an additional sin to the sin of theft)

 

[mrsfrazier]

Just state the facts, as another person said.

You don’t need to give intimate details, but the priest cannot advise you if he doesn’t know a few specifics. You can say “I lied” and it could be that you told your friend her hair looked good when she had a disastrous haircut, or you could be lying as a witness in a murder trial. The priest needs to know the situation to be able to advise you of how to avoid the sin, to give you an apporpriate penance, and to make sure that you intend to avoid the sin and are truly penitent for it.

 

[mosher]

It is required to confess kind and number. Also the circumstance of the sin is necessary for the priest to make a judgment. If a person were to say that they just violated a particular commandment it would not seem enough to identify the sin. However, this being said a confession should be brief and one should not go into detail too much about the sin for the sake of chastity and prudence. If a priest needs to hear more about a sin he will ask concerning the circumstance but will not pry into too much detail.