I began to think last time I went to Confession (which happens to be last Saturday), am I being specific enough in the confessional about some sins? How much detail should you be going into, especially when it comes to sins of impurity? Should it be generalized? Any thoughts?
Mortal sins need to be confess in kind & number with enough detail so that the sin can not be mistaken for something else … specify if it was with yourself or with others … mention whether it was in thought or in deed (
if it was in deed, then the “thought” is already assumed) … specify whether it was active (
touching, masturbation) or passive (
reading, viewing inappropriate material) or both.
You do not need to get into any more detail than that.
There is a story that goes around these parts, Don’t know if it is true or urban legend but I’ve heard it from priests themselves that there was a particular priest who felt uncomfortable when people confessed sins of impurity and one day decided to let the people know during mass that when ever anyone has sins of impurity to confess, they are to say that they “loved their country” and so that is what people did …
“Father, I loved my country X times since my last confession” …
Then that priest was re-assigned and a new priest came there who was unaware that
“love your country” was the code for sins of impurity. After being there for a couple of months, he made the announcement at mass that this was the most patriotic parish that he has ever been assigned to and that people don’t have to confess to loving their country because that is not a sin.
The following week the priest made another announcement that after having been informed what
“loving your country” meant, it indeed was a sin and needed to be confessed.
