Is every Catholic obligated to confess once a year even if they donot have Mortal sin

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Yes, we should go to confession as often as possible.

I try to. I strive for every two weeks.

But, I just wanted to point out the Holy Mother Church states, in Canon Law, and by precept, that there is a minimum obligation of going to confession once per year, for those who are in mortal sin.

Agree?

There is no obligation to only do the minimum. In fact there is an exhortation to far, far exceed it.
VC
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Yes, we should go to confession as often as possible.

I try to. I strive for every two weeks.

But, I just wanted to point out the Holy Mother Church states, in Canon Law, and by precept, that there is a minimum obligation of going to confession once per year, for those who are in mortal sin.

Agree?

There is no obligation to only do the minimum. In fact there is an exhortation to far, far exceed it.
VC
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No, it says grave matter, grave matter is not automatically mortal sin, grave matter is just one of the conditions for something to be a mortal sin, not mortal sin itself, and you CAN be ignorant of grave matter.
 
Hi Leonius,
Leonius said:
No, it says grave matter, grave matter is not automatically mortal sin, grave matter is just one of the conditions for something to be a mortal sin, not mortal sin itself, and you CAN be ignorant of grave matter.
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The law says “grave sin” not grave matter.

Grave sin is equivalent to mortal sin or serious sin. They are used interchangeably.

Please see my first post on this thread for some citations.
VC
 
Then the Church changed a Law that had been around for centuries in 1983 if what you say is true, and not for the better.
 
Leonius said:
Then the Church changed a Law that had been around for centuries in 1983 if what you say is true, and not for the better.
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Then show us where the Church previous said we had to confess once a year even if we had no mortal sins.
 
thistle said:
Then show us where the Church previous said we had to confess once a year even if we had no mortal sins.
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Sure , but one thing needs to be clear, so there is no passage saying “even if you have no mortal sin”, its absence in the texts to any reference to mortal sin means that the law applied whether you had mortal sin or not.

The earliest I am aware of it becoming law is in 1215 at the Fourth Council of the Lateran, Canon 21.
“Let everyone of the faithful of both sexes, after he has arrived at the years of discretion, alone faithfully confess all his sins at least once a year to his own priest…” Lateran Council IV, 1215
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Then again in 1304:
“…we strongly enjoin the brothers carefully to advise those confessing, and in their sermons exhort that they confess to their own priests at least once a year, declaring that without doubt this pertains to the advancement of souls.”
Pope Benedict XI, Inter cunctas sollicitudines
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“…the precept of confession should be fulfilled at least once a year by each and all, when they have reached the years of discretion.” Council of Trent 1545-1563 Chapter 5. Confession
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“If anyone says that the confession of all sins as the Church observes is impossible, and is a human tradition to be abolished by the pious, or that each and all of the faithful of Christ of either sex are not bound to it once a year, according to the constitution of the great Lateran Council, and for this reason the faithful of Christ must be persuaded not to confess during the Lenten season; let him be anathema.” Council of Trent 1545-1563 Canon 8 of the Canons on the sacrament of penance
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If you can get a copy of the code of canon law from 1917 you will find it in there to. There was no get out clause until 1983 it seems.
 
This isn’t addressing the exact topic, but just in general I think it needs to be said that it might not be the healthiest thing in the world to be focused on loopholes to get us out of going to frequent Confession.

All the benefits and graces of Confession have already been mentioned, and they exceed simply forgiving mortal sins. Confession absolves us of our venial sins and gives us the graces to resist further and especially habitual sin. Even if you don’t “feel” it, the grace is there.

The saints went to frequent–even daily-- Confession and we know most of them were not perpetually in a state of mortal sin. They knew that it helped them. We must all strive for holiness.

This is an especially dangerous road to go down, IMO, when we’re posting about it on an internet forum. It’s one thing to have personal opinions, but it’s seriously not charitable to be posting arguments that could discourage people from seeking frequent Confession (whether intentionally or unintentionally). Again, I’m not talking about the technicalities of canon law here. Just that it’s probably a good idea if we all took a moment to think about what we’re posting and why, and to consider the possible influence we can be having on people reading our posts.

Shouldn’t we always be encouraging others toward holiness? It’s a good thing to pray about before posting as well. 🙂

God bless
 
thistle said:
Then show us where the Church previous said we had to confess once a year even if we had no mortal sins.
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thistle,

If I may, I’d suggest that this is a secondary consideration. More important, I think, it is necessary to be clear on what the Church actually teaches now.

It seems that Leonius may have been under a (perfectly understandable) misunderstanding that the current Church law requires the faithful to confess once a year regardless of whether or not they are in mortal sin.

But, I think I’ve shown that the current law of the Church limits the obligation to mortal sin. Leonius seems to have accepted that the law says this. I applaud his or her integrity.

Leonius certainly can be of opinion that it is a bad law. But, at least he or she recognizes what the law actually is.

What do you think? Maybe we should give Leonius some credit for accepting the data presented.

VC
 
So,

Is everyone agreed that:
  1. the law of the Church is that at a minimum anyone who is in mortal sin must confess at least once a year
and
  1. we should not **misrepresent **the Church law by saying to others that the Church commands that one must go to confession once a year regardless if one is in mortal sin or not
and
  1. the Church exhorts and encourages us to go to confession much, much more often than once a year, even if you are a Saint.
Agree?
VC
 
Let me just add right now my total disgust at the change of the rules, the rule concerning mortal sin was always you go to confession AS SOON AS POSSIBLE LEST YOU DIE AND GO TO ETERNAL DAMNATION, this law is effectively saying as long as you go within the year that’s ok. It is an evil bastardisation of the law which is no doubt much to blame for the huge reduction in people using the sacrament of confession and thus the loss of many souls.

Is there anything that hasn’t been changed by this generation? And what are the laws worth if they are so easily discarded or altered!

Is it any wonder the spirit of rebellion runs rampant among the faithful when centuries old laws are done away with by the stroke of a pen?
 
Leonius said:
Let me just add right now my total disgust at the change of the rules, the rule concerning mortal sin was always you go to confession AS SOON AS POSSIBLE LEST YOU DIE AND GO TO ETERNAL DAMNATION, this law is effectively saying as long as you go within the year that’s ok. It is an evil bastardisation of the law which is no doubt much to blame for the huge reduction in people using the sacrament of confession and thus the loss of many souls.

Id there anything that hasn’t been changed by this generation? An what are the laws worth if they are so easily discarded or altered!

Is it any wonder the spirit of rebellion runs rampant among the faithful when centuries old laws are done away with the stroke of a pen?
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It seems as though you still don’t understand what the law actually says. You are entitled to your personal opinion, but you are NOT allowed to teach anything other than what the law (canon) actually says.

You DO NOT have to confess during the year IF NO MORTAL SIN. Got it?
 
Indyann said:
It seems as though you still don’t understand what the law actually says. You are entitled to your personal opinion, but you are NOT allowed to teach anything other than what the law (canon) actually says.

You DO NOT have to confess during the year IF NO MORTAL SIN. Got it?
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I understand all to well, it is disgusting and frankly I am horrified to find all the things I was taught as a child are now WRONG! Rules Catholics lived their life’s by for centuries WRONG!

Can anyone tell me one good reason for this change? I can see none at all, what is the justification for this? What good of the Church required this change, anyone?
 
Leonius said:
I understand all to well, it is disgusting and frankly I am horrified to find all the things I was taught as a child are now WRONG! Rules Catholics lived their life’s by for centuries WRONG!

Can anyone tell me one good reason for this change? I can see none at all, what is the justification for this? What good of the Church required this change, anyone?
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Why don’t you start a thread on these things which are bothering you? 👍
 
Ah such wonderful compassion! Why don’t you comfort me and answer the question, if you can!
 
Leonius,

I sympathize, really, with the feelings you are expressing – sometimes we can feel like a stranger in a strange land.

I’d be happy to discuss with you the possible reasons, as well as the context and history of the regulations on confession. It might be profitable to us all.

After all, it does touch upon the substance of the original post on this thread.

VC
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Leonius,

I sympathize, really, with the feelings you are expressing – sometimes we can feel like a stranger in a strange land.

I’d be happy to discuss with you the possible reasons, as well as the context and history of the regulations on confession. It might be profitable to us all.

After all, it does touch upon the substance of the original post on this thread.

VC
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If you know the reasons by all means share them, it will be rather one sided most likely as I can see none.
 
Leonius said:
Do we really think that doing the bare minimum the Church asks of us, and bare minimum that seems to be getting less and less, and looking for all these loop holes in the law is pleasing to God, we owe Him more than that.
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This is also my reaction. What is the motive for asking the question?

It’s very easy to exceed the minimum standard of the Church, simply by going to Confession the very next time the priest is there, every time you lose your temper and deliberately say something unkind to the image of God, which is any human person.

I don’t think it’s good, to encourage the spirit of minimalism.
 
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