Is it necessary to re-confess sins from your last confession if it was invalid?

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christianguy

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I am aware that to deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin itself and it’s a sin of sacrilege and I know that we must confess all mortal sins for a confession to be valid. But suppose (this is hypothetical) that I have committed 10 mortal sins since my last confession and when I go to confession I only confess 9 of those 10 mortal sins. I know my confession would be invalid but how would I approach my next confession? Apart from saying that I withheld a mortal sins and describing that mortal sin, should I also re-confess the other 9 mortal sins? I think this is correct however one of my priests say that in that case one should mention the unconfessed mortal sin but it is not necessary to re-confess the other mortal sins. Who is right? I would also appreciate a quote from the Catechism or from a Church document from the Magisterium which clarifies this.
 
Did you deliberately withhold one of the ten mortal sins?
If you confessed to the best of your ability all your sins were forgiven.
 
christianguy said:
I am aware that to deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin itself and it’s a sin of sacrilege and I know that we must confess all mortal sins for a confession to be valid. But suppose (this is hypothetical) that I have committed 10 mortal sins since my last confession and when I go to confession I only confess 9 of those 10 mortal sins. I know my confession would be invalid but how would I approach my next confession? Apart from saying that I withheld a mortal sins and describing that mortal sin, should I also re-confess the other 9 mortal sins? I think this is correct however one of my priests say that in that case one should mention the unconfessed mortal sin but it is not necessary to re-confess the other mortal sins. Who is right? I would also appreciate a quote from the Catechism or from a Church document from the Magisterium which clarifies this.
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You hypothetical question is misplaced.

If you know it is wrong to deliberately withhold a mortal sin, and it would make your confession invalid, you would never deliberately do so.

If it were a slip of the mind, and unintentional, it would not be mortal sin, nor would the sacrament be invalid. The proper course of action would be to confess what you unintentionally omitted in your last confession.

The hypothetical is possible troublesome in two ways:
  1. You are suffering from scrupulosity, or
  2. You are looking for a “loop-hole” to ease your conscience if you decide to deliberately withhold a mortal sin at confession.
But, realizing that making such an assumption is not very charitable, I will assume that the scenario you paint is just an honest question to understand the Church teachings…but again, I think you know the answer, and if you do, the whole question is, as I said at the beginning misplaced.

Ask your priest, spiritual advisor, or a parish catechist to explain it, if you really have to have it answered…a social media site like this will get you plenty of answers, but many will be conflicting and only raise more questions instead of providing a concise answer.

Peace and all good!
 
But, realizing that making such an assumption is not very charitable, I will assume that the scenario you paint is just an honest question to understand the Church teachings…but again, I think you know the answer, and if you do, the whole question is, as I said at the beginning misplaced.
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Accusing someone of that would not be nice, but that is not what the post did. It’s important to point these things out for proper advice. 👍
 
christianguy said:
I am aware that to deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin itself and it’s a sin of sacrilege and I know that we must confess all mortal sins for a confession to be valid. But suppose (this is hypothetical) that I have committed 10 mortal sins since my last confession and when I go to confession I only confess 9 of those 10 mortal sins. I know my confession would be invalid but how would I approach my next confession? Apart from saying that I withheld a mortal sins and describing that mortal sin, should I also re-confess the other 9 mortal sins? I think this is correct however one of my priests say that in that case one should mention the unconfessed mortal sin but it is not necessary to re-confess the other mortal sins. Who is right? I would also appreciate a quote from the Catechism or from a Church document from the Magisterium which clarifies this.
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You need to explain the situation to your Confessor and follow his advice.

What your priest is saying is something CAF Senior Apologist Jimmy Akin notes: “If you forget to confess a mortal sin, you need to confess it at your next confession, because you could incur a new mortal sin if you do not”.
 
christianguy said:
I am aware that to deliberately withhold a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin itself and it’s a sin of sacrilege and I know that we must confess all mortal sins for a confession to be valid. But suppose (this is hypothetical) that I have committed 10 mortal sins since my last confession and when I go to confession I only confess 9 of those 10 mortal sins. I know my confession would be invalid but how would I approach my next confession? Apart from saying that I withheld a mortal sins and describing that mortal sin, should I also re-confess the other 9 mortal sins? I think this is correct however one of my priests say that in that case one should mention the unconfessed mortal sin but it is not necessary to re-confess the other mortal sins. Who is right? I would also appreciate a quote from the Catechism or from a Church document from the Magisterium which clarifies this.
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Setting aside any question of scrupulosity (those with such - see your regular confessor).

Yes one would need to re-confess the other mortal sins as well as the hidden one and as well as the new one.

For nothing was absolved in that first confession where say the person hid the fact that they had committed adultery - but confessed they had missed Sunday Mass…and a new mortal sin occurred (presuming the normal requirements for mortal sin).

A forgotten mortal sin is a different matter - likely what he Priest thought you meant - in such a case yes one would only confess the forgotten mortal sin along with any new ones etc. (it would have already been absolved indirectly with the rest -but needs to be submitted to the keys directly).
 
But is there like an official Church document that I can use to point out that one must reconfess all mortal sins in that case? (excluding the Baltimore Catechism since that is an American Catechism)
 
Well I’m from Europe and I need an official Church document to be able to help someone out and if I quote the Baltimore Catechism he could just say that’s not an official Church document if it was made by US bishops. Yes I know that could be an erroneous reason for rejecting the Baltimore Catechism but it’s not available in my language. That’s why I ask for any Church document whether it’s from an Ecumenical Council, Papal encyclical etc.
Thank you
 
christianguy said:
Well I’m from Europe and I need an official Church document to be able to help someone out and if I quote the Baltimore Catechism he could just say that’s not an official Church document if it was made by US bishops. Yes I know that could be an erroneous reason for rejecting the Baltimore Catechism but it’s not available in my language. That’s why I ask for any Church document whether it’s from an Ecumenical Council, Papal encyclical etc.
Thank you
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Hello,

From the Code of Canon Law (I’m sure there is a similar passage somewhere in the Catechism of the Catholic Church):
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.
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Dan
 
One can find various sources…one main one there was just provided for you.

Here is another:

The* Compendium* issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. 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.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

(grave sins here means what is also called mortal sins).

(there can be some exceptions …such as the person is dying and has no time…or a person does not remember…or say the plane is going down or say a scrupulous person is directed by their confessor in a particular way in their exceptional case etc- thus exceptional cases that are provided for in the law).
 
Bookcat said:
One can find various sources…one main one there was just provided for you.

Here is another:

The* Compendium* issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. 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.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

(grave sins here means what is also called mortal sins).

(there can be some exceptions …such as the person is dying and has no time…or a person does not remember…or say the plane is going down or say a scrupulous person is directed by their confessor in a particular way in their exceptional case etc- thus exceptional cases that are provided for in the law).
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Such is referring though there to forgotten mortal sins. I had forgotten myself what you were referring too in the thread …

If one has made an invalid confession due to deliberately withholding a mortal sin - that one would need to as I noted above re-confess normally the mortal sins that were confessed - and that one hid the mortal sins and then hidden mortal sins.

So if I had committed murder 3x and adultery 2x but hid the murder and only confessed the adultery I would need to accuse my self normally of all those mortal sins and any since my last good confession and the fact that I hid what I hid. There can be certain exceptions at times though.

One can refer to works of moral theology or the Theology of the Sacraments too for more.
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly."54
Code: 
When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, "for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know."55
scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c2a4.htm#1456
If one deliberately withholds a mortal sin one places “nothing” before divine mercy…

Hence one will need ordinarily to place again what one attempted to place before – (for one has not yet placed anything!) - before divine mercy in Confession - with the withheld mortal sins and the new sin of withholding the mortal sins.

Normally this is not a question for persons seek to make a good confession and hide any mortal sins but only forget something…and are just to mention what was forgotten in the next confession if it is not forever forgotten…

(again note for readers: I am speaking of actual mortal sins -not scruples etc…those with scruples ought to have a regular confessor to direct them as is the age old practice and can be in a rather different boat)
 
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