Is this necessary to make a valid confession?

[McatholicN]

To list each objective mortal sin, in kind (explain this more fully if you can) and approximate or exact number, that you have committed as well as the any of the nine ways you were an accessory to that sin and any near occasions and causes of scandal to that sin you committed. Would it make an invalid confession if you generalized and said that you were an accessory to sin ____ times as opposed to listing each one?

Also, no one is obliged to confess a doubtful mortal sin, correct? If so, what exactly would be the church’s definition of a “doubtful mortal sin”?

If you could just list and explain everything that is necessary for a valid confession, that would be phenomenal.

Please help; this is rather urgent right now. I’ll try to talk to a priest about it, as well. Thanks!

 

[Redratfish]

To list each objective mortal sin, in kind (explain this more fully if you can) and approximate or exact number, that you have committed as well as the any of the nine ways you were an accessory to that sin and any near occasions and causes of scandal to that sin you committed. Would it make an invalid confession if you generalized and said that you were an accessory to sin ____ times as opposed to listing each one?

Also, no one is obliged to confess a doubtful mortal sin, correct? If so, what exactly would be the church’s definition of a “doubtful mortal sin”?

If you could just list and explain everything that is necessary for a valid confession, that would be phenomenal.

Please help; this is rather urgent right now. I’ll try to talk to a priest about it, as well. Thanks!

I do not believe you must keep a track and give the exact number. I believe as a whole, your confessed sin is healed. In your example though, it depends upon how you were an accessory. If it was to lying, then most likely not. But if it was to an abortion, or suicide then yes, you should say what you did.

There is not such thing as a doubtful mortal sin. Mortal sins must be known that they are mortal. However, it is a good idea to confess anything serious enough to make you wonder.

The priest will (God willing) help you along if you don’t know or are unsure of how to say it correctly as well

 

[Aelred_Minor]

I find the idea that you need to know a sin is mortal in order for it to be mortal very dubious. Most people don’t even know what grave matter is, and knowledge and consent are very subjective things.

The Catechism says:

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131

1858 Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother."132 The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm

My interpretation of this is it means that, besides the action being objectively grave, you realize the action is wrong and, as the Catechism says, your consent is sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Some people set the bar for both knowledge and consent so high that it becomes almost impossible to commit a mortal sin, as if you almost have to be a moral theologian with a Stoic’s control of himself to commit one. I’m highly suspicious of that tendency.

For the vast majority of people, I would suggest that if you think a sin might be mortal it very likely is, and in any case you should confess it. This would not apply to people who suffer from scrupulosity. In their case alone would I see value in the rule of only confessing sins you are sure were mortal.

Obviously in all this I’m open to correction and certainly not seeking to overturn any advice anyone has gotten from their priest.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Regarding number, give the exact number if you have it. If not, just do your best. Give an approximation like “about x times” or “about x times a week.”

 

[McatholicN]

I find the idea that you need to know a sin is mortal in order for it to be mortal very dubious. Most people don’t even know what grave matter is, and knowledge and consent are very subjective things.

I have most commonly heard otherwise. Nearly descriptions of mortal sin I’ve heard have said that you must know the gravity of the sin. But I think you’re right in saying that hardly anyone knows what grave matter is (aside from the obvious ones). It would really stink, though, if you committed a sin thinking it was venial and had no real fear for your soul, but it turned out to be mortal and you were excluded from Heaven for it. If that’s so, we’d better study hard in order to find out what grave matter is so that we don’t accidently commit it thinking that it was of lesser gravity.
I’d REALLY like clairification on this, too.

Back to the original question…
I ask it because I’m worried about length of time in the confessional. It would take a long time to list every accessory to every sin, especially if making a general confession. (I committed adulation to someone’s consent to someone’s calumnous joke ____ times, etc.) Can I just group sins of accessory into one?
For doubtful sins: when I look back, I don’t think there’s a time when I could honestly say that I was certain that I committed a mortal sin. However, I can guess, with varying degrees of certitude, whether certain things were mortal or not. Would this make a sin doubtful, and if so, would it need to be confessed?

 

[McatholicN]

Anyone? This is important right now; I want to get to confession soon. I’ll let this thread die after tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[thistle]

Anyone? This is important right now; I want to get to confession soon. I’ll let this thread die after tomorrow.

Thanks!

As everyone in every thread you open has told you JUST GO AND CONFESS. Talk to your priest.