MERGED: Are All Sins Forgiven At Confession

[TheChosenOne]

I just got out of confession and I had a question. I confessed sexual sin (wasn’t sure how specific I needed to get) and he asked if it was masturbation and I was surprised he asked so I answered yes. He then asked how many times, but during this time I didn’t tell him I also looked at pornography. The whole sin really has been eating at me, now I’m not sure if I should go back and clarify. Thanks.

 

[Spencerian]

I just got out of confession and I had a question. I confessed sexual sin (wasn’t sure how specific I needed to get) and he asked if it was masturbation and I was surprised he asked so I answered yes. He then asked how many times, but during this time I didn’t tell him I also looked at pornography. The whole sin really has been eating at me, now I’m not sure if I should go back and clarify. Thanks.

Hi.

You needn’t go back to confession in this instance, I think.

You completed your confession by being as detailed as necessary; the priest asked for more information as was needed for clarification, so volunteering more should not be necessary.

Confessing is only half of the process, of course. Be sure to complete your penance and fight those sinful impulses as hard as you can for a smaller confession next time. God bless.

 

[Loboto-Me]

It’s a good idea that you go back especially if the sin of pornography was left out deliberately. It seems that the priest was trying to allow you to expand on your sins so that you could come forth with all of it. If that part of the sin was witheld knowingly, your confession wasn’t valid.

You’ll feel much better after going back knowing that this next confession will be valid. Oh also, if you had communion since then, it’s a good idea to confess of partaking the eucharist after the last confession as well.

 

[Bookcat]

I just got out of confession and I had a question. I confessed sexual sin (wasn’t sure how specific I needed to get) and he asked if it was masturbation and I was surprised he asked so I answered yes. He then asked how many times, but during this time I didn’t tell him I also looked at pornography. The whole sin really has been eating at me, now I’m not sure if I should go back and clarify. Thanks.

Yes…if one forgets a mortal sin (pornography is grave matter …if done with full knowledge and complete consent it is mortal)…one sins are still forgiven for one was not deliberately withholding it…but one still needs to mention it in the next confession …one can say “i forgot or did not think to mention…”

mortal sins need to be confessed in number and kind…

venial sins do not…

one is obliged only to confess mortal sins…

 

[Podo2005]

I just got out of confession and I had a question. I confessed sexual sin (wasn’t sure how specific I needed to get) and he asked if it was masturbation and I was surprised he asked so I answered yes. He then asked how many times, but during this time I didn’t tell him I also looked at pornography. The whole sin really has been eating at me, now I’m not sure if I should go back and clarify. Thanks.

You should be specific when you confess your sins, saying “sexual sins” isnt really going to help the priest give you counsel on how to fight a specific sexual sin (like looking at porn for example). To use an analogy when you go to the doctors with a problem and the doctor asks you where the problem is you don’t respond “Well… my body” because thats too general… you tell the doctor what the problem is so that he fix it…same with confession

As hard as it is to confess some sins that we are particularly ashamed of… think of the grace & the peace that you will experience once you’ve confessioned your sins… no matter what you’ve done you can recieve forgiveness & mercy through the sacrament of confession (1 John 1:9)

Your brother in Christ,
Zachary

 

[EasterJoy]

I just got out of confession and I had a question. I confessed sexual sin (wasn’t sure how specific I needed to get) and he asked if it was masturbation and I was surprised he asked so I answered yes. He then asked how many times, but during this time I didn’t tell him I also looked at pornography. The whole sin really has been eating at me, now I’m not sure if I should go back and clarify. Thanks.

As long as the omission in your confession is inadvertent or not due to a chosen failure to extend yourself, then you will suffer from failing to confess better–that is, you will have failed to avail yourself of spiritual profit (graces) you might have had-- but you will not have frustrated absolution by refusing to confess as well as you could.

If you left out mention of the pornography on purpose, then the next time you say, “In my last confession, I was intentionally vague about some of what I confessed. I had gone online and looked at pornography for about x times, typically for about y amount of time, and I had also mastubated, but I just confessed these sins generally as sexual sins. I knew from his questions that my confessor thought I meant masturbation only, but my anwers were only as specific as his questions.” You wouldn’t have to word it that way, you confess both that you intentionally left something out and specifically what it was that you left out. I mean that you connect the two sins when you confess them.

If you did not leave the mention of pornography out on purpose, but followed the direction of his questions without having it occur to you that you should give also give a clearer picture concerning the pornography, then while your previous confession certainly could have been better, you are not guilty of purposefully withholding information. In that case, you do not have to re-confess with details about the sins with the pornography.

The idea, when “composing” a confession, is not to reach the minimum revelation required for absolution, but to compose the recitation so as to bluntly (and without self-excuse or accusation of any third party) give the maximum* relevant *self-revelation of one’s sins in the least amount of time. You now know that in spite of the fact that a penitent can be too specific, you are not being specific enough in your confession of sexual sins. You are now responsible to see that the quality of your future confessions improves accordingly. If you fall into sexual sins again, you must do your best to confess them more specifically in the future, with regards to how well you list the nature and quantity of the offenses.

 

[chrisman27]

Uh,this is WAY too confusing!

Just say…I also looked at pornography and did not mention it in my previous confession.

 

[callmeChris]

I think it is better to confess your sins to the priest in almost good enough detail. In this way he can have a better chance of giving you guidance in Jesus’ name. If you forget a sin , It’s nothing that God can punish you for. it is human nature to forget. Remember what God said:

***“For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34

---

 

[rupertsland]

Hello.

My situation is somewhat similar to ChosenOne’s earlier post “Are All Sins Forgiven At Confession”.

About 15 years ago, while in university, I was coming back to the Catholic church and went to confession. I have to admit, I had no knowledge about invalid confessions, nor was I aware of mortal sins (I wish I did). I was confirmed into the Catholic church while I was a teenager, but I honestly can not recall ever hearing anything about invalid confessions or mortal sins in the classes I was asked to take by the parish in preparation for first confession, communion and confirmation – I don’t know why, but that’s no excuse.

So in confessing to a priest 15 years ago, there were a number of sins I individually confessed (all unrelated to each other), but I left out one sin from that confession - which was a mortal sin. I had the intention to confess that sin (note: it was unrelated to all the other sins), but was terrified or embarassed of confessing it. I did not confess that mortal sin until a few years later (which I think was my next confession). I went to more confessions after that (a number of times for the same mortal sin, which I’ve been battling to stop), and received communion. I also began reciting the Holy Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and attending the Divine Mercy Sunday masses each year.

Here are my questions:

• Was my whole confession 15 years ago completely invalid?
• Were all confessions after that one invalid, as well?
• Did I commit sacrilage, as well?

If all those confessions were completely invalid, do I have go to confession now and confess everything I confessed at the first confession 15 years ago, including the mortal sin, and then some? Or have I misunderstood something?

I seek clarification, and thank you for your help.

rupertsland

 

[brina1416]

Just go back and tell him you looked at porn. You’ll feel better about once you do.

 

[momor]

Hello.

My situation is somewhat similar to ChosenOne’s earlier post “Are All Sins Forgiven At Confession”.

About 15 years ago, while in university, I was coming back to the Catholic church and went to confession. I have to admit, I had no knowledge about invalid confessions, nor was I aware of mortal sins (I wish I did). I was confirmed into the Catholic church while I was a teenager, but I honestly can not recall ever hearing anything about invalid confessions or mortal sins in the classes I was asked to take by the parish in preparation for first confession, communion and confirmation – I don’t know why, but that’s no excuse.

So in confessing to a priest 15 years ago, there were a number of sins I individually confessed (all unrelated to each other), but I left out one sin from that confession - which was a mortal sin. I had the intention to confess that sin (note: it was unrelated to all the other sins), but was terrified or embarassed of confessing it. I did not confess that mortal sin until a few years later (which I think was my next confession). I went to more confessions after that (a number of times for the same mortal sin, which I’ve been battling to stop), and received communion. I also began reciting the Holy Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and attending the Divine Mercy Sunday masses each year.

Here are my questions:

• Was my whole confession 15 years ago completely invalid?
• Were all confessions after that one invalid, as well?
• Did I commit sacrilage, as well?

If all those confessions were completely invalid, do I have go to confession now and confess everything I confessed at the first confession 15 years ago, including the mortal sin, and then some? Or have I misunderstood something?

I seek clarification, and thank you for your help.

rupertsland

Hi. I think the best advice would come from talking to a priest about it in confession. He can ask all the appropriate questions and evaluate your intent and culpability. Just resolve to tell the whole truth. Anything we say here is guesswork.

 

[chrisman27]

hey y’all
there is a thing called GENERAL CONFESSION.

it basically means you confess all your sins from your whole life.

 

[EasterJoy]

Uh,this is WAY too confusing!

Just say…I also looked at pornography and did not mention it in my previous confession.

This is very good advice, with this caveat: there are some of us afflicted with scrupulosity who never feel as if their confession is “good enough.” Therefore, it is important to realize that a “do over” is not always a desirable thing, let alone a required thing. You do your best, you move on, you try to do better each time, but you don’t look back unless you really did hold back a mortal sin on purpose.

 

[belmontmac]

hey y’all
there is a thing called GENERAL CONFESSION.

it basically means you confess all your sins from your whole life.

Agreed, and to the OP, this is why it is recommended to confess monthly, bring light on our sinfullness, so we can make a GOOD confession, be truly repentant, and not be ashamed of our past, and move on.