Priest during confession was angry

[cmjmevans]

There are only 10 Commandments. Don’t be so detail. Jesus knows already. Priest will help you if you need to say more.

 

[Emeraldlady]

. I was just scared if my confession was valid and whether or not I could receive holy Communion.

The reason the ‘laundry list’ confessions that we were drilled with in the past, lost favour was because people were going to confession believing that the merit was in the relaying of all our sins like inside a human court room. The important aspect is your examination of conscience and resolve to reject sin and to fully accept the freely given grace of forgiveness through the Sacrament. Always confess mortal sin first without feeling a need to explain. Priests have heard it all before. You don’t have to convince him personally of anything.

 

[Lormar]

I feel so bad for you. Once a priest lost his temper with me as well and it actually traumatized me. Only grace from God enabled me to push that trauma aside and march right back into the confessional - but not to the same priest.

Pray for the priest. There’s no excuse for any priest to treat a penitent like that in the confessional. It could cause a person to stay away from confession for years.

 

[TheLittleLady]

10-12 separate mortal sins is quite a lot!

My guess is that there were more venial matters than you thought. Really, a sit down with Father will help understand what is grave.

 

[jack63]

As I read here on CAF I’m continually surprised how many people talk about negative experiences in confession. Being cutoff is the most common one. There must be 5-10 threads simply talking about being cutoff during confession. So to the OP, other people have had the problem you described. It may be worthwhile to go through other posts on this very topic and situation.

My personal experience going through RCIA to become Catholic is that we didn’t learn anything about confession. I had to read up on it before doing it. A few things that I’ve learned that may be helpful…

-As I understand venial sins are forgiven by holy communion, so perhaps focus on the sins that are grave during confession.

-Confession is not therapy. This does not mean you won’t or shouldn’t get good advice during confession, but if you are looking for therapy or even a long discussion to help bring you back to Catholicism, you are likely looking in the wrong place.

-My personal preference confessing is a behind a screen, in a city where I don’t live, in a church I usually don’t attend, and to a priest I don’t know. You’d think this would be impersonal, but I’ve received good and meaningful advice and I get absolved. Usually this take about 5-6 minutes. I feel this keeps things simple though. Also, the priest has no idea who I am. On some level it means they are less likely to be short with me.

 

[Sursumcorda1]

I lapsed in going to confessions for about 2 years and finally returned with a long list. God even put some old non-confessed sins from my young Protestant years on my heart so I had a really long list. Since I live in a big city with lots of parishes, I just chose 3 parishes nearby and limited each confession to 3-6 sins which lasted several weeks.

 

[poche]

Why not accept this priest’s being upset as a part of your penance. Your time in Purgatory could be shortened.

 

[BarbTh]

I was able to say all mortal sins as I put them first on the list. I feel no anger or spite towards the priest. It just scared me a little, this was the first time I experienced such a thing and whether or not my sins were absolved or if I could receive the Holy Communion. So thank you guys for this, it helped me alot and has given me peace of mind. I’ve read every single one of your replies. God Bless You All.

David, as long as we have confessed all mortal sins, we can go to Holy Communion. Lesser sins or venial sins are forgiven in very many ways through what we might endure in our journey or the good we might do - venial sins can even be forgiven by receiving Holy Communion.
Mortal sin I might have honestly forgotten to confess, or where the priest has cut me short before I had finished my confession, are all forgiven even though things went amiss. Hence, I could go to Holy Communion with Peace and gratefulness. I am obligated, however, to confess what I had forgotten or what had not been confessed due to the priest, in my next Confession. There is no need to get all hot and bothered, agitated, to go quickly to Confession again. Next time you are going to Confession is ok with The Lord.
I am very happy to read that this thread has been helpful to you, and thank you for your post to which I am replying in part…it was a moving post, particularly that you “feel no anger or spitet towards the priest”, also “. I was able to say all mortal sins as I put them first on the list.” Wise move! Wisdom is the first Gift of The Holy Spirit we receive at our Confirmation.

God bless, and it is very evident that He is blessing you already. Amen