A
Athanasius
Guest
I’m going to confession today, I hope, so I need to know the answer to some questions fairly quickly…(And it would be difficult to put it in words to my priest during confession, and I can’t count on him reading his email and replying before I go there, so. I need to ask it here.)
I’m a very scrupulous person, so I don’t know if I’m simply being scrupulous or not, but this has been concerning me greatly…
Let’s say someone commit two objectively grave sins at the same time that relate directly to each other, . But let’s say only one of them is mortal (due to the other sin, while objectively grave, lacking one of the factors necessary for it to be a mortal one). In confession, is it all right to confess only the mortal sin, and not even to mention the other sin at all (which, while objectively grave, was only venial due to one of the other factors not being present required for mortal sin)?
Actually, I might have two different types of questions, so to let me explain myself better, let me give a couple examples that I just made up off the top of my head instead, so I can know how to deal with both types of questions (WARNING: These examples are of a more sexual content)
For instance, let’s say one watches pornography. While they are watching the pornography, they are also masturbating. They know that watching pornography is a mortal sin, but they truly thought masturbating was only a venial sin. Later on, they might discover that masturbation is a mortal sin. However, is it all right for them to only confess to the pornography, and not to mention the masturbation at all (since the latter sin of masturbation , while objectively grave, was only a venial sin, since it was missing one of the factors necessary for it to be mortal)?
Or, to give another example that might be a little different type of question (I don’t know), let’s say one is having premarital sex. However, when doing so, they are imagining they are having sex with someone else, engaging in impure thoughts that way. They know that the premarital sex is a mortal sin, but they thought the impure thoughts (imagining they are having sex with someone else) was a venial sin. (And, while the two sins are directly related, still, if one confessed to a priest to having premarital sex, the latter sin of having impure thoughts, and imagining you are having sex with someone else, is not something that would obviously be implied, of course. Even though it is still directly related to the sin of premarital sex). Later on you discover that the impure thoughts of imagining having sex with someone else is a mortal sin as well. Is it all right to only confess to the sin of premarital sex, which was a mortal sin, and not even mention the impure thoughts of imagining you were having sex with someone else (since, though objectively grave, it was only a venial sin, due to lacking one of the factors necessary for it to be mortal)?
In either of the two examples I made up above (which are examples, it seems, for the two perhaps different types of questions I have), would it be all right to only mention the one sin that was mortal, and not to even mention at all the latter sin which, while objectively grave, was venial due to missing one of the factors necessary for it be mortal?
I am concerned about past confessions I have made, worrying that I’ll need to re-confess sins (even though forgiven) due to that. I’m also worried about confessions in the future having to worry about that. (This is the last thing I wish to be worrying about…It seems like having to worry about sins of my past never ends.)
Do I need to worry about any of that? I hope it’s only my scrupulosity, and that I do not need to worry about either type of question, but…Please help me! Thanks.
I’m a very scrupulous person, so I don’t know if I’m simply being scrupulous or not, but this has been concerning me greatly…
Let’s say someone commit two objectively grave sins at the same time that relate directly to each other, . But let’s say only one of them is mortal (due to the other sin, while objectively grave, lacking one of the factors necessary for it to be a mortal one). In confession, is it all right to confess only the mortal sin, and not even to mention the other sin at all (which, while objectively grave, was only venial due to one of the other factors not being present required for mortal sin)?
Actually, I might have two different types of questions, so to let me explain myself better, let me give a couple examples that I just made up off the top of my head instead, so I can know how to deal with both types of questions (WARNING: These examples are of a more sexual content)
For instance, let’s say one watches pornography. While they are watching the pornography, they are also masturbating. They know that watching pornography is a mortal sin, but they truly thought masturbating was only a venial sin. Later on, they might discover that masturbation is a mortal sin. However, is it all right for them to only confess to the pornography, and not to mention the masturbation at all (since the latter sin of masturbation , while objectively grave, was only a venial sin, since it was missing one of the factors necessary for it to be mortal)?
Or, to give another example that might be a little different type of question (I don’t know), let’s say one is having premarital sex. However, when doing so, they are imagining they are having sex with someone else, engaging in impure thoughts that way. They know that the premarital sex is a mortal sin, but they thought the impure thoughts (imagining they are having sex with someone else) was a venial sin. (And, while the two sins are directly related, still, if one confessed to a priest to having premarital sex, the latter sin of having impure thoughts, and imagining you are having sex with someone else, is not something that would obviously be implied, of course. Even though it is still directly related to the sin of premarital sex). Later on you discover that the impure thoughts of imagining having sex with someone else is a mortal sin as well. Is it all right to only confess to the sin of premarital sex, which was a mortal sin, and not even mention the impure thoughts of imagining you were having sex with someone else (since, though objectively grave, it was only a venial sin, due to lacking one of the factors necessary for it to be mortal)?
In either of the two examples I made up above (which are examples, it seems, for the two perhaps different types of questions I have), would it be all right to only mention the one sin that was mortal, and not to even mention at all the latter sin which, while objectively grave, was venial due to missing one of the factors necessary for it be mortal?
I am concerned about past confessions I have made, worrying that I’ll need to re-confess sins (even though forgiven) due to that. I’m also worried about confessions in the future having to worry about that. (This is the last thing I wish to be worrying about…It seems like having to worry about sins of my past never ends.)
Do I need to worry about any of that? I hope it’s only my scrupulosity, and that I do not need to worry about either type of question, but…Please help me! Thanks.
