Should I go to confession for an insensitive comment I made by accident?

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Mariamargarida

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A primary school friend of mine posted that she was pregnant on April fools day so I thought it was a prank. She said it wasn’t, but I still thought she was joking (as we are only 18 years old and she’s the type of person to joke around about things) so I said I’d check back in 9 months. She posted a video of herself today and coincidentally it’s 9 months since April, so I messaged her saying “I knew you weren’t pregnant!” Turns out she actually had been, and suffered a very traumatic miscarriage. As you can imagine, I feel absolutely terrible about the comment I made; and although I didn’t mean to, as I really thought it was a joke, I feel like I was completely insensitive and am feeling very guilty. I have obviously sincerely apologised and even offered my prayers to heal her heart from the pain of what happened. But should I go to confession for it? I feel like I totally disrespected the innocent baby who passed. Thoughts??
 
You cannot sin by accident. It’s natural that you feel a number of bad emotions about this, but none of that adds up to sin. May you and your friend find peace (and you all be in my prayers).

If you want to discuss with your priest in confession, there’s no harm; I just don’t see it as necessary. It can’t be more than a venial sin at most, and those are forgiven in a number of ways (like just attending Mass).
 
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If she is the type to joke about such things AND post about it on April fools then you did nothing sinful. If she is hurt by it, though, still apologise and make it up.to her.
 
And welcome to CAF. There are some very knowledgeable people here.
 
No, no need to confess a mistake. But November is baby loss awareness month. Maybe accompany her to a grief support group for mom’s who have lost babies??
 
I’ve found out the answer now but what did you mean by this? X
 
While we cannot sin accidently, it would be good for you to offer her a sincere (not on Facebook) apology.
 
That isn’t a sin, really. You thought she was joking.

Sin requires knowledge and consent—had you known she was pregnant you would not have made the comment.

Feeling guilty does not equal sin. A mistake is not a sin, unless you were negligent in your responsibilities.

Also, confession is only needed for mortal sins. Making an insensitive comment, unless it was really malicious, would not be grave matter in most cases.
 
GladTidings said:
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Mariamargarida:
She posted a video of herself today and coincidentally it’s 9 months since April,
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It’s January already? Where have I been? I missed Christmas.
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I’d say she meant that the 9 months was up. People normally don’t announce pregnancy until the 12 week scan is done. So April was probs the 3 month mark.
 
Emeraldlady said:
I’d say she meant that the 9 months was up. People normally don’t announce pregnancy until the 12 week scan is done. So April was probs the 3 month mark.
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Depends. I was listening to a podcast where one of the presenters announced that she was pregnant at 5 weeks.
 
What it means is that October is not nine months from April. Your story’s math is off.
 
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