Sin in the confessional?

[fakename]

Say, that you say “damn” accidentally in confession and the confessor doesn’t stop you and you go on w/ it. What does that do to the confession -invalidate it or no? What should one do in that situation besides go on?

 

[markomalley]

Say, that you say “damn” accidentally in confession and the confessor doesn’t stop you and you go on w/ it. What does that do to the confession -invalidate it or no? What should one do in that situation besides go on?

The operative word is “accidentally.”

For a sin to be mortal, there must be three points: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent.

If you “accidentally” said something, it’s apparent there wasn’t deliberate consent.

The priest recognized this at the time, I’m certain.

 

[purplesunshine]

If the priest didn’t question it then why are you?

 

[baltobetsy]

When did saying “damn” become a mortal sin? No, that would not invalidate a confession.

 

[fakename]

When did saying “damn” become a mortal sin? No, that would not invalidate a confession.

I didn’t say that damn was mortal just a sin -it seemed wrong to do it even accidentally in a confession and I was wondering how that related to the confessions validity. I also wanted to know what to do if that should happen.

 

[thistle]

I didn’t say that damn was mortal just a sin -it seemed wrong to do it even accidentally in a confession and I was wondering how that related to the confessions validity. I also wanted to know what to do if that should happen.

Sounds like you are being scrupulous.

 

[Beth_Cecilia]

Say, that you say “damn” accidentally in confession and the confessor doesn’t stop you and you go on w/ it. What does that do to the confession -invalidate it or no? What should one do in that situation besides go on?

If you noticed, you should have stopped and noted it to the priest. If you did not notice, you should probably be more careful of your tongue generally but it most certainly did not invalidate the confession. And also, being a venial sin, it would have been forgiven right along with all your other sins. You are supposed to confess all of your sins, but if you miss a venial sin, it is forgiven anyway.

 

[vera_dicere]

Damn’s not really a curse word.

Now, if you dropped the F bomb, then perhaps you’d have something to concern yourself with.

Besides, the priest should have said “I absolve you from all your sins confessed and previous” or words to the effect, so that would have covered that damn if it had been some sort of sin.

 

[underacloud]

Depending on context and company, certain words need not be considered sinful. The word “damn” is hardly likely to cause offence these days. Given that your priest didn’t say anything and proceeded to grant absolution, your confession is certainly valid and you need feel no guilt over saying “damn” during the confession. Without knowing the context of what you said, it’s not even certain that you shouldn’t have used the word.