Specificity

[Aviator447]

I have been searching through previous forum posts regarding this and also have looked at other websites and get mixed answers. I wanted to know if in confession you must specify that a lustful thought you had was towards your same sex. I know there have been previous threads on this particular issue on this forum but again the answers are mixed so I wanted to try on my own and get some answers. However what I have concluded up to this point is that you do not have to specify this. My reasoning behind this conclusion is based upon my research online. The majority of people say that if a priest needs more details then he will ask. Also on the AAA forum here Michelle Arnold talks about using euphemism in confession which I wouldn’t even be doing that but also someone said Father Serpa told them that Lust is Lust. Last based on this jimmyakin.com/2007/03/specific_confes.html it would seem that the Genus of the sin is essentially adultery/impurity/against the sixth and ninth commandments and the species is lust therefore that should be all that is needed…right? Let me know all of your opinions so I can make a good confession!

 

[JM3]

If you want to make a good confession, then you will tell the truth and not try to find a justification for hiding it.

CCC 1470 In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin.79 In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and "does not come into judgment."80

 

[bzkoss236]

I may not say that you have to say that, but I would encourage one to.

It’s like being at the doctor’s office. The more specific you are with your problem, the better advice/medicine you’ll receive in return.

So, the more specific you are in confession, you in turn could get better advice on how to avoid that which causes you to sin.