The priest told me not to confess forgotten past sins. Did I make a bad confession?

[Maximus_88]

Today while I was in confession I began confessing sins from when I was a kid that I had previously forgotten. As I was doing this, the priest interrupted me and told me that it was not necessary to confess those sins which I had forgotten to confess in the past. He then asked me to confess any sins that I had committed after my most recent confession. I still remembered a sin from my past that I wanted to confess, but then at the same time I was not in the frame of mind at that point to disobey the priest, so I did what he told me to do.

It is my understanding that Canon Law requires me to confess any mortal sins that are on my conscience. I also know that deliberate consent of the will is required in order for a mortal sin to be committed. So my question is, did I make a bad confession, thereby committing the sin of sacrilege, by omitting the past sin, or did I lack the consent to do so because the priest explicitly told me to confess only those sins that I have committed since my last confession and I was simply doing what he told me to do?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Friend,

You have a bit of a problem with scruples. Ordinarily, if one remembers a mortal sin that one forgot to confess, then one ought to mention at his next Confession–not because it has not been forgiven. Whenever a priests absolves us, ALL our sins are forgiven, including the ones we have forgotten. We are to mention them only as an expression of our sorrow.

But I suspect that the priest noted that you were sounding a bit scrupulous and told you not to mention them. I tell people who are scrupulous that they no longer have the luxury of going back over the past. I suggest that you obey your Confessor in this. Your recent Confession is totally valid.

Fr. VS