Was This a Valid Confession?

[Ricky_C]

I’m 99% sure the Confession I had today was perfectly valid, but I just wanted to check here to make sure. While the priest talked to me pretty informally, he still said the things that priests do in Confession, except he didn’t start with the Sign of the Cross. Not sure if it matters, but I made the Sign of the Cross before I’d walked in to the confessional. Thanks in advance, and may God bless you all!

 

[jaimeleglise]

If he did the rite of absolution, I am pretty sure it was valid.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

If you confessed your sins – and you were sorry for them – and the priest pronounced the words of absolution, then you received the sacrament of reconciliation.

 

[Layp3rs0n]

Confession has a formula but it is not an absolute liturgical necessity. I’ve had a “drive by absolution” I didn’t even expect. I was walking up the nave of the Church with him.

Me: Father, can I talk to for a sec? You see, I did x, y, and z and I’m worried about it.

Priest: Are you sorry for those sins and promise not to try to do not them again?

Me: Well, yes…

Priest: Then you’re forgiven. Makes very small Sign of the Cross Say a Hail Mary.

Me: You can do that just like that?!

Priest: Yup!

 

[edward_george]

Confession has a formula but it is not an absolute liturgical necessity. I’ve had a “drive by absolution” I didn’t even expect. I was walking up the nave of the Church with him.

Me: Father, can I talk to for a sec? You see, I did x, y, and z and I’m worried about it.

Priest: Are you sorry for those sins and promise not to try to do not them again?

Me: Well, yes…

Priest: Then you’re forgiven. Makes very small Sign of the Cross Say a Hail Mary.

Me: You can do that just like that?!

Priest: Yup!

Actually, the formula is not only a liturgical necessity, it is a sacramental one, as in the sacrament does not occur without the essential words. For the sacrament of penance, the minimum essential words are “I absolve you,” and it is illicit to neglect to use the rest of the formula, even though the essential words suffice for validity.

-ACEGC

 

[Don_Ruggero]

It is not always illicit to use only the essential words of absolution…the priest properly has latitude to make the determination that the situation calls for doing so – and I have done so on various occasions for various prudential reasons.

In the instance cited, I presume the priest used only the essential words of absolution and the discreet sign of the cross in order to make it less apparent to anyone in the church that the person he was speaking with was, in that moment, making a sacramental confession since they were in an open and public area.

 

[Layp3rs0n]

Thank you, Father Rugerro!