| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| When confessing sins when you were a religious but not | Teresa | Wednesday, January 23, 2013 |
Question: Hi brother thanks for your clarity and insight always. I have a question in which I was a religious for about ten years and had to leave for various reasons. My question is if I was to do a general confession and I was to confess a sin that I did commit as a religious do I need to bring it up into confession I did this when I was a religious. I was told in formation that as a religious you would have to start with bless me father for I have sinned I am a religious with vows.. So I am wondering if I need to say when I committed this sin I was a religious. Because I am not anymore. I am bringing up some old sins to let the confessor know I am being tempted by them and it has come up in prayer to bring this sin up. What are your thoughts on this and the Church's thoughts on this? |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD
Dear Teresa: It is not technically required for a Religious to reveal that fact to the Priest in Confession. Rather, it is helpful information for the Priest to be able to advise and counsel the person. Of course, if this is a rule of the Order, then one must obey, though I am not sure such a rule is proper as this pertains to a Sacrament and not to religious rules. In any event, you are no longer Religious, thus you are not under obedience to the rules of your former Order. Since the Church only requires confession of sins in kind and number, the circumstances of the sin, such as the fact that you committed the sin while you were a Religious, is not required. In terms of doing a General Confession to reveal past forgiven sins "to let the confessor know I am being tempted by them" it may be prudent to tell your confessor that the sin was committed while in the Religious state-of-life. That may help him to better understand your history and your current temptations. But, this is not required; it is up to you. God Bless, Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum
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