Do I have to confess how many times I committed a sin?

Catholics might question whether they need to remember how many times a sin was committed and confess that for a confession to be valid.

The answer to this question can be found in Canon 988 §1 of the Code of Canon Law: “A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.”

When the Church commands us to confess all our grave sins in “kind” that simply means to confess what the sin is. Here, we need to express clearly to the confessor what the sin was in clear language. We ought not to be vague in our confession, but specific.

For example, if one of the faithful were to commit adultery, it would not be sufficient for him to confess that he committed some unnamed sexual sin, but rather he must confess, quite plainly, that he committed adultery.

Another important aspect of confessing our sins in kind is also to inform the confessor of any circumstances that affect the nature or gravity of the sin. Let’s say there was a penitent who wanted to confess cussing in front of schoolchildren. If the penitent in question was a 15-year-old boy, that’s one thing, but if the penitent is a priest, that’s quite another. 

Finally, regarding the “number” requirement. We are required to confess how many times we committed a mortal sin. Consider the mortal sin of skipping Mass on Sunday. There is a large difference between a penitent who has skipped Sunday Mass only once and a penitent who has not been to Mass in 15 years.

But what if the penitent doesn’t know exactly how many times he has committed a sin? In that case, he must simply do his best. It is sufficient, in this case, for him to say that he committed a sin “three or four times” or “many times” or something to the like, so that the confessor can get a good idea of how many times the sin has been committed (it is also important to note that if we legitimately forget one of our sins, that sin will still be forgiven by going to confession, but if we remember it later, we must include it in our next confession).

But why do we do all this? Why do we precede our confession with a “diligent examination of conscience” before going to confession? The reason is simple: our sins have offended God and wounded both our own souls and the Church. We must do our best to beg God’s mercy for each grave sin that we have committed by confessing them directly. We take ownership of our sins and lay them before the feet of our Most Merciful Savior when going to confession. Let us, therefore, remember the great mercy that Our Lord offers us in this great sacrament, and hasten towards it.

Fr. Greg Luger is pastor at the Churches of St. Jerome in Mohall, St. James in Sherwood and St. John in Lansford. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to info@bismarckdiocese.com with “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.