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Question
Dear Father Angelo,
I would like to ask you a few questions about confession. When going to confession, can some sins be disclosed to one priest and others to another? If you can’t repent some sins, can you confess only those you repent of? If after the confession you feel the need to speak with another priest, can the confession already made be repeated in whole or in part?
Goodbye and thank you.
Priest’s answer
Dear friend,
1. To answer your questions, it is necessary to remember that the sacrament of Penance is the sacrament of our return to God.
2. How can we go back to God until all grave sins are forgiven, which by their nature keep us away from Him? As long as even one mortal or serious sin remains in us, we remain far from the Lord.
3. For this reason, even if the priest gives absolution only for the sins that a person has confessed to him while deliberately withholding others, that absolution does not cover it. The believer who acted in this way would be committing a sacrilege because he prevents the sacrament from reaching its effect.
4. The same also applies to repentance. Until one has repented of all mortal and serious sin, it is useless to confess only the sins one has repented of. The essential reason is that we continue to remain distant from the Lord. After all, one will then not be entirely sorry for having crucified him.
5. As you see, it is not about being absolved of a sin in the same way as one is absolved in court, where transgressions of the law can be absolved one at a time, in separate trials. This is about re-establishing a personal relationship. It’s about returning to the Lord with all your heart. In the act of sorrow one says, “My God, I repent and I regret my sins with all my heart”. If we are wholeheartedly sorry, our return to the Lord must be whole, not half-hearted.
6. If after confession one feels the need to speak to another priest about one’s sins, he can do so. He can talk about it to receive advice, or to increase repentance, but not to question or to strengthen the absolution previously received. Furthermore, since these are sins already absolved, he can repeat the confession both in part and in its entirety.
Goodbye for now, I remind you to the Lord and I bless you.
Father Angelo