The 7 Types of Catholic Confessions

"Ambiguous Acknowledgement"

Catholics who are in the confessional booth do not have to walk the priest through every step of their temptation, but they do need to give enough information for the priest to understand exactly what is being confessed. Unfortunately, not all Catholics give the priest enough information to sort out exactly what the Catholic should do as penance. Vague and indistinct admissions of “doing what I knew I shouldn’t do” or simply “I have sinned” are not confessions for which the priest can assign penance. The priest needs a little more information from the Catholic. Even simply naming the sin would help. “The sin of pride” is at least a little more detailed than “Father, I messed up.”