The Catholic Letter


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The Steps To Breaking Pornography Addiction

Step 2 – Confess Your Problem

Viewing pornography and masturbation are both mortal sins.  Under normal circumstances, you cannot be forgiven unless you go to confession.  That's plain and simple Catholic Teaching.   Look through the catechism and Church documents, you won't find a loophole.  If you haven't gone to confession (with a priest, who gives you absolution for your sins) for looking at pornography and/or masturbating, do so at the nearest opportunity.

You cannot hope to win this battle without this sacrament.  Even our Protestant brothers and sisters begin to see this, and recommend confession with a minister.  You must say your sins out loud.  You must hear them.  You must recognize them.  And most of all, you must be forgiven from them.  All of this happens in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

But do you have to confess it EVERY time you look at pornography or masturbate?

Yes--yes you do.  If you haven't been to confession for a while (if you've lost count of the numbers) then just tell the priest how long the problem has existed and how often it happens.

But that leaves another problem.  You also need the sacrament of the Eucharist to have the strength to fight pornography addiction.  Sometimes, you might find yourself unable to receive the Eucharist because you can't go very long without committing the sin.  You go on Saturday, and by Saturday night, you're in a state of mortal sin again.

What do you do?

Talk to your priest about this in the confessional.  Ask your priest if you can find a way to go to confession just before Mass.  Or go to Mass on Saturday night.  Also, the Catechism does mention a possibility of being less culpable for a sin if the penitent has an addiction.  It's a little ambiguous, and it can be interpreted in different ways.  It's probably best to follow the direction of your confessor.