Am I Catholic?

[Raygan]

Hi everyone,

I was recently reflecting on my conversion to the Church and I began to wonder if my initiation was valid. I never received any formal instruction before entering the Church, no RCIA, nothing. I had attending Catholic school as a child but, I did not know the faith. I just asked a priest if I could be Catholic, he said yes and I made a profession of faith in a classroom in elementary school. I know this is not normal but, I assume it was valid?

Edit: Additional point- I don’t think I meant it when I made my profession of faith then, but I do now. Also this only took place about five years ago.
Thanks and God Bless.

 

[kozlosap]

Ragan, we’re you baptized or confirmed? BTW, Welcome!!

 

[Mintaka]

RCIA is not required by Church law.

Entry into the Church is a judgement call reserved for priests and bishops (and deacons, since they can Baptize). So if they talk to someone and they seem to be ready, they can Baptize the person just as quick as St. Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch who wanted to know how to interpret Isaiah.

Obviously this power is used a lot on deathbed conversions!

Priests, etc. can also give private instruction to people who seem to need special mentoring, or who already know a lot of stuff and have more advanced questions than the average RCIA class can handle. For example, it’s well known that Father Zuhlsdorf came into the Church from being a Lutheran, because the parish priest of St. Agnes in Minneapolis kept having dinner with him and discussing his questions.

But since most priests are pretty busy, and many of them are not comfortable with teaching and apologetics, parishes can get specialized RCIA classes also. These are really supposed to be only for non-Christians, but usually baptized Christians get lumped in, and sometimes lapsed Catholics too.

None of this stuff is required, as I said. RCIA is a standardized help, but it is not a requirement. The only thing required is Baptism and being reconciled with the Church.

So yes, it sounds like your parish priest treated you as a special case to make things easier for you.

 

[esieffe]

It won’t hurt to talk to a RCIA director. Do you attend Mass? If enough priests tell you that you are Catholic, go with that, but if you have not been confirmed, you need to be, unless there is something in Catholic schools I don’t know about, and there might be.

A really great read is “Rediscover Catholicism” by Mathew Kelly. If you need to attend RCIA, don’t consider it some laborious process you have to go through, rather consider it an exciting journey, because that is what it is. Most who go through this process consider the experience as one of the high points of their lives.

Welcome and enjoy your spiritual journey.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

OP, you don’t mention being baptized or confirmed. If you were, you are a Catholic. Sadly, many Catholics are poorly catechized. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is always a good reference to the Church’s teachings. Of course, there is also much good reading on the Catholic Answers website.

 

[thistle]

Hi everyone,

I was recently reflecting on my conversion to the Church and I began to wonder if my initiation was valid. I never received any formal instruction before entering the Church, no RCIA, nothing. I had attending Catholic school as a child but, I did not know the faith. I just asked a priest if I could be Catholic, he said yes and I made a profession of faith in a classroom in elementary school. I know this is not normal but, I assume it was valid?

Edit: Additional point- I don’t think I meant it when I made my profession of faith then, but I do now. Also this only took place about five years ago.
Thanks and God Bless.

If you were baptised into the Catholic Church or previously validy baptised as a non-Catholic Christian and then formally accepted into the Catholic Church then you are Catholic.

 

[Supakay]

Hi,

I’m a 50 year old Catholic, strong in the faith and trying to make sure i do the right thing. Unfortunately, i need to ask a question straight out of the box so i apologise if I’m not on the right page here.

I have received the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage and had my first Holy Communion when i was 10 years old. Over the years, despite being a fully active catholic in the church and community, i have never got round to performing the sacrament of Confirmation. As i grow older the importance of this sacrament is growing stronger but the thought of having to go through the rigours of RCIA have become rather daunting. That said, is it possible for my parish priest to perform the sacrament of confirmation in private outside of the Easter season? Is there a faster and more private way to accomplish this?

I really need to get this sorted out.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Vico]

Hi,

I’m a 50 year old Catholic, strong in the faith and trying to make sure i do the right thing. Unfortunately, i need to ask a question straight out of the box so i apologise if I’m not on the right page here.

I have received the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage and had my first Holy Communion when i was 10 years old. Over the years, despite being a fully active catholic in the church and community, i have never got round to performing the sacrament of Confirmation. As i grow older the importance of this sacrament is growing stronger but the thought of having to go through the rigours of RCIA have become rather daunting. That said, is it possible for my parish priest to perform the sacrament of confirmation in private outside of the Easter season? Is there a faster and more private way to accomplish this?

I really need to get this sorted out.

Thanks for the replies.

It is possible.

There must be assurance of Catechesis and disposition before reception of Confirmation and the norm is that the Bishop will confirm (Latin Catholics) but may grant this to a priest.

Latin Canon Law (CIC):**Can. 882 **

The ordinary minister of confirmation is a bishop; a presbyter provided with this faculty in virtue of universal law or the special grant of the competent authority also confers this sacrament validly.

**Can. 883 **

The following possess the faculty of administering confirmation by the law itself:

1/ within the boundaries of their jurisdiction, those who are equivalent in law to a diocesan bishop;
2/ as regards the person in question, the presbyter who by virtue of office or mandate of the diocesan bishop baptizes one who is no longer an infant or admits one already baptized into the full communion of the Catholic Church;
3/ as regards those who are in danger of death, the pastor or indeed any presbyter.
​

**Can. 884 **

§1. The diocesan bishop is to administer confirmation personally or is to take care that another bishop administers it. If necessity requires it, he can grant the faculty to one or more specific presbyters, who are to administer this sacrament.
§2. For a grave cause the bishop and even the presbyter endowed with the faculty of confirming in virtue of the law or the special grant of the competent authority can in single cases also associate presbyters with themselves to administer the sacrament.

**Can. 889 **

§1. Every baptized person not yet confirmed and only such a person is capable of receiving confirmation.
§2. To receive confirmation licitly outside the danger of death requires that a person who has the use of reason be suitably instructed, properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises.

 

[hansard]

I was baptised at 2 weeks old. I never had the great privilege of choice. It turns out many of my friends were in the same boat: baptised without consent and without even the *possibility *of consent.
We are all so complacent that none of us have ever joined another religion, nor, I dare say, ever considered doing that. Most people stay in the religion of their parents.

It must be nice to have chosen one’s religion.

(Editing in: To answer the OP’s question, yes, you are most certainly Catholic.)

 

[thistle]

Hi,

I’m a 50 year old Catholic, strong in the faith and trying to make sure i do the right thing. Unfortunately, i need to ask a question straight out of the box so i apologise if I’m not on the right page here.

I have received the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage and had my first Holy Communion when i was 10 years old. Over the years, despite being a fully active catholic in the church and community, i have never got round to performing the sacrament of Confirmation. As i grow older the importance of this sacrament is growing stronger but the thought of having to go through the rigours of RCIA have become rather daunting. That said, is it possible for my parish priest to perform the sacrament of confirmation in private outside of the Easter season? Is there a faster and more private way to accomplish this?

I really need to get this sorted out.

Thanks for the replies.

I’m curious. How could you be married in a Catholic Church without being confirmed. It is a requirement to getting married, unless there is some grave reason that did not happen. All those getting married have to provide proof to the priest prior to marriage that they have been confirmed.

 

[Vico]

CICCan. 1065 –

1. If they can do so without serious inconvenience, Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage.
2. It is strongly recommended that those to be married approach the sacraments of penance and the Most Holy Eucharist so that they may fruitfully receive the sacrament of marriage.

 

[Supakay]

Thanks for the replies.

I married my formerly Protestant wife around 20 years ago. She was received into the Catholic Church 2 years ago by way of the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church, having been baptized an Anglican. I was advised that until we marry in the Catholic Church we would have to abstain from receiving holy communion. We finally had our parish priest conduct our wedding in a private ceremony in church last year.

I was of the assumption that having been denied the Holy Eucharist it was pertinent that we celebrate the sacrament of marriage to enable us receive holy communion again.

Now, having said that, I do not think I am knowledged enough to be able to determine if my assumptions are right or wrong. I must also state that the issue of my confirmation was never raised by my parish priest who is also a childhood friend, but he was aware that I had stopped raking holy communion.

I hope I haven’t done anything wrong here.

 

[Vico]

Thanks for the replies.

I married my formerly Protestant wife around 20 years ago. She was received into the Catholic Church 2 years ago by way of the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church, having been baptized an Anglican. I was advised that until we marry in the Catholic Church we would have to abstain from receiving holy communion. We finally had our parish priest conduct our wedding in a private ceremony in church last year.

I was of the assumption that having been denied the Holy Eucharist it was pertinent that we celebrate the sacrament of marriage to enable us receive holy communion again.

Now, having said that, I do not think I am knowledged enough to be able to determine if my assumptions are right or wrong. I must also state that the issue of my confirmation was never raised by my parish priest who is also a childhood friend, but he was aware that I had stopped raking holy communion.

I hope I haven’t done anything wrong here.

Yes, it was good to wait for the marriage to receive (if you could not separate temporarily).

The priest has to take responsibility for the administration and preparation for the marriage so he should have gotten the bishops approval. Was it a convalidation?

 

[thistle]

Thanks for the replies.

I married my formerly Protestant wife around 20 years ago. She was received into the Catholic Church 2 years ago by way of the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church, having been baptized an Anglican. I was advised that until we marry in the Catholic Church we would have to abstain from receiving holy communion. We finally had our parish priest conduct our wedding in a private ceremony in church last year.

I was of the assumption that having been denied the Holy Eucharist it was pertinent that we celebrate the sacrament of marriage to enable us receive holy communion again.

Now, having said that, I do not think I am knowledged enough to be able to determine if my assumptions are right or wrong. I must also state that the issue of my confirmation was never raised by my parish priest who is also a childhood friend, but he was aware that I had stopped raking holy communion.

I hope I haven’t done anything wrong here.

It does not sound like you will have a normal marriage ceremony but a marriage convalidation.

togetherforlifeonline.com/wedding/convalidation/

 

[Supakay]

Thanks again for the replies.

Yes, it was a Convalidation.

I noticed both of you made no referral to my confirmation. Could you kindly proffer your opinions. Where do I stand and how do I go about my confirmation now.

Thanks.

 

[thistle]

Thanks again for the replies.

Yes, it was a Convalidation.

I noticed both of you made no referral to my confirmation. Could you kindly proffer your opinions. Where do I stand and how do I go about my confirmation now.

Thanks.

You should ask your priest when your Confirmation should be done.

 

[Vico]

Thanks again for the replies.

Yes, it was a Convalidation.

I noticed both of you made no referral to my confirmation. Could you kindly proffer your opinions. Where do I stand and how do I go about my confirmation now.

Thanks.

See posts #8 and #11.

 

[billvelek]

I married my formerly Protestant wife around 20 years ago. She was received into the Catholic Church 2 years ago by way of the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church, having been baptized an Anglican. I was advised that until we marry in the Catholic Church we would have to abstain from receiving holy communion. … SNIP
Vico;12780128:

Yes, it was good to wait for the marriage to receive (if you could not separate temporarily). … SNIP

I can understand his wife not receiving because she was not Catholic, but Supakay who WAS a Catholic all along (and still is)?? You might well be correct, because I don’t know otherwise, but I had never heard of that. And I don’t understand it, so I hope I can get someone to answer each of these questions, so I’ll put each on a separate line:

Why would that be the case?

Does the Catholic Church consider a marriage outside of the Church a mortal sin?

Or does the Catholic Church consider such a marriage null and void, even if it were performed in a Christian Church ceremony?

Does the Catholic Church therefore consider the act of making love to be fornication and therefore a mortal sin?

If not a mortal sin, then what would be the basis for denying the Eucharist?

If a person is otherwise adhering to the teachings of the Catholic Church, does the mere fact of having married outside the church automatically take them “out of communion” with the Church, i.e., ‘ex communicate’ them?

Any references to Scripture, the Catechism, or to Canon Law will be very much appreciated. I am struggling with my faith, and will find any answers helpful.

Thank you.

Your brother in Christ,

Bill Velek

 

[Lapey]

I was baptised at 2 weeks old. I never had the great privilege of choice. It turns out many of my friends were in the same boat: baptised without consent and without even the *possibility *of consent.
We are all so complacent that none of us have ever joined another religion, nor, I dare say, ever considered doing that. Most people stay in the religion of their parents.

It must be nice to have chosen one’s religion.

(Editing in: To answer the OP’s question, yes, you are most certainly Catholic.)

The thought or belief, if you will, that a person should believe and choose to belong to a faith ro even to be baptized or not is new and basically a Protestant ideal. From the very beginning of the Church parents who came to the faith chose the faith for their children and all members of the household; even the servants of the family. This was and still is the norm. Our parents spoke for you and me at baptism and as young adults most Catholics choose the faith of their parents at Confirmation.

The Church never was of the notion that a person should be allowed to wait until the age of reason or adulthood in order to choose the faith on their own.

To your last point, yes it is nice to be able to choose my religion. I was 6 days old when my parents brought me to the priest for baptism. Since learning what that day did for me, I have chosen this great institution established by Jesus Christ Himself each and every day of my life and Praise God for His willingness to call me to Himself every day I do!!!

 

[billvelek]

The thought or belief, if you will, that a person should believe and choose to belong to a faith ro even to be baptized or not is new and basically a Protestant ideal. … SNIP

Why is it ideal for Protestants and not ideal for Catholics. I see nothing wrong with anyone being raised by their family since birth, regardless of their faith, but I would also consider it to be ideal, or nearly ideal, for anyone to consciously choose their own faith.

Your brother in Christ,

Bill Velek