Can a kid get 1st reconciliation before baptism?

[redtech]

My kids go to our Parish’s Catholic grade school. This Sunday between Masses, there is a meeting for the parents of 2nd graders about First Reconciliation. I’m so excited that my daughter will be making hers this year!

Anyway, I was talking with another mom who sighed in frustration and said she still needed to get her daughter baptized. Will she be able to go through first reconciliation without being baptized?

 

[Catholic90]

She has to be baptized first. Three sacraments are the sacraments of Initiation - baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Will she be able to go through first reconciliation without being baptized?

No! Baptism is the gateway to the other sacraments. You cannot receive any of the other six sacraments until you have been baptised. Baptism will forgive all her sins.

How old is this lady’s daughter? She may be baptised and then be prepared for first confession and first holy communion with the other children. If she’s older than the normal age (7/8) for this, then she will have to enter the catechumenate and receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil.

 

[redtech]

Thanks Catholic90. That’s kind of what I thought. I really hope her mom gets on the ball and gets her baptized. I’d hate for her to be left out of receiving the other sacraments with her classmates.

At what age is it ok for a kid to just get baptized though? She’s 8. Should she not have to go through RCIA?

 

[redtech]

No! Baptism is the gateway to the other sacraments. You cannot receive any of the other six sacraments until you have been baptised. Baptism will forgive all her sins.

How old is this lady’s daughter? She may be baptised and then be prepared for first confession and first holy communion with the other children. If she’s older than the normal age (7/8) for this, then she will have to enter the catechumenate and receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil.

Thanks, I was typing my question the same time you were typing that answer!

 

[Joe_5859]

Thanks Catholic90. That’s kind of what I thought. I really hope her mom gets on the ball and gets her baptized. I’d hate for her to be left out of receiving the other sacraments with her classmates.

At what age is it ok for a kid to just get baptized though? She’s 8. Should she not have to go through RCIA?

If she’s 8 and past the age of reason, they likely will not baptize her without instruction of some sort. She wouldn’t go through RCIA, but some places have a RCIC for children. The priest should know how to handle it.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

Some priests will run her through the process without absolution which means she is not receiving grace (no sacrament), they do this for the practical side of teaching her about reconciliation

 

[Corki]

Thanks Catholic90. That’s kind of what I thought. I really hope her mom gets on the ball and gets her baptized. I’d hate for her to be left out of receiving the other sacraments with her classmates.

At what age is it ok for a kid to just get baptized though? She’s 8. Should she not have to go through RCIA?

The age where the Church considers her an infant is the age of reason, usually around age 7. But it is not an absolute age. The parents really need to sit down with the priest and determine how best to get this child up-to-date with her Sacraments.

RCIA is the rite but it is also used to refer to the sequence of classes in preparation. For a child in Catholic school, the pastor may decide no additional classes are needed from regular Religion classes at school.

If she is considered no longer an infant, she should be receiving Baptism, Confirmation and Communion all together. She wouldn’t need Reconciliation at this time since Baptism takes care of all sin. But it is good for her to learn about it and to develop a habit of going to Confession after her Baptism.

But again, it all needs to be discussed with the pastor. Each diocese has policies in place for the practical means of handling situations like this.

 

[redtech]

Wow, they would really confirm her in 2nd grade?

I was 17 when our class was confirmed. I heard they made it younger, but I was thinking it was 8th grade.

In my opinion, I think it would be better to confirm in the high school age, that seems to be when kids need it the most. You rarely see any teenagers at Mass in our parish. Sadly, you don’t see a lot of the kids that attend the Parish school there either. I think the devout familes should get a break on tuition.

 

[Corki]

Wow, they would really confirm her in 2nd grade?

Yes.

It is only for infants that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are separated. Once a child is no longer an infant, those Sacraments are given together and Communion given right after (usually at the same Mass). “Infant” in church terms is anyone who has not yet reached the age of reason.

 

[Usige]

Wow, they would really confirm her in 2nd grade?

Yep. My wife and daughter joined the church when she was 9 and they both were baptized, confirmed and received first communion together at the Easter vigil.

Canon law 97§2 makes it clear that children over the age of 7 are no longer innocents and are assumed to be capable of moral reasoning (i.e. can tell right from wrong). Once a person can make their own baptismal promises they are to receive all 3 sacraments of initiation during the same rite.

For us we made my daughter continue through religious ed up through confirmation classes. We just had to let the priest know that she was already confirmed, etc. so that there was no confusion when they got to 10th grade (the class had already done first confession and first communion the year before so no issues there).

 

[Joe_5859]

Wow, they would really confirm her in 2nd grade?

I was 17 when our class was confirmed. I heard they made it younger, but I was thinking it was 8th grade.

The age of Confirmation varies from diocese to diocese here in the U.S… Some dioceses are going with “Restored Order” and placing the Sacrament of Confirmation before First Communion. My diocese leaves it up to the pastor. For my parish, Confirmation for all the kids is given in 2nd grade.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

Here in VA confirmation is in 8th grade or latter. A nine year old may get baptised and recieve first communion but will wait until the eighth grade for confirmation.

 

[PatriceA]

My kids go to our Parish’s Catholic grade school. This Sunday between Masses, there is a meeting for the parents of 2nd graders about First Reconciliation. I’m so excited that my daughter will be making hers this year!

Anyway, I was talking with another mom who sighed in frustration and said she still needed to get her daughter baptized. Will she be able to go through first reconciliation without being baptized?

I got to say I’m surprised this mother was even included in the upcoming meetings for the 2nd graders. We had to provide a baptismal certificate at the beginning of the school year when our daughter was in the second grade, families had to make other arrangements if they couldn’t provide the certificate, they were not included in any further activities/meetings. Even in our CCD program, families must provide a baptismal certificate EVERY year to be registered for the classes.

 

[Corki]

Here in VA confirmation is in 8th grade or latter. A nine year old may get baptised and recieve first communion but will wait until the eighth grade for confirmation.

Are you sure about that? At age 9, the Church would not consider the child an infant. If not an infant, the Sacraments of initiation shouldn’t be separated by that much.

I have seen in our diocese where a child may be Baptised and Confirmed at one Mass and then receive FHC at a Mass a few weeks later so that they can do FHC with the parish group. I don’t think that’s exactly “by the book” either but it is at least in the right order and not separated by years.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

Wow, they would really confirm her in 2nd grade?

I was 17 when our class was confirmed. I heard they made it younger, but I was thinking it was 8th grade.

In my opinion, I think it would be better to confirm in the high school age, that seems to be when kids need it the most. …

Under the age of reason the children are prepared by their parents and priest once the age of reason is reached the person is all in or not. So the Priest cannot do a partial preparation of a person over the age of reason. Btw - RCIA veries a great deal Parish to Parish also some run family programs and a second grader could fit in, others have only adults in RCIA and offer alternates for younger people.

 

[Brendan]

Here in VA confirmation is in 8th grade or latter. A nine year old may get baptised and recieve first communion but will wait until the eighth grade for confirmation.

That should not be the case.

If a person who is past the age of reason ( 7 or so) is Baptized, Canon law requires the priest to adminsiter Confirmation and Holy Communion as well.

 

[redtech]

I got to say I’m surprised this mother was even included in the upcoming meetings for the 2nd graders. We had to provide a baptismal certificate at the beginning of the school year when our daughter was in the second grade, families had to make other arrangements if they couldn’t provide the certificate, they were not included in any further activities/meetings. Even in our CCD program, families must provide a baptismal certificate EVERY year to be registered for the classes.

We are a pretty small (and dwindling) parish. I think there are only 16 kids in our 2nd grade class and there is 1 or two that aren’t Catholic. Does the ‘unbaptized’ girl count as Catholic? Since it’s pretty small here, I think they will bend over backwards to get everyone in! I guess there are some PSR kids too that don’t attend our school. I don’t know how many there are though.

Our kid’s baptismal certificates are on file with the Parish but we are asked to provide them during school registrations.

I have to say I was pretty suprised when she told me that her kids weren’t baptized. I remember when my kids were born, I was so freaked out that they were going to die of SIDS or something so I got them baptized as soon as I possibly could. I don’t know why I was always so worried about them dying in their sleep. I didn’t enjoy the infant stage. I was so glad when they reached their first birthdays.

 

[puzzleannie]

Anyway, I was talking with another mom who sighed in frustration and said she still needed to get her daughter baptized. Will she be able to go through first reconciliation without being baptized?

no, there is no need, as all sins are remitted in baptism. She should be prepared for first confession sometime after she is baptized, receives first communion and confirmation. That is why the newly baptized, or one of the reasons why, continue to attend mystagogy sessions after Easter.

 

[The_Old_Medic]

Yes.

It is only for infants that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are separated. Once a child is no longer an infant, those Sacraments are given together and Communion given right after (usually at the same Mass). “Infant” in church terms is anyone who has not yet reached the age of reason.

This is NOT always the case. It is much more common in the Eastern Rites of the Church, and much LESS common in the Latin Rite.

It also depends on when this occurred. I was baptized on a Saturday afternoon (I was 13) with only my sponsor and the Priest present. The next morning, I just went up to Communion with everyone else. Two weeks later, I was confirmed at the Cathedral, along with all of the other teens. This happened in 1957.