Can non-Catholics go to confession?

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EmperorNapoleon

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I was wondering if a non-Catholic baptized in a Protestant church can participate in the sacrament of penance and whether the priest can grant absolution rather than merely listen to the confession.
 
A priest CAN grant absolution to anyone I believe. I have heard it explained in the case of a hypothetical crashing plane-the priest on board can validly grant a general absolution to all passengers. I am not aware of any quid-pro-quo’s on John 20:23 (“whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven. whoever’s sins you retain are retained”)

If you are asking specifically in regard to a non-Catholic Christian seeking sacramental absolution in the confessional, I don’t think that it would not be invalid, although I am fairly sure it would be illicit.
 
I actually asked this question during RCIA. A non-catholic who is not in RCIA can come to confession, but they have to tell the priest they aren’t catholic up front. They also don’t receive absolution, they instead receive a blessing and prayer. So it becomes kind of a ‘counseling session’ with a blessing at the end.
 
marine90 said:
I just dont recall jesus saying any of this
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Do you not recall Jesus telling his disciples (the apostles) that the sins they forgave were forgiven, and the ones they didn’t forgive were not forgiven?
 
marine90 said:
I just don’t recall Jesus saying any of this
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Jesus didn’t intend to specifically spell out every article of faith as it would apply to every generation ever to come. That would have taken years and years, and would have just confused most of the people of the day, as they could not have comprehended the issues we might have as Catholics nowadays. He had much more important things to do, preaching and living the faith to everyone, and setting up the Church, and (most importantly) dying for our sins. So it’s to be expected. I hardly suspect I could have done as much in only 33 years. Especially as I’m not Jesus and all…
 
marine90 said:
I just dont recall jesus saying any of this
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No such thing as a former Catholic. Once baptised as a Catholic you remain a Catholic forever no matter how you feel, think or what you do, or even if turn your back on the Church.
There no ex-Catholics. There are only Catholics in a state of grace and Catholics in a state of mortal sin.
 
EmperorNapoleon said:
I was wondering if a non-Catholic baptized in a Protestant church can participate in the sacrament of penance and whether the priest can grant absolution rather than merely listen to the confession.
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My brother, who is baptized Protestant, just talked to a priest about this. The priest said he would listen and pray a blessing over him, but could not grant absolution.
 
Hmm…When I was in RCIA and baptized, I asked a priest if I could go to confession and told him I was not a Catholic, and he agreed and allowed me to receive absolution when I confessed.
 
EmperorNapoleon said:
I was wondering if a non-Catholic baptized in a Protestant church can participate in the sacrament of penance and whether the priest can grant absolution rather than merely listen to the confession.
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First of all, it’s important to understand the difference between forgiveness and absolution. This is essential to understanding the larger question and it cannot be overlooked.

Forgiveness means that God has remitted the sin. The priest’s power to forgive is found in John 20 (already cited) “whose sins you forgive…” In forgiving, the priest is a minister of God. God forgives absolutely while the priest forgives ministerially (as representative of Christ–in persona Christi) God, in His infinite mercy, can and does forgive even outside of the Sacrament of Confession.

Let’s remember though that the question is not about “can God forgive?” The question is "can a priest absolve?"

Absolution, on the other hand, is a juridic act of the Church. Very important. It is a “legal” act whereby the priest, acting as a minister of the Church, reconciles the penitent to the community which is the Church. Remember that the priest is a minister of the Church, and as such absolves on behalf of the Church. The scriptural basis for this is (not John 20) but Matthew 16 “Thou art Peter…whatever you bind on earth…” This Power of the Keys was given to Peter and his successors. The successors to Peter extend (or delegate) that to priests who can act in the name of the Church–we call this “faculties.”

In the sacrament of Confession, when the sacrament is complete, we are both forgiven (John) and absolved (Matthew). Both of these together constitute reconciliation. It might be helpful to think of “reconciliation” as being a single coin with 2 sides: forgiveness and absolution.

We can be forgiven without being absolved (God forgives absolutely).

Whenever we are absolved, we are also forgiven because the priest reconciles us to both God and the Church.

For more details on this, see the Summa of St. Thomas on Confession
newadvent.org/summa/4084.htm
hint: do a word search on that page for “absolution” and “absolves”

Now, to get back to the question:

Remember that absolution is a juridic (legal) act of the Church which reconciles the sinner to the Church. That means 2 things:
  1. The priest (any priest “sacerdos”) only absolves when he has the legal, canonical authority to act in the name of the Church. Without the authority of the Church, a priest simply cannot absolve–because he cannot commit a juridic act without that authority. This is not the same thing as a priest who can still consecrate the Eucharist even while suspended. A priest must have the faculty to absolve; if not, absolution simply does not occur, regardless of the circumstances or the motivation.
(Aside: The Church, in Her wisdom and concern for souls, gives priests the necessary faculties even when they otherwise would not have them, in certain circumstances. That means that a suspended but still ordained priest who does not have faculties to absolve is given them by the law itself in danger of death. Keep in mind that he is “given” these faculties; he does not automatically have them by virtue of his ordination.)
  1. Absolution reconciles the sinner to the Church. Keep in mind that a person cannot be “reconciled” to the Church without first being a member of the Church. One cannot be restored to a state that never existed in the first place.
In conclusion:

The answer to your question is “no,”
for 2 reasons…
  1. Canon 844 states “Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone…” This means that a priest has the juridic authority to absolve (a juridic act) only the Catholic faithful. (For brevity here, I’m omitting circumstances like the Orthodox or danger-of-death–yes, that does change things, but that’s not what the original question was about.)
Without the canonical, juridic, legal authority (faculties) to absolve, a priest cannot do so. Under normal circumstances, a priest does not have the faculties to absolve non-Catholics. No faculties means no absolution.
  1. A person simply cannot be reconciled to the Church unless he was first fully a member of the Communion/Community which is the Church. Non-Catholic Christians are united to the Church, but not fully members of the Church. They cannot be restored to a state which they never had in the first place.
 
FrDavid96 said:
First of all, it’s important to understand the difference between forgiveness and absolution. This is essential to understanding the larger question and it cannot be overlooked.

Forgiveness means that God has remitted the sin. The priest’s power to forgive is found in John 20 (already cited) “whose sins you forgive…” In forgiving, the priest is a minister of God. God forgives absolutely while the priest forgives ministerially (as representative of Christ–in persona Christi) God, in His infinite mercy, can and does forgive even outside of the Sacrament of Confession.

Let’s remember though that the question is not about “can God forgive?” The question is "can a priest absolve?"

Absolution, on the other hand, is a juridic act of the Church. Very important. It is a “legal” act whereby the priest, acting as a minister of the Church, reconciles the penitent to the community which is the Church. Remember that the priest is a minister of the Church, and as such absolves on behalf of the Church. The scriptural basis for this is (not John 20) but Matthew 16 “Thou art Peter…whatever you bind on earth…” This Power of the Keys was given to Peter and his successors. The successors to Peter extend (or delegate) that to priests who can act in the name of the Church–we call this “faculties.”

In the sacrament of Confession, when the sacrament is complete, we are both forgiven (John) and absolved (Matthew). Both of these together constitute reconciliation. It might be helpful to think of “reconciliation” as being a single coin with 2 sides: forgiveness and absolution.

We can be forgiven without being absolved (God forgives absolutely).

Whenever we are absolved, we are also forgiven because the priest reconciles us to both God and the Church.

For more details on this, see the Summa of St. Thomas on Confession
newadvent.org/summa/4084.htm
hint: do a word search on that page for “absolution” and “absolves”

Now, to get back to the question:

Remember that absolution is a juridic (legal) act of the Church which reconciles the sinner to the Church. That means 2 things:
  1. The priest (any priest “sacerdos”) only absolves when he has the legal, canonical authority to act in the name of the Church. Without the authority of the Church, a priest simply cannot absolve–because he cannot commit a juridic act without that authority. This is not the same thing as a priest who can still consecrate the Eucharist even while suspended. A priest must have the faculty to absolve; if not, absolution simply does not occur, regardless of the circumstances or the motivation.
(Aside: The Church, in Her wisdom and concern for souls, gives priests the necessary faculties even when they otherwise would not have them, in certain circumstances. That means that a suspended but still ordained priest who does not have faculties to absolve is given them by the law itself in danger of death. Keep in mind that he is “given” these faculties; he does not automatically have them by virtue of his ordination.)
  1. Absolution reconciles the sinner to the Church. Keep in mind that a person cannot be “reconciled” to the Church without first being a member of the Church. One cannot be restored to a state that never existed in the first place.
In conclusion:

The answer to your question is “no,”
for 2 reasons…
  1. Canon 844 states “Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone…” This means that a priest has the juridic authority to absolve (a juridic act) only the Catholic faithful. (For brevity here, I’m omitting circumstances like the Orthodox or danger-of-death–yes, that does change things, but that’s not what the original question was about.)
Without the canonical, juridic, legal authority (faculties) to absolve, a priest cannot do so. Under normal circumstances, a priest does not have the faculties to absolve non-Catholics. No faculties means no absolution.
  1. A person simply cannot be reconciled to the Church unless he was first fully a member of the Communion/Community which is the Church. Non-Catholic Christians are united to the Church, but not fully members of the Church. They cannot be restored to a state which they never had in the first place.
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Terrific post 👍
 
FrDavid96 said:
First of all, it’s important to understand the difference between forgiveness and absolution. This is essential to understanding the larger question and it cannot be overlooked.
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Thank you so much for explaining this!
 
I’d like to mention that I am by no means an expert authority and I can only speak from my own experiences. I am currently in RCIA and have had my Rite of Welcoming. Even before the Rite of Welcoming I was able to go to confession. My mind and beliefs are already made up about the authority of priests and everything else I have learned (and am learning) the Church teaches, and if I could legitimately do it, I’d say I’m Catholic, but alas, until my Confirmation, I cannot say I am.

So in my experience, as a Christian non Catholic, I was able to recieve the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Thank the Lord! :extrahappy:

Peace.
 
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