Confessing Heresy

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EqualinHim

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Hey,

So I have a question:

As an RCIA candidate who is being brought into the church, I was taught/believed specific heresies about the Catholic church. How would I go about rectifying this in confession?
 
EqualinHim said:
As an RCIA candidate who is being brought into the church, I was taught/believed specific heresies about the Catholic church. How would I go about rectifying this in confession?
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You could say something like “I believed in 7 heresies: modernism, sola scriptura, sola fide, and – I’m not sure these next ones have names, but they are these ideas: that abortion is okay, that the Church can change its doctrines, that the Church is the whore of babylon, and that it doesn’t really matter what religion you belong to as long as you’re a good person.”

Does that sound do-able?

Also, be aware that if you didn’t have full knowledge that these were errors than you may not be fully culpable. But bringing them up in confession could be a helpful way to break ties with them, and get rid of any culpability you did have.
 
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We should tag half the accounts on this site if those are heresies. Man! I never knew that.

Jesus was just a man who believed in superstitions? Now I’ve heard it all…
 
Oops, I decided to edit my list of heresies to mention things that protestants are more likely to believe in 😦 Now it doesn’t include the one you mentioned! It’s still some sort of heresy though.
 
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Don’t sweat it! Only Catholics in full communion who have willingly renounced or opposed the faith can be heretics. You may have practiced heresy, but that is only because it is what you were taught. Your entry into the Church shows that you have corrected that.

What’s to confess?
 
I think once you realize you have not got it right, it’s good to mention.

Remember, in Confession we accuse ourselves.
 
It never occurred to me to confess my previous heretical beliefs as a Protestant during my first confession. The Bishop who received me also didn’t say anything to that effect (with a full knowledge of my history). How could I have been culpable when that is how I was raised? I was a Protestant from 0 to 18. I became a Catholic at the age of 18.
 
Those who sincerely profess sola scriptura and sola fide rarely accept abortion… only the most liberal of Christians, who also would challenge the idea of the inerrancy of Scripture or the very notion of salvation from sin, are open to abortion in my experience.
 
Well yeah, I wasn’t trying to give my list of heresies a heaping dose of internal logical consistency. It was just some stuff that came to the top of my head.
 
I am curious as to why you feel that you would need to confess anything.
For a matter to be a mortal sin, there are three prerequisites:
  1. it must be seriously wrong.
  2. you must know that it is seriously wrong (at the time you allegedly commit the sin)
  3. Knowing that, you must intend to sin anyway.
Looks like you missed two out of three.

Welcome to RCIA, and God bless you on your journey.
 
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