C
Chuck1
Guest
Hi I was wondering if you have to go to church for ages or be a member to go to confession ?
- Status
B
Ben_F
Guest
I went to confession before I was Catholic. Furthermore, I didn´t even know that I was confessing to a Priest. I was in a multidenominational group meeting. The theme was confession and so I just got up and confessed all my sins. I was a little wierd at that time. It was 1969 during the age of aquarious. (can´t spell it). God bless:thumbsup:
A
ATeutonicKnight
Guest
You have to be a member of the Catholic Church to receive confession, as it is a sacrament, and you must fully understand what it means and what do to. If you’re a non-Catholic and you go to confession it is invalid, even if you’re in RCIA.
The way a non-Catholic gets forgiven is by baptism. If someone got in a car wreck and he was dying, I and any other Catholic has the power to do an emergency baptism, which will forgive them of any past sins and will make them a member of the Catholic church. However, if it is not an emergency and the person isn’t in any Mortal danger, only Priests and Deacons may baptize people. I can’t just walk around town baptizing people.
Dominus Vobiscum.
:knight1:
S
starsmurf
Guest
I was told by a monk that I could go to confession even though that was before I became Catholic. I noticed in another thread you put up that you haven’t been baptised yet, so you might not need to go until you are.
The best thing to do would be to speak to the priest and ask his advice. If you can’t make an appointment, then go to confession but explain the situation to the priest when you go in.
Hope that helps.
God bless
The best thing to do would be to speak to the priest and ask his advice. If you can’t make an appointment, then go to confession but explain the situation to the priest when you go in.
Hope that helps.
God bless
I
Irishgal49
Guest
You are supposed to be Catholic but I was out of the Church for 11 years and the priest was thrilled to hear my Confession. I never had attended that church before and it was fine.
C
coachkfan1
Guest
A priest in my area told my wife that he occasionally hears confessions from Anglicans. However, he does NOT give absolution, only hears the confession. Don’t know how valid this is, just giving information that my wife got from a priest.
M
Monte_RCMS
Guest
Once a Catholic, then if you are away for a while … 11 months or 11 years … or longer … then all you need to do to get back into God’s good graces, is go to confession. And you’re back.
Just being away for 11 years, doesn’t take you out of the Church.
Even if you have never been to that parish church before, it doesn’t matter. You can confess your sins to any Catholic priest.
St. John’s Church on * West 33rd Street [or West 30th St] in NYC, has dozens of priests hearing confessions, practically 24/7. It’s right across the street from Penn Station.
The nice thing is the anonymity of it. Highly unlikely that they will know you personally. And you can take as much time as you need.
You don’t need to be a Catholic “for ages” … just a minute or two is enough.
What you could do, is call the rectory [priest’s residence] or parish office and say you’d like to make an appointment for Confession and when you get there explain that you are not a Catholic and don’t know how to get started. That will start the dialog going.
While this may seem a little irregular to some of the regular Catholics, we don’t know the age or situation of the Original Poster, and you need to start someplace.
I can only witness, myself, that I have been blessed … that when I “felt” that I “needed” to go to confession, the best possible confessors “suddenly popped up” when and where I needed them to be. Answers to prayers? Miracles? I don’t know, but they were there when I needed them.*
M
Monte_RCMS
Guest
One of my priest friends has had Jewish people come to confession. He explains he cannot give absolution, but he can give a blessing. [He uses the Hebrew word for blessing … (baruch).] He says he gives them a “baruch”.
hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Introduction/introduction.html
M
Monte_RCMS
Guest
Just wanted to make one additional comment.
Catholics don’t usually use the word or expression “be a member” … My non-Catholic friends often say they joined this church or that congregation. Or they are members of this church or that congregation. If you’re Catholic, you just “be Catholic”. You might live in this parish or that parish, but under the relaxed rules since Vatican II, you are not obligated to attend Mass [technically, you “assist at Mass”] at your parish of residence.
If you want to you can “register” at a parish church, but that just puts you on their census list. But I have lived in many parishes without formally “registering”, even though my children were baptized and confirmed there.
It’s just that there is a kind of a “Catholic vocabulary” of sorts.
Catholics “receive Holy Communion” … not “take” Holy Communion, for example.
Anyway, if you do decide to enquire, there is a formal program that we call Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. … RCIA …
That can be structured so that you can “catch up” on sacraments such as Baptism and Confirmation, if you have not already received those sacraments.
Please, though, feel free to make that phone call.
And also please feel free to browse through this Web site. It has a lot of excellent information for beginners and for people who are trying to make a spiritual journey.
On the home page, if you scroll down, there are some excellent tracts. Really excellent. They are free from the Web site or you can click on “shop” and buy printed versions.
Karl Keating, the founder of Catholic Answers, has written some excellent books, including “What Catholics Believe” and “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” … that take you through the basics.
- Status