Could I still receive Communion?

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This is a weird situation but my Catholic cousin is getting married next weekend and I was planning on not receiving the Eucharist since I’ve converted & been received into the Episcopal Church.

However, I was baptized and confirmed Catholic, and of what I understand, I’m always considered a Catholic once baptized a Catholic.

I do believe in Real Presence in the Eucharist so provided I confess my sins to my Episcopal priest, would my soul be ok to receive Catholic Communion?

I think I just need to be out of a state of mortal sin and a Catholic in order to receive Catholic Communion?
 
You would need to confess having left the church and be sincerely sorry, and not go back to the episcopal church. If you did that, then you could receive the Eucharist.
 
Episcopalian said:
However, I was baptized and confirmed Catholic, and of what I understand, I’m always considered a Catholic once baptized a Catholic.

I do believe in Real Presence in the Eucharist so provided I confess my sins to my Episcopal priest, would my soul be ok to receive Catholic Communion?

I think I just need to be out of a state of mortal sin and a Catholic in order to receive Catholic Communion?
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That is correct – you are always a Catholic. But, in order to not be in a state of mortal sin and to be able to receive communion, there are a few things that apply:
  • Have you attended the Mass at a Catholic Church every Sunday and every holyday of obligation?
  • Have you received the Eucharist at a Catholic Liturgy at least once a year (and, if only once a year, then during the Easter season)?
  • Have you received absolution in the context of the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation, at least once a year?
  • And finally… with all of these other things considered, are you of the understanding that you are in a state of grace, in the context of how the Catholic Church understands that question?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to all of these – or, if you can assert that, from the time that these weren’t the case, you’ve received absolution in the context of the sacrament of Reconciliation in the Catholic Church – then you can make a case that you can validly approach the reception of the Eucharist at a Catholic Mass.

(Other than that, the mere assertion that you believe in the Real Presence is not sufficient.)
 
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If you repent and reject your conversion and reception in the Episcopal Church (plus any other mortal sins you may have committed in addition) I believe your priest could absolve you and you would be in a state of grace to receive. . .and of course, you would then remain Catholic.

I hope you wouldn’t think of confessing other mortal sins ‘as an Episcopalian’ (but not the sin of rejecting the Catholic faith) and thinking, “OK, now I’m in a state of grace so since Catholics believe my being Episcopalian isn’t ‘real’ and thus I’m still Catholic, I’m good to receive in the Catholic church for the wedding and then go back to being my regular Episcopal self”. That would be wrong.
 
Unless schism became a merely venial sin when I wasn’t looking, it’d be a real stretch to say you were in a fit state to receive Communion. Whether or not you could still be considered a Catholic is immaterial–Catholics in a state of mortal sin may not receive Communion any more than non-Catholics may.
 
But if my soul was cleansed in a valid confession and I’m considered Catholic, wouldn’t I be good to go?
 
Well, in order to do that, you’d have to have firm purpose of amendment. So if you confessed to having left the Church, you’d have to intend to stick with it.

-Fr ACEGC
 
Episcopalian said:
But if my soul was cleansed in a valid confession and I’m considered Catholic, wouldn’t I be good to go?
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I say no, because you are not in full communion with the Church which Christ founded. The Catholic Church is, and always has been, the mystical Body of Christ. When she speaks, Christ speaks. All others have a man-made schismatic element to them, which invalidates all sacraments other than baptism and matrimony.

Your confession to an invalidly ordained Episcopalian (see: Edwardine Ordinance). While it may have been an act of perfect contrition (which may be done outside of the confessional), you did not receive valid absolution.
 
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Episcopalian said:
so provided I confess my sins to my Episcopal priest
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An Episcopal priest has no holy orders and no jurisdiction to forgive sins and the fact that you would go to an Episcopal priest for confession would mean you had no sorrow for your sin of schism or purpose of ammendment to repent of that sin.
 
Episcopalian said:
I do believe in Real Presence in the Eucharist so provided I confess my sins to my Episcopal priest,
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I have no idea why you would think confessing to an Episcopal priest absolves you or makes it okay for you to take Catholic communion.

You left the Catholic Church. You don’t get to switch back and receive Catholic Communion whenever you feel like it. You would need to return PERMANENTLY by confessing to a Catholic priest and leaving the Episcopalian church for good in order to receive Catholic communion.

And confessing to an Episcopal priest does nothing. He has no power to absolve you. You’re still in a state of grave, possibly mortal sin after you confess to him, because you have (at minimum) committed the grave sin of willfully leaving the Catholic church.

You don’t seem to understand the fact that you committed a grave sin by leaving the Church (and bragging about leaving on here for weeks when you did it), and it sounds like you want to just keep on sinning by your reliance on Episcopalian clergy.

Unless and until you’re willing to confess to a Catholic priest and return fully to the Catholic church for good, which would mean no more Episcopalian anything for you, and the Catholic priest being willing to give you absolution, you may NOT receive Catholic Holy Communion. To do so would be committing another grave, possibly mortal sin of unworthy communion, on top of the several you have already committed by leaving the Church and apostatizing to another faith.
 
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You would need to be in a state of Grace. To find out if you are and to put yourself in a definite state of grace, go to reconciliation. Reconciliation is with a Catholic Priest, not a Priest of another denomination. You would have to live as a practicing Catholic, go to Mass on Sundays , believe in the real presence, and not sin. Basically become reconciled with the Catholic Church again.
You have rejected Catholicism for another religion. That would need to be discussed with your Catholic Priest.

You believe in the real presence so you really should be taking this seriously, and what the Catholic Church teaches and practices seriously.

As they say, can’t have our cake and eat it too.
 
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No, you would not. How would your soul be cleansed of mortal sin, anyway? You committed a mortal sin by abjuring the Catholic Church and ‘converting’ to the Episcopal Church. And then you want to commit a further mortal sin through receiving Catholic communion, as an Episcopalian, because you presume your abjuring the faith and continuing to practice as an Episcopalian doesn’t have any effect on YOUR ‘personal’ reception as you were indeed baptized Catholic.

Actually, you are making your situation so much worse. You did have the correct idea to refrain from communion originally, since apparently you did then recognize that “Episcopalians cannot (ordinarily) receive the Eucharist (except through the consent of the priest where the person recognized the Real Presence and could not receive communion at his/her own church and was in danger of death)”. . .but then you went off the rails by thinking that as an Episcopalian who had originally been of the Catholic faith and REJECTED that same, you were ‘entitled’ to ‘get’ the Eucharist anyway.

Bottom line, as a non-repenting abjurer of the Catholic faith who intends to continue as an Episcopalian, there is no WAY you could BE in a ‘state of grace’ to receive the Eucharist anyway.

Enjoy the wedding, refrain from Catholic communion, and may God be with you.
 
As it stands now, you should not present yourself for communion in the Catholic Church.
 
Thank you everyone for the insight! I thought it was a weird loophole or something, but I understand better now.

Thanks!
 
Just to put it out there, is it possible that this longing for the Eucharist comes from the Holy Spirit leading you back to the Catholic Church ? That’s certainly what led me here.
 
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