Do I have access to the sacrament of confession?

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Just_wondering

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I was baptized Catholic but never confirmed - my parents stopped practicing while I was still an infant and I have no idea who my godmother might have been. I was reading this thread and the responses seemed to imply that a baptized Catholic who gets married outside the Church is sinning - even if they never learned about the faith. That got me thinking. I’m not married yet, but of course I’ve committed other sins. I was under the impression that I can’t confess my sins until I’m confirmed, and the priest told me that I need to go to RCIA, which is not available in English in my parish. I kind of figured I’d keep attending Mass at the parish anyway and join RCIA in a year or two when I move somewhere with more English facilities. I know I can technically join the Church without RCIA, but I feel as if I would miss out on something if I didn’t have someone advising me.

So what’s the deal for me now? I really don’t know enough about the Church to get confirmed yet, I think. I don’t feel as if I know enough, anyway. I know the rules, but I don’t know the heart of it, if you will. I’m under the impression that if I haven’t been confirmed, I can’t go to confession - except that confirmation is a Sacrament, isn’t it? (Is it?) And I can’t receive a Sacrament in a state of sin, right? (With the obvious exception of confession) Therefore, I have to be able to have access to confession before I am confirmed. Does that mean I can go to confession anytime, or am I supposed to wait until right before I’m confirmed?

Here are my questions:

  1. *]If I weren’t baptized Catholic, would it still be sinning to commit a sinful act? Are sinful acts also sinful for non-Catholics?
    *]What about me? Do my sins count? I’m technically Catholic, but I feel as if I don’t have the right to participate yet.
    *]Since I have been baptized Catholic, do I have access to the Sacrament of Confession, even before I’m confirmed?
    *]If I don’t have access to confession, what do I do about the sins, since they won’t be washed away in baptism?
 
Sin is sin is sin. It’s no less a sin for someone who is amoral. Natural law or divine law is common for everyone. No matter what faith you are, as humans we all recognize or should recognize the golden rule…do unto others…

As far as access to the sacrament of confession. You state you were baptized but uncatechized. The first stop is to drop in and speak with a parish priest on how you can become catechized. More than likely you will be asked to enroll in an RCIA program. Rite of Christian initiation for adults, in which you will be taught about the sacraments, etc of our faith. Then you will be formally taught how to make your sacraments, particularly the sacrament of confession. You can make your confession sometime prior to making your Cofirmation, which for adults in usually on Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil mass, which is the pre-eminent time for adults to be fully received into the faith. Welcome home.
 
If your parish does not offer RCIA in a language you understand, ask about completing RCIA at a nearby parish that does offer it in English. The priest should be able to recommend some nearby parishes. If you are totally in love with your parish and you want to have the completion ceremonies at the parish, not where you have RCIA, ask if this is possible. It might or might not be.
 
You mention Confirmation, but the Eucharist is also one of the sacraments of initiation. In my parish we differentiate between those who
  1. were baptized Catholic and celebrated their First Communion – they can go to our adult Confirmation class to complete their sacraments of initiation.
  2. were baptized Catholic but didn’t receive their First Communion – they go through RCIA for instruction leading to First Eucharist and Confirmation.
Some parishes have candidates for Confirmation attend RCIA – in part it’s a practical matter of how many catechists they have available for different groups.

If your parish doesn’t offer RCIA or adult Confirmation, ask if there isn’t another parish that does.

If you’ve never had your first confession and communion then you should have some instruction leading up to it. If you have celebrated your first confession and communion then you can continue receiving these sacraments while you wait for Confirmation.
 
stbruno said:
Sin is sin is sin. It’s no less a sin for someone who is amoral. Natural law or divine law is common for everyone. No matter what faith you are, as humans we all recognize or should recognize the golden rule…do unto others…

As far as access to the sacrament of confession. You state you were baptized but uncatechized. The first stop is to drop in and speak with a parish priest on how you can become catechized. More than likely you will be asked to enroll in an RCIA program. Rite of Christian initiation for adults, in which you will be taught about the sacraments, etc of our faith. Then you will be formally taught how to make your sacraments, particularly the sacrament of confession. You can make your confession sometime prior to making your Cofirmation, which for adults in usually on Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil mass, which is the pre-eminent time for adults to be fully received into the faith. Welcome home.
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Thank you. I started attending the mass at this parish about 6 weeks ago, and spoke to the priest last week. He said I won’t be able to be catechized in this parish. I’m disappointed - I already travel a long distance to get here, and I like the community at this parish. There’s a group of parishioners (how do you spell that?) around my age who meet for coffee and discussion after Mass every week, and they have been very welcoming.
reginacaeli said:
If your parish does not offer RCIA in a language you understand, ask about completing RCIA at a nearby parish that does offer it in English. The priest should be able to recommend some nearby parishes. If you are totally in love with your parish and you want to have the completion ceremonies at the parish, not where you have RCIA, ask if this is possible. It might or might not be.
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I have been given information on a nearby parish that offers RCIA in English, it’s just very far from my house. I already travel 90 minutes to get to Mass on Sunday mornings. I was really hoping there would be some other way. I like the community at this parish.
SuscipeMeDomine said:
If you’ve never had your first confession and communion then you should have some instruction leading up to it. If you have celebrated your first confession and communion then you can continue receiving these sacraments while you wait for Confirmation.
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Yep, then I was right. I need the instruction before I can have my first confession. I am really not looking forward to starting over again at a new parish alone. Especially not if I’m going to have to commute even further to get there!
 
Just_wondering said:
Yep, then I was right. I need the instruction before I can have my first confession. I am really not looking forward to starting over again at a new parish alone. Especially not if I’m going to have to commute even further to get there!
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Would your parish be willing to offer you individualized instruction? Considering that you are already traveling so far it seems like they might be willing to accommodate you.
 
I am in a similar position as you, I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but my parents fell away from the Church and I am only now beginning my journey back. Firstly, you are Catholic not just “technically Catholic”. Even unbaptized Catechumens “are already joined to the Church… With love and solicitude mother Church already embraces them as her own” (CCC 1249).

To answer your main question, as a baptized Catholic yes you do have access to Confession. It is not required that you wait until you are Confirmed to go to Confession, it is not even required that you wait until you have recieved instruction (although it would be greatly recommended).

When I asked my priest the same question, he told me that I would recieve instruction on how to go to confession later, but that if I felt I was already prepared enough for it, I could go anytime.

Here is a link to an article by Jimmy Akin on how to become Catholic, it has answers to many of the questions you ask:

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOW2.htm**
 
Wow, thank you for the link, Jsmith. That is a very helpful summary of how to join the Church. I was under the impression that I couldn’t go to confession - that article suggests that I should take advantage of confession even if I can’t receive communion yet. That would be wonderful! I’ll check with my priest before I do it, though.

SuscipeMeDomine, in answer to your question, I’ll have to look into it. The problem, I think, is that the English community really only uses the Cathedral on Sunday mornings. I don’t know where the priest goes during the week, but I know he doesn’t “belong” to the parish. Maybe he could connect me with someone capable of instructing me in the faith, but there are no facilities set up for that in English at this parish. I may have to get instruction in the faith at a different parish in the end anyway.
 
Just_wondering said:
SuscipeMeDomine, in answer to your question, I’ll have to look into it. The problem, I think, is that the English community really only uses the Cathedral on Sunday mornings. I don’t know where the priest goes during the week, but I know he doesn’t “belong” to the parish. Maybe he could connect me with someone capable of instructing me in the faith, but there are no facilities set up for that in English at this parish. I may have to get instruction in the faith at a different parish in the end anyway.
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Even if the priest isn’t available, maybe someone could serve as an instructor for you. I’d certainly be willing to do that for someone in your position. All I can suggest is to talk with the priest and see if the two of you can’t find a creative way to deal with this.
 
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