Do Non-Catholic priests have the "power" to forgive and retain sin?

[Mister_De]

I was talking to my Protestant friend and he was telling me how much they have in common with Catholics.

He mentioned that they, like us, go to a priest for confession (who knew they were doing that now?). So my question is, do any non-Catholic priests have the power to absolve church-goers?

 

[Charlie_Zeaiter]

I think you’ll find that a Catholic priest has two important roles:

1. 
   *]Hear confession and say “I absolve you of your sins”
   *]Lead a mass and say “This is my body” (ie, Eucharist)
   
   A priest does not do these “in the name of Jesus”; He does these with his own authority; A Tradition that stems back to the apostles.
   
   That authority comes from the Catholic Church. Catholics believe their church to be the one and only true Bride of Christ, and a priest acts in persona christi (person of christ) and shares in Christ’s nuptial relationship with the church. (Effectively, the priest becomes the groom - hence, the reason why women can’t become priests. Anyway…)
   
   And so - in answer to your question, catholics can not recognise any valid priesthood outside of the Catholic Church. Obviously, some Protestants will disagree. (Other protestants don’t believe in the priesthood at all.)

 

[Roman_Catholic_1]

(Other protestants don’t believe in the priesthood at all.)

Don’t all Protestants believe in the priesthood of all believers?

God bless

 

[bengal_fan]

Don’t all Protestants believe in the priesthood of all believers?

God bless

yes they do, as does the roman catholic church. but while the RCC teaches that we all priests, they teach that there are a special select that function as Priests (this is my interpretation of the RCC teaching… notice i use capital “P” ). not all of us are called to the role these men play, they are a higher form of the priesthood of all believers and are responsible for things that the average believer is not responsible for.

that’s how i see it.

in answer to the thread question: protestants believe we have the ability to forgive each others’ sins in as far as people have sinned against us and that we can assure others of the forgiveness that comes from God alone through knowing the person and experiencing the person’s heart and repentance. we do not believe that we speak for God for we believe that God has already spoken on the matter in scripture. what is bound in heaven or loosed in heaven is the forgiveness we extend when we are wronged. and the measure that we use to forgive is the measure that God will use with us. therefore, we should forgive freely and often… multiple times (70 times 7… figuratively)… and trust in God for the ultimate forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Son and our sacrifice of ourselves to Him.

 

[Fuerza]

I was talking to my Protestant friend and he was telling me how much they have in common with Catholics.

He mentioned that they, like us, go to a priest for confession (who knew they were doing that now?). So my question is, do any non-Catholic priests have the power to absolve church-goers?

The Catholic Church recognizes the other apostolic churches as having valid orders. These churches would be the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East. The Catholic Church also recognizes the sacraments of the Polish National Catholic Church because, although it did not exist in apostolic times, it maintained apostolic succession after its break from Rome.

There are Old Catholic and even some Anglican groups who may have valid orders, but the Church considers them polluted and therefore doubtful. It should be noted that in general, the Church does not recognize Anglican orders.

 

[angelusm]

I was talking to my Protestant friend and he was telling me how much they have in common with Catholics.

He mentioned that they, like us, go to a priest for confession (who knew they were doing that now?). So my question is, do any non-Catholic priests have the power to absolve church-goers?

Protestant preachers cannot absolve anybody because they are not priests. There is also no transubstantiation even if they believe there is. They have just bread and wine. God bless.

 

[ibkc]

I was talking to my Protestant friend and he was telling me how much they have in common with Catholics.

He mentioned that they, like us, go to a priest for confession (who knew they were doing that now?). So my question is, do any non-Catholic priests have the power to absolve church-goers?

What denomination is this?

 

[DDClark]

I was talking to my Protestant friend and he was telling me how much they have in common with Catholics.

He mentioned that they, like us, go to a priest for confession (who knew they were doing that now?). So my question is, do any non-Catholic priests have the power to absolve church-goers?

I imagine you already know the answer to your question.

I don’t believe that any priest, Catholic or non-Catholic, has the power to absolve/forgive sin.

Anglicans and perhaps Lutherans consider confession to be a recognized sacrament.

ddc

 

[Dauphin]

It should be noted that if a protestant makes a perfect act of contrition at that confession, the sins will be forgiven even without the action of a valid priest.

 

[HannahLisa]

As a non-Catholic, it seems pretty clear to me that the non-Catholics who attend churches with a liturgy, sacraments, etc. WILL believe that their sacraments are valid, while the Catholics will say the sacraments are not valid because the Catholic Church doesn’t recognize those priests as having valid orders.

I’m guessing that the Protestant friend in question is probably Anglican, since they really are quite similar to Catholics, especially the high church Anglicans. I don’t know how similar Lutherans/other denominations are. Anglicans do have confession, but it is not required.

I also fully believe that God can make transubstantiation happen if He wants to WITHOUT the presence of a validly ordained Catholic or Orthodox priest, and that sins can be forgiven by God directly as long as one truly repents. This is part of why I’m not Catholic.

 

[Fuerza]

As a non-Catholic, it seems pretty clear to me that the non-Catholics who attend churches with a liturgy, sacraments, etc. WILL believe that their sacraments are valid, while the Catholics will say the sacraments are not valid because the Catholic Church doesn’t recognize those priests as having valid orders.

I’m guessing that the Protestant friend in question is probably Anglican, since they really are quite similar to Catholics, especially the high church Anglicans. I don’t know how similar Lutherans/other denominations are. Anglicans do have confession, but it is not required.

I also fully believe that God can make transubstantiation happen if He wants to WITHOUT the presence of a validly ordained Catholic or Orthodox priest, and that sins can be forgiven by God directly as long as one truly repents. This is part of why I’m not Catholic.

Of course God CAN do anything He wants, but that doesn’t mean that He does. What we do know for a fact is that God works through his validly ordained priests in order to give us the sacraments and remove all doubt that we have received them. He has chosen to do it this way and we have no right to question Him. As to the part about forgiveness, Catholics also believe that forgiveness can be obtained without confession so long as one is truly repentant. For a Catholic, however, being truly repentant means that we must have the intention to confess our sins at the nearest opportunity. With regard to a non-Catholic from a faith without a valid priesthood (assuming that he is for whatever reason unaware of his moral obligation to become Catholic), forgiveness can be obtained via perfect contrition.

 

[Dauphin]

As a non-Catholic, it seems pretty clear to me that the non-Catholics who attend churches with a liturgy, sacraments, etc. WILL believe that their sacraments are valid, while the Catholics will say the sacraments are not valid because the Catholic Church doesn’t recognize those priests as having valid orders.

I’m guessing that the Protestant friend in question is probably Anglican, since they really are quite similar to Catholics, especially the high church Anglicans. I don’t know how similar Lutherans/other denominations are. Anglicans do have confession, but it is not required.

I also fully believe that God can make transubstantiation happen if He wants to WITHOUT the presence of a validly ordained Catholic or Orthodox priest, and that sins can be forgiven by God directly as long as one truly repents. This is part of why I’m not Catholic.

Catholics believe in the omnipotence of God, too. If God sees it as particularly prudent to confect the Eucharist for the benefit of heretics, he certainly can. Nothing in the Catholic faith denies that God is capable of this, but it seems unlikely given St. Paul’s exhortation to “discern the Body and Blood of Christ” and his warning that a failure to do so will result in damnation.

Catholics also believe that a perfect act of contrition is sufficient for forgiveness of sins (if it involves at least the implicit desire to go to confession), but that Christ instituted confession as an aid to contrition and a certain means of forgiveness. Going to confession is a necessity of precept for salvation because it is clearly according to the Divine will.

 

[Fuerza]

Catholics believe in the omnipotence of God, too. If God sees it as particularly prudent to confect the Eucharist for the benefit of heretics, he certainly can. Nothing in the Catholic faith denies that God is capable of this, but it seems unlikely given St. Paul’s exhortation to “discern the Body and Blood of Christ” and his warning that a failure to do so will result in damnation.

Catholics also believe that a perfect act of contrition is sufficient for forgiveness of sins (if it involves at least the implicit desire to go to confession), but that Christ instituted confession as an aid to contrition and a certain means of forgiveness. Going to confession is a necessity of precept for salvation because it is clearly according to the Divine will.

You said it better than I did.

 

[Dauphin]

You said it better than I did.

You said it pretty well yourself

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

What is a nonCatholic priest?. Male or Female?Do they take the Vows the Roman Catholilc Priests take, chastity, poverty, charity? Do make the solemn vow to secrecy of confessions? Do they live out their celbate lives? meaning no longer attached to the world, consecrated to the priest hood?

I would be very leary of a non catholic priest hearing confessions, outside the Traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.

My vote would be no, non catholic priests male or female do not have the power to absolve sins.

John 20:20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 (Jesus) said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you**.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” **
This power to forgive sins was given to his disciples and their successors, who have been handed down to them with the laying on of hands with the breath of the Holy Spirit.The only Priest hood that can trace their anointing litterally back to the Apostles is the Catholic church.

 

[Harpazo]

***I *** believe, that Protestant clergy are laymen that wear sacerdotal garments. They might think they’re priests, but they are not. In comparison, they are only like Catholic deacons in that they can validly baptize, assuming they use the proper form, matter and have the proper intent.

I’m nearly positive that my view is in accordance with the Church.

Alaha minokhoun
Andrew