Do we need confession?

[mom26sofar]

I am a Catholic, I have always understood that when a person “converts” to the Church they must confess their sins before being received into the Church, The only exception is if the convert has not been previously baptized.

Ok, last night I am at RCIA with my best friend who is finally ready to look into the church. It was “stump padre” night and a question was asked that if a protestant commits a sin, even if it is mortal and has asked God directly to forgive that person, is that sin forgiven? Or does the person need to confess it to a Priest?

Father said NO, you have already been forgiven.

I am stumped! If that is the case then why have confession as a sacrament??

Please show me something in Church writings that makes this clear. My friend is even more confused now,.

Thanks!!

 

[Jayson]

If it is an Act of perfect Contrition then they are forgiven. For catholics, because the ordinary means of forgiveness is sacramental confession, we must intend to go to confession to seek forgiveness, but if we are truly sorry for the sins we are to confess, we can be forgiven prior to confession to a priest. Part of confession is a reconcilliation with the Church, so confession is still necessary because it is the means through which that is achieved. If we are truly sorry for our sins, and die on the way to confession in a car accident, we probably do not have to worry.

 

[Scotty_PGH]

mom26sofar:

I am a Catholic, I have always understood that when a person “converts” to the Church they must confess their sins before being received into the Church, The only exception is if the convert has not been previously baptized.

Ok, last night I am at RCIA with my best friend who is finally ready to look into the church. It was “stump padre” night and a question was asked that if a protestant commits a sin, even if it is mortal and has asked God directly to forgive that person, is that sin forgiven? Or does the person need to confess it to a Priest?

Father said NO, you have already been forgiven.

I am stumped! If that is the case then why have confession as a sacrament??

Please show me something in Church writings that makes this clear. My friend is even more confused now,.

Thanks!!

Your priest is wrong. Get out of RCIA and find a Traditional parish.

ecclesiadei.org/direct00.htm

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

mom26sofar:

I am a Catholic, I have always understood that when a person “converts” to the Church they must confess their sins before being received into the Church, The only exception is if the convert has not been previously baptized.

Ok, last night I am at RCIA with my best friend who is finally ready to look into the church. It was “stump padre” night and a question was asked that if a protestant commits a sin, even if it is mortal and has asked God directly to forgive that person, is that sin forgiven? Or does the person need to confess it to a Priest?

Father said NO, you have already been forgiven.

I am stumped! If that is the case then why have confession as a sacrament??

Please show me something in Church writings that makes this clear. My friend is even more confused now,.

Thanks!!

Fr. is correct. Our sins can be forgiven at the moment we are sorry for them and ask forgiveness of God. However Christ also established the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we might also receive Sacramental and Sanctifying Grace to avoid sin. We should be in a state of Sanctifying Grace to receive the other Sacraments.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Hi Mom26sofar,

I don’t thinkwe have ever “corresponded” before on the forums, so first of all, Hi and welcome!

Second, I just want to say that you have a GREAT screen name .

I want to try to answer your question. Let me start be saying that my response is, to the best of my knowledge, consistent with the teaching of the Church. If anywhere in my response I should deviate from the teaching of the Church it should be rejected. Any errors are my fault, either through lack of knowledge or inability to communicate the concepts properly and correctly.

There is alot that can be addressed here, but we can keep it short. It is possible for mortal sins to be forgiven outside of the sacrament of Pennace and for sanctyfing grace to be restored.

However:

1. This is NOT normative. Christ intended the normal manner of being restored to be through His ministers through the sacrament.
2. Outside of the sacrament one must make an act of perfect contrition. Perfect contrition (a supernatural act contrition out of love for God and not out of fear of punishment) is only possible through God’s gift of actual grace.
3. For a Catholic this perfect contrition outside of the sacrament must be accompanied with the intention to avail onself of the sacrament as soon as possible. When the sacrament is available perfect contrition alone, without partaking of the sacrament, cannot suffice.

See the Council of Trent on this:

“The Council further teaches that, though contrition may sometimes be made perfect by charity and may reconcile men to God before the actual reception of this sacrament, still the reconciliation is not to be ascribed to the contrition apart from the desire for the sacrament which it includes.”

1. For a non-Catholic perfect contrition (outside of the sacrament, even though it is “available” in the sense that a protestant could convert, go through the RCIA, and then go to confession) may suffice. One way to look at this is that since perfect contrition consists of true love of God and obedience to His will, and since His will would include being Catholic and availing oneself of the sacraments (including, of course, Pennance) then a protestant may be said to implicitly desire the sacrament, even though they are mistaken about what God’s will is for them, and so do not avail themselves of the sacrament.

See Fr. Hardon on this topic:

Chaplains during the last war were often disturbed about the number of Catholic boys who did not know the act of perfect contrition, or thought it was too hard to make. For they realized that this act could mean eternal life for many boys. They wished that all our young people would be taught its power and importance, taught how to make it, taught to make it regularly, so that if they ever really needed it to regain sanctifying grace, it would do just that for them.

This act can be of vital importance to non-Catholics. For if they should fall into mortal sin after baptism, it is the only way for them to regain sanctifying grace. It would be a great act of charity, if Catholics told their Protestant and Jewish friends about this act of perfect contrition: what kind of love of God it involves, what kind of sorrow for sin it means, and how to make it.

Does this help at all? It is a rather cursory attempt at addressing an important issue.

Let me know what you think,
God Bless,
VC

 

[thistle]

My understanding of an act of perfect contrition is that there is forgiveness provided the intention to go to Confession as soon as possible is there, otherwise Protestants would be right in claiming they can be forgiven without the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Mom26sofar,

Ah, you see that Jayson and **Br. Rich **have responded admirably and much more succinctly.

I’ll leave my embarrassingly long post up too, however, in case you find the quotes and links of value.

And I’ll re-read Polonius’ advice to the Queen in *Hamlet, *regarding brevity being the soul of wit.

VC

 

[Dorothy]

mom26sofar:

I am a Catholic, I have always understood that when a person “converts” to the Church they must confess their sins before being received into the Church, The only exception is if the convert has not been previously baptized.

Ok, last night I am at RCIA with my best friend who is finally ready to look into the church. It was “stump padre” night and a question was asked that if a protestant commits a sin, even if it is mortal and has asked God directly to forgive that person, is that sin forgiven? Or does the person need to confess it to a Priest?

Father said NO, you have already been forgiven.

I am stumped! If that is the case then why have confession as a sacrament??

Please show me something in Church writings that makes this clear. My friend is even more confused now,.

Thanks!!

It sounds like the priest did not qualify his answer so that it would be perfectly clear. This can cause confusion. You have gotten good answers on this forum. Perfect contrition forgives our sins, but we must sacramentally confess all mortal sins before receiving the Eucharist.

 

[mom26sofar]

Thanks so much for all of your responses. I believe I understand this better. VC, thanks for the compliment on my user name it is what I am most proud of next to being Catholic.

Pray for us to be blessed again and God Bless all of you.