May a Protestant go to Confession?

[lyoncoeur]

Greetings everyone! I have a friend who has almost decided to convert to Catholisism…she was raised Baptist… She is almost 100% decided…mostly her concerns about her family’s reaction is slowing her down.

She needs to go to confession…she WANTS to go to confession, desperately…she asked me if that sacrament was available to people who have not fully come into the church…I wasen’t sure …but I seem to recall that the Church does allow this, am I recalling correctly?

She wants to be able to recieve the Eucharist also but knows that she has some steps to take yet…and she understands that but right now she is suffering from terrable guilt over her life and the way she has lived and believes in the sacrement of confession and feels that she can more worthily approach her formation into the church if she can approach a priest, confess her sins and recieve the healing that the sacrement offers to her soul.

It’s funny, I started out evangelizing her…now I am getting an even more renewed appriciation for my faith by seeing her eyes light up at learning about the faith herself. The Holy Spirit truely at work.

 

[JimG]

If she decides to join the Catholic Church, she will go through the RCIA, and first confession will be a part of that. She should not go to sacramental confession unless it is a part of her entrance into the Church.

 

[mosher]

Technically any baptized christian can take advantage of the Sacrament of Confession. You should give your friend a little insturction and in that instruction have her tell the priest that she is not a catholic but desires to receive the sacrament in this circumstance she would have the right to have her confession heard. This actually happens all the time.

 

[Forest-Pine]

The links I received when I asked this were quite helpful. Look here.

-Forest-Pine

 

[JimG]

This question was previously asked in the Ask An Apologist forum: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=55879&highlight=protestant+confession

 

[lyoncoeur]

JimG:

This question was previously asked in the Ask An Apologist forum: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=55879&highlight=protestant+confession

Well then, according to that post, she is indeed able to recieve the sacrement of Confession… she is most definatly baptised… she knows the Bible better then most, which is how I was able to show her many of the error’s that her protestant upbringing has made in seperateing from the church…if you know and accept the bible as Gods word…then it’s hard to NOT be Catholic…her words after I showed some of the things I learned here and on “Catholic Answers Live” I bought her a Catholic Bible and she proceded to “dig in” and learn the Deutrocanoical books…

While I know she will need some formal instruction in the Church and to make a profession of faith before entering the Church wholly, I also understand that RCIA is not likely how that will be done as it’s aim is to educate and convert non Christian’s…she IS a Christian…she’s just trying to “Come Home” as they say.

Thanks

 

[mosher]

lyoncoeur:

Well then, according to that post, she is indeed able to recieve the sacrement of Confession… she is most definatly baptised… she knows the Bible better then most, which is how I was able to show her many of the error’s that her protestant upbringing has made in seperateing from the church…if you know and accept the bible as Gods word…then it’s hard to NOT be Catholic…her words after I showed some of the things I learned here and on “Catholic Answers Live” I bought her a Catholic Bible and she proceded to “dig in” and learn the Deutrocanoical books…

While I know she will need some formal instruction in the Church and to make a profession of faith before entering the Church wholly, I also understand that RCIA is not likely how that will be done as it’s aim is to educate and convert non Christian’s…she IS a Christian…she’s just trying to “Come Home” as they say.

Thanks

I she discerns the need to go to confession it should not be denied her because who knows what can happen between now and the end of the RCIA session. I would just send her in with an instruction on how to go to confession - heck she would probably do better than most catholics these days at following the form of confession.

 

[mercygate]

If she goes to confession, she must tell the Priest she is not Catholic. She will not be able to receive absolution but he can hear the confession and give her a blessing. Hey! Let’s hope she controls her desire to receive the sacrament and approaches it with a heart full of love for ALL the teachings of the Church. That’s really the only way she will be able to trust the Sacrament . . . .

Pouring your heart out is not the main point of this beautiful sacrament.

 

[mosher]

mercygate:

If she goes to confession, she must tell the Priest she is not Catholic. She will not be able to receive absolution but he can hear the confession and give her a blessing. Hey! Let’s hope she controls her desire to receive the sacrament and approaches it with a heart full of love for ALL the teachings of the Church. That’s really the only way she will be able to trust the Sacrament . . . .

Pouring your heart out is not the main point of this beautiful sacrament.

She can receive absolution because she is baptised however she will be required to submit to the authority of the Church because the absolution is two-fold forgivness given by God and forgivness given by the Church. However, canon law is clear on the spontanious request of the sacraments.

 

[mercygate]

mosher:

She can receive absolution because she is baptised however she will be required to submit to the authority of the Church because the absolution is two-fold forgivness given by God and forgivness given by the Church. However, canon law is clear on the spontanious request of the sacraments.

The point lies in your phrase “submit to the authority of the Church.” Until she can do that, she would not be able to receive absolution. If she thinks she wants to be Catholic but, say, can’t stomach the doctrines on Our Lady or the teaching on birth control, that is an impediment. If she wants to receive the Sacrament of Penance but will be ineligible for Confirmation and Eucharist, that’s a problem too. The access to the sacraments on “spontaneous request” would apply to a person in a special situation – not a situation like this one where the solution is to complete the process of coming into the Catholic Church.

 

[JimG]

If she does approach the sacrament, she must disclose to the priest that she is not Catholic.

 

[lyoncoeur]

Just to clairify… She Does accept the authority of the church and it’s teaching…she plans to discuss profession of faith and conversion with a priest asap, she would NEVER recieve the eucharist unworithily…she even keeps ME in check about communion… her current issue is that she is SERIOUSLY sad about the way she has lived her life, and feel she NEEDS confession desperately to express her sorrow for her actions…in order to be able to aproach her conversion with a clear conscience… she has no intention to decieve {this lady woulden’t consciously decieve an Ant} her intention is to seek healing for her soul.

 

[mercygate]

lyoncoeur:

Just to clairify… She Does accept the authority of the church and it’s teaching…she plans to discuss profession of faith and conversion with a priest asap, she would NEVER recieve the eucharist unworithily…she even keeps ME in check about communion… her current issue is that she is SERIOUSLY sad about the way she has lived her life, and feel she NEEDS confession desperately to express her sorrow for her actions…in order to be able to aproach her conversion with a clear conscience… she has no intention to decieve {this lady woulden’t consciously decieve an Ant} her intention is to seek healing for her soul.

God bless her! She should talk to a priest ASAP. He’ll help her. This sounds like the hand of the Lord on her shoulder.

 

[mosher]

lyoncoeur:

Just to clairify… She Does accept the authority of the church and it’s teaching…she plans to discuss profession of faith and conversion with a priest asap, she would NEVER recieve the eucharist unworithily…she even keeps ME in check about communion… her current issue is that she is SERIOUSLY sad about the way she has lived her life, and feel she NEEDS confession desperately to express her sorrow for her actions…in order to be able to aproach her conversion with a clear conscience… she has no intention to decieve {this lady woulden’t consciously decieve an Ant} her intention is to seek healing for her soul.

This is exactly what I was hearing in your initial posts and why I gave the suggestions that I have given.

 

[mercygate]

mosher:

This is exactly what I was hearing in your initial posts and why I gave the suggestions that I have given.

mosher, do not undervalue the graces that come with cultivating patience during a time of waiting. The very desire is a grace. It is said that longing for the sacraments is a powerful and very meritorious form of penance.

 

[mosher]

mercygate:

mosher, do not undervalue the graces that come with cultivating patience during a time of waiting. The very desire is a grace. It is said that longing for the sacraments is a powerful and very meritorious form of penance.

Of course you are correct but the fact remains that this baptized person that objectively believes what the Church believes but has not made a formal act of obedience through formal reception discerns mortal sin on her conscious and it would be in contradiction to what the Church teaches about the sacrament of confession and the nature of sin and grace to no reccommend her to the confessional asap. She is obviously experiencing “prima gracia” which is the grace that moves a person in mortal sin to seek the Sacrament of Confession to enter into the light of Sanctifying Grace.

 

[thistle]

I’ve come into this thread late but would like to mention that Lyoncoeur’s comments that RCIA is to educate and convert non-Chritians is only partially correct. It is also the program used to educate and convert (to the Catholic Church) non-Catholic Christians. How do I know? I was a Methodist and went through the RCIA program in 1990 and became a Catholic in 1991. I also know other non-Catholic Christians who have also gone through the RCIA program and “come home”. I would strongly recommend RCIA.

 

[weddy]

mosher:

I she discerns the need to go to confession it should not be denied her because who knows what can happen between now and the end of the RCIA session. I would just send her in with an instruction on how to go to confession - heck she would probably do better than most catholics these days at following the form of confession.

she might actually be forced to wait for the formal instruction from RCIA & the priest.
I was also a Baptist (until EASTER 2005), but 1 year prior to “coming home” officially I tried to go to confession, when the priest heard “1st confession” he told me that I had to wait & that it had to be “face-to-face”. I was denied confession until the appropriate time & much like this lady I was very anxious to go (& still am).
yes, she probably will follow form to a tee

 

[mercygate]

weddy:

I tried to go to confession, when the priest heard “1st confession” he told me that I had to wait

Sound counsel

& that it had to be “face-to-face”.

:bigyikes: No priest has the right to demand that. It is the penitent’s call whether to confess face-to-face or behind a screen. He might have had a pastoral reason (the priest who received my general confession walked me into the room and pointed to a chair . . . It was OK. I was used to confession face-to-face because as an Episcopalian, I nearly always made confessions without benefit of “the box.” Nevertheless, it is still canonically required that the option of privacy be offered. I suppose, since you would not be anonymous, he assumed it should be face-to-face. Oi.