question about Baptism

[Monica4316]

I just wanted to check, it’s true that Baptism takes away all previous personal sins, right?

here’s a hypothetical scenario…

let’s say there’s a person who did something serious (grave matter, like for example abortion)…and then later on got baptized. But never formally confessed the sin to a priest. Is it forgiven? Does it need to be confessed?

Does the amount of contrition matter here? (or is just regret enough)

What if the person isn’t really church-going, although was baptized and believes in God?

thanks

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I just wanted to check, it’s true that Baptism takes away all previous personal sins, right?

here’s a hypothetical scenario…

let’s say there’s a person who did something serious (grave matter, like for example abortion)…and then later on got baptized. But never formally confessed the sin to a priest. Is it forgiven? Does it need to be confessed?

Does the amount of contrition matter here? (or is just regret enough)

What if the person isn’t really church-going, although was baptized and believes in God?

thanks

All sins committed prior to Baptism are forgiven in Baptism, any sins committed after Baptism must be Confessed in Reconcilaition if Serious (Mortal).

 

[teachccd]

All sins committed prior to Baptism are forgiven in Baptism, any sins committed after Baptism must be Confessed in Reconcilaition if Serious (Mortal).

Yes, baptism unconditionally forgives you of all sin and any temporal punihment due to sin.

 

[Monica4316]

thank you

that is awesome, God is so merciful.

 

[Gamera]

An unbaptized person couldn’t receive the sacrament of confession anyway. Baptism makes us eligible to receive other sacraments. And as said above, baptism removes all sin.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Hi Monica,

I just wanted to check, it’s true that Baptism takes away all previous personal sins, right?

It certainly can and should, but one must have sorrow for one’s actual sins.

Monica:

Does the amount of contrition matter here?

Yes, contrition is the important factor. At least imperfect contrition (also known as attrition) is necessary for the forgiveness of sin, even in baptism.

See, for instance the Catechism of St. Pius X regarding sorrow for sin in an adult baptism:**14 Q: When the person who is being baptized is an adult, what dispositions should he have? **

A: An adult who is being baptized, besides faith, should have at least imperfect contrition for the mortal sins he may have committed.

**15 Q: If an adult in mortal sin was baptized without such sorrow, what would he receive? **
A: If an adult was baptized in mortal sin without such sorrow he would receive the character of Baptism, but not the remission of his sins nor sanctifying grace. And these two effects would be suspended, until the obstacle is removed by perfect contrition or by the sacrament of Penance.

(or is just regret enough)

It depends on what you mean by regret. Contrition (perfect or imperfect) has these qualities: Interior, Supernatural, Sovereign, and Universal. Supernatural denotes not only that the sorrow proceeds from God’s grace, but that it is *motivated *by a consideration of God. So, purely natural motives of sorrow are not sufficient for forgiveness.

On a related note, Universal means among other things, that the sorrow encompass all one’s mortal sins. This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that one must be explicitly sorry for each mortal sin individually. An implicit sorrow for all sin would suffice. But, this also means that if one is explicitly not sorry for a certain sin, the sorrow wouldn’t be universal.

The above principles are general ones – I don’t have the competence (or desire) to apply the principles to individual cases. But since you asked hypothetically, I thought it appropriate to point out the catechism passage above.

What do you think? Any help?

VC

 

[Monica4316]

Thank you! that helps

What if the person didn’t feel sorry for a sin when they were baptized, because they didn’t realize it was a sin at the time? (though it is grave matter)

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Thank you! that helps

What if the person didn’t feel sorry for a sin when they were baptized, because they didn’t realize it was a sin at the time? (though it is grave matter)

Monica,

I’m not eager to delve much deeper, because this is more specific to the person. For instance, something may or may not have been an actual sin. Also, one may or may not be culpable for not knowing something was objectively (materially) sinful.

VC