Question about Communion for Returning Catholic

[CindyMeyerhofer]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

She should talk with her pastor to make sure.

I would say that she can go to confession and then receive communion. I would also say that RCIA may not be the best place for her but if it’s working, then it’s working.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

She should ask the pastor.

Why is she in RCIA? That is usually the way non-Catholics enter the Church. Perhaps the pastor thought it necessary that she receive some instruction to better understand the Catholic faith her family walked away from. If that is the case, he can determine when she is ready.

Technically, she should be able to receive Communion after making a good confession (of all the serious sins she committed since her last good confession) and receiving absolution. This confession would, of course, include the sin of leaving the Catholic Church and joining another ecclesial community (if she did it freely and was not forced by her family to do so). Before receiving Communion she should also have a Catholic understanding of and faith in the Eucharist, and she should understand how Communion in the Catholic Church (Christ’s Real Presence) differs from communion in a Protestant ecclesial community.

 

[quiet52]

She may be joining the RCIA participants to prepare for Confirmation. She’s not “in RCIA” herself.
She may not receive Communion unless she goes to Confession (Reconciliation). She cannot do that unless and until she has put the Lutheran faith behind her and professes her Catholic faith.

 

[puzzleannie]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

yes, once she has been to confession, if she has indeed committed mortal sin since her last confession. Leaving the Church is objectively sinful, but she may not be culpable if her family led her this way in childhood. She does not need RCIA she needs to prepare to renew her profession of faith, since she left the Church in the meantime, and instruction for Confirmation. Chances are however there is only one class for adults in your parish, and RCIA is it. God bless you for supporting her in this.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

This would be a decision that her pastor needs to make. It may be acceptable for her to do this after she celebrates the Sacrament of Confession.

 

[CindyMeyerhofer]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your insightful answers, which were all very consistent. She talked with her priest, and he told her she could go to confession and receive communion. She will be ready for confirmation around Christmas, and won’t continue on with the RCIA classes at that point. It is so comforting to know there is a place I can go to get answers about my Catholic faith!

 

[diggerdomer]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

Yes

 

[FrDavid96]

My son’s fiance was born Catholic, was babtized and had 1st communion. Her family then left the catholic church and were Lutheran. Is it okay for her to take communion while she is attending RCIA classes since she had her 1st Communion?

Since she hasn’t been to Sunday Mass for some time (not said directly, but implied in the post), and especially since she’s been participating in non-Catholic worship instead of Sunday Mass, she does need to go to Confession and be reconciled to God and the Church first. There may be other reasons for her to go to confession (we’re all human and we all sin), but these reasons are the obvious ones.

Yes, she will be able to receive Communion again, assuming there’s nothing else preventing her from receiving (and nothing in your post would indicate that).

The first thing she needs to do is to go to Confession to any Catholic priest. She might also need to speak to her own Catholic pastor about her situation before receiving Communion again. Since she’s participating in RCIA classes (for Confirmation?) there’s a good possibility that she has already spoken to the pastor.

What she cannot do is to simply start attending Mass and receiving Communion again before going to Confession.