Question about conditional baptism

[copeland45]

If you don’t know what conditional baptism is, skip this thread.

I recently received a conditional baptism because I could not remember if I was baptized as a child. I am 90% sure that I was, but not 100%, and there was no documentation. So the priest baptized me conditionally.

Prior to the conditional baptism I had committed a mortal sin. Since baptism removes all sin, then the mortal sin should have been cleansed. But of course in my case there is a chance that my conditional baptism was not necessary. If it wasn’t, I have no way of knowing that. If I have no way of knowing whether or not my mortal sin was cleansed, then would it be another mortal sin (sacrilege) if I received the Eucharist unworthily on Sunday? I will not be able to know whether I am committing sacrilege, so that would seem to prevent my committing it (according to the three conditions of mortal sin).

 

[MichaelHowling]

Just go make a general confession of your life to a priest and be done with it. It’s a very healing experience anyway.

God Bless

 

[copeland45]

Let me explain. I have been a practicing Catholic for 12 years.

This situation developed after the Protestant minister who previously told me 12 years ago that he had baptized me when I was a kid recently told me that he can’t remember doing so and that he should never have written a letter stating that he had. That letter was how I got confirmed via RCIA 12 years ago.

When I told my current priest this development, he conditionally baptized and confirmed me again.

Now, back to my original question…

 

[MichaelHowling]

Still. Just make a general confession.

 

[EasterJoy]

You’ve been a practicing Catholic for 12 years? So you committed the sin believing that you had been baptized, having received the Sacrament of Eucharist and Confirmation, and also knowing that the matter was a mortal sin and without coercion committed the sin anyway. When you committed the sin, you had been “renewing” your baptismal promises every Easter for over a decade. You knew that commission of this sin made reception of the Eucharist a sacrilege if you don’t confess it beforehand.

Go to the priest who conditionally baptized you, and ask if he does conditional absolutions, too…but yes, confess this, because you believed yourself to have been baptized when you committed the sin. Don’t try to dodge confession on some oddly hoped-for technicality.

It is possible that the priest will tell you that you do not have to confess the sin, but it is highly unlikely that he will not allow you to confess it at all. I can’t imagine it.

 

[copeland45]

You’ve been a practicing Catholic for 12 years? So you committed the sin believing that you had been baptized, having received the Sacrament of Eucharist and Confirmation, and also knowing that the matter was a mortal sin and without coercion committed the sin anyway. When you committed the sin, you had been “renewing” your baptismal promises every Easter for over a decade. You knew that commission of this sin made reception of the Eucharist a sacrilege if you don’t confess it beforehand.

Go to the priest who conditionally baptized you, and ask if he does conditional absolutions, too…but yes, confess this, because you believed yourself to have been baptized when you committed the sin. Don’t try to dodge confession on some oddly hoped-for technicality.

It is possible that the priest will tell you that you do not have to confess the sin, but it is highly unlikely that he will not allow you to confess it at all. I can’t imagine it.

I’m not trying to dodge Confession, I usually go every week. But I’m genuinely curious about the answer to my original question. It won’t hurt anything for me to know what the teaching is on this type of situation.

 

[EasterJoy]

I’m not trying to dodge Confession, I usually go every week. But I’m genuinely curious about the answer to my original question. It won’t hurt anything for me to know what the teaching is on this type of situation.

I’m not being tongue-in-cheek about the conditional absolution question. Go to confession as usaul, explain your situation to the priest, then confess what you’ve done “conditionally”, knowing that the need for absolution may not exist, but that the desire to admit your error and express contrition is never wrong. He’ll either absolve you or he’ll “conditionally” absolve you, but he’ll see to it that what he does fits your situation.

 

[TheWarriorMonk]

If I have no way of knowing whether or not my mortal sin was cleansed, then would it be another mortal sin (sacrilege) if I received the Eucharist unworthily on Sunday? I will not be able to know whether I am committing sacrilege, so that would seem to prevent my committing it (according to the three conditions of mortal sin).

Mortal sins cannot be committed without intent to commit a mortal sin.

The answer to the problem is simple: Go to confession, and let the confessor guide you on this particular issue.

 

[R_C]

If I have no way of knowing whether or not my mortal sin was cleansed, then would it be another mortal sin (sacrilege) if I received the Eucharist unworthily on Sunday? I will not be able to know whether I am committing sacrilege, so that would seem to prevent my committing it (according to the three conditions of mortal sin).

No, because you are aware of having committed a mortal sin. It is irrelevant your doubts on the conditional baptism: you should assume you need to confess, just like you assumed you needed to be baptized. Both are essential for salvation.

Honestly, there should be confessions 30 minutes before every Sunday Holy Mass, and there’s no reason to take the risk of committing a grave sin against the Holy Eucharist. And it’s good you ask this.

 

[nagyszakall]

I am 90% sure that I was [baptized], but not 100%, and there was no documentation. …] Prior to the conditional baptism I had committed a mortal sin. …] then would it be another mortal sin (sacrilege) if I received the Eucharist unworthily on Sunday? I will not be able to know whether I am committing sacrilege, so that would seem to prevent my committing it (according to the three conditions of mortal sin).

The conditions of mortal sin are:

1. object is grave matter – receiving Holy Communion in an unworthy manner (check)
2. committed with full knowledge – you well know that it would be an objectively evil act of grave matter if you’d done it with a mortal sin on your conscience unabsolved (i.e. what you are not sure is not that it would be a bad act, but whether the previous sin is unabsolved or not and you also know that you could resolve the uncertainty by going to confession) (check)
3. deliberate consent – you wouldn’t receive communion by accident (check)
   Therefore, the three conditions are present.
   The fact that you are not sure because of the conditional baptism whether your previous mortal sin was taken care of or not, does not rule out any of those three conditions. Exactly because you are not sure, the only way to go about it is to go to confession. Moreover, you are 90% sure that you were baptized before, which ways even more heavily on the negative side of the doubt. Look up the term “moral certainty” in a moral theology textbook. When you are in doubt in front of a moral decision, you need to make a choice with what you have (i.e. you don’t have the choice of not making a choice). Having said that you are 90% sure, you are morally certain that your conditional baptism in fact wasn’t a baptism. But even if you didn’t have the moral certainty, your only morally good choice could be to go to confession.

And thanks for the case study. I really like them. You were not in earnest thinking to go to communion without prior confession, were you?

 

[DMofokeng]

In my view, if you were baptised as an infant at the time, it means it was done without your knowledge any way. So, now that you are mature to know exactly what is going on, you can commit and be bound by your promise at baptism.

In summary, I doubt that you have to worry about something done without your knowledge and permission as only what you consciously commit to as an adult person should hold.