Recieved Eucharist from "catholic" female priest? Is it a mortal sin?

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I recently returned home from a trip to Europe. During my time in Switzerland i managed to find a Catholic Church to attend mass on Sunday. It was all in german (which unfortunately the only phrase i know is “do you speak english”) so i didnt understand a word. Because of this i decided to sit at the back and try to (silently) participate in it as much as i can, at the parts i know. But this meant that i also couldn’t see the altar clearly, because i need new glasses and can only see clearly about 20-30 ft in front of me.

The thing is, during the Gospel i noticed people getting up to leave, and after wards half way during mass as well. I thought at the time this was because they may have been tourists who got bored of watching. Looking back i realise they probably realised the Priest was a woman before me.

It wasnt until i went up for the Eucharist and i finally came face to face with Priest that i realised it was a woman. But at that moment all i felt was confusion, i mean, she had really short hair like a man, she was on the stocky side, so i wasn’t quite sure if she was, but her um… bosom seemed to be quite evident of the fact she was female. She was also fully dressed in the traditional vestments that Catholic Priests wear during mass. Anyway, i had a split second to decide what to do and i took the Eucharist, though afterwards i was disgusted with myself as i came to the full realisation that she was, in fact, a woman.

Im so confused about all of this, especially because it was a Catholic Church! Why would they allow a woman to hold mass? And is the Eucharist still the body and blood of Christ since it was done by a woman? Its not, right? But is it a sin i chose to take it? Do i need to go and confess it? And should i discuss this with my Parish Priest? And why was she serving in a Catholic Church? And what about all the people in the Parish who willingly received the Eucharist from her? (Though there weren’t many people there though the church was huge) Would it be a mortal sin for them?

I just dont know what to do at this point … i havent received the Eucharist since just in case it was a mortal sin. Im just still so confused … im also scared how my parish priest would react if i told him this…
 
The church you attended may refer to itself as “catholic” but it is not part of the Catholic Church. You will never find women priests in the Catholic Church. What you received was not the Eucharist because she was never validly ordained so she is not able to consecrate the body and blood.

To receive communion at a church that is not in union with Rome is a grave matter. As far as whether or not you committed a mortal sin, it is hard for me to say since you seem confused about the situation at the time. I would certainly bring this up to confession and discuss it there.
 
You did not know,you did not do anything on purpose and on top of it it was a Mass( or whatever it was…) in another language. Who would have thought that a short haired priest there would be a woman priest?
It does not cross my mind that it is a mortal sin but a misfortune.
How would any priest be angry with you?
One in a million and you won the raffle!🙂
 
crossfaith said:
I recently returned home from a trip to Europe. During my time in Switzerland i managed to find a Catholic Church to attend mass on Sunday. It was all in german (which unfortunately the only phrase i know is “do you speak english”) so i didnt understand a word. Because of this i decided to sit at the back and try to (silently) participate in it as much as i can, at the parts i know. But this meant that i also couldn’t see the altar clearly, because i need new glasses and can only see clearly about 20-30 ft in front of me.

The thing is, during the Gospel i noticed people getting up to leave, and after wards half way during mass as well. I thought at the time this was because they may have been tourists who got bored of watching. Looking back i realise they probably realised the Priest was a woman before me.

It wasnt until i went up for the Eucharist and i finally came face to face with Priest that i realised it was a woman. But at that moment all i felt was confusion, i mean, she had really short hair like a man, she was on the stocky side, so i wasn’t quite sure if she was, but her um… bosom seemed to be quite evident of the fact she was female. She was also fully dressed in the traditional vestments that Catholic Priests wear during mass. Anyway, i had a split second to decide what to do and i took the Eucharist, though afterwards i was disgusted with myself as i came to the full realisation that she was, in fact, a woman.

Im so confused about all of this, especially because it was a Catholic Church! Why would they allow a woman to hold mass? And is the Eucharist still the body and blood of Christ since it was done by a woman? Its not, right? But is it a sin i chose to take it? Do i need to go and confess it? And should i discuss this with my Parish Priest? And why was she serving in a Catholic Church? And what about all the people in the Parish who willingly received the Eucharist from her? (Though there weren’t many people there though the church was huge) Would it be a mortal sin for them?

I just dont know what to do at this point … i havent received the Eucharist since just in case it was a mortal sin. Im just still so confused … im also scared how my parish priest would react if i told him this…
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That wasn’t really a Catholic Church.

You didn’t really receive the Eucharist but a fraudulent representation of it.

You should certainly confess this as it is a grave matter.
 
I think you unwittingly attended a service at an ‘Old Catholic’ church. From Wiki:
The Old Catholic Church shares some of the liturgy with the Roman Catholic Church and similar to the Orthodox, Anglicans and high church Protestants.
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Christ-Catholic Swiss bishop Urs Küry dismissed the Roman Catholic dogma of transubstantiation as well as consubstantiation because these Scholastic interpretations presume to explain the Eucharist using the metaphysical concept of “substance”. Like the Orthodox and Methodist approaches to the Eucharist, Old Catholics, he says, ought to accept an unexplainable divine mystery as such and should not cleave to or insist upon a particular theory of the sacrament.[53]
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Because of this approach, Old Catholics hold an open view to most issues, including the role of women in the Church, the role of married people within ordained ministry, the morality of same sex relationships, the use of conscience when deciding whether to use artificial contraception, and liturgical reforms such as open communion. Its liturgy has not significantly departed from the Tridentine Mass, as is shown in the translation of the German altar book (missal).
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In 1994 the German bishops decided to ordain women as priests and put this into practice on 27 May 1996. Similar decisions and practices followed in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.[54] The Utrecht Union allows those who are divorced to have a new religious marriage and has no particular teaching on abortion, leaving such decisions to the married couple.[55]
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If you are unaware of ‘Old Catholics’, are looking for a Mass to attend and are in a foreign country, you could easily make this mistake. Needless to say, Old Catholics are not in communion with Rome, and in Switzerland they broke away in the late 19th century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Catholic_Church
 
Isca said:
I think you unwittingly attended a service at an ‘Old Catholic’ church. From Wiki:

If you are unaware of ‘Old Catholics’, are looking for a Mass to attend and are in a foreign country, you could easily make this mistake. Needless to say, Old Catholics are not in communion with Rome, and in Switzerland they broke away in the late 19th century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Catholic_Church
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They are actually a part of the Anglican Communion!!!
 
Yeah, what you’re describing sounds more like an Episcopalian church more than anything. As for Mortal Sin, three conditions must be met:
  1. Severity of Sin
    It has to be something of a serious nature that if committed, would sever us from Our Lord.
  2. Prior Knowledge
    The individual must know that the act is a sin (at the time said sin is committed).
  3. Freedom of Will
    The person must commit the act or sin under their own freewill. They cannot be coerced into something. However, if ordered, commanded, or told by others to do sin - if the person decides to follow or obey such orders to do sin, the person is still liable.
The first condition is met as receiving Eucharist from Not-In-Union denominations is a serious infraction. The second condition is met as you knew it was wrong at the time. The third condition is met as you mentioned you knew it was wrong to do so, but you did it anyway, thereby showing you chose to do it, even though it may be wrong.

However, I am just a laymen. So my opinion is just that. An opinion. But yes, I would tell your priest at next confession.
 
Yago said:
They are actually a part of the Anglican Communion!!!
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Yes - but presumably outside the church, their sign read ‘The Old Catholic Church of …’ or suchlike, ‘Catholic’ being ‘Katholische’ in German. If you were looking for a Catholic church, it would be easy to make the initial mistake!

My own take on it is that the OP was flustered on the spur of the moment - he didn’t even realise that the minister was a woman until he was standing in front of her. So yes, discuss it with your priest, but it’s not as if you attended church with the intention of receiving communion in another denomination.
 
Isca said:
Yes - but presumably outside the church, their sign read ‘The Old Catholic Church of …’ or suchlike, ‘Catholic’ being ‘Katholische’ in German. If you were looking for a Catholic church, it would be easy to make the initial mistake!

My own take on it is that the OP was flustered on the spur of the moment - he didn’t even realise that the minister was a woman until he was standing in front of her. So yes, discuss it with your priest, but it’s not as if you attended church with the intention of receiving communion in another denomination.
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yes,the op did not do mortal sin
 
There are some Anglican churches that call themselves Catholic Anglicans.
 
Well, the right thing to do is to go to Confession and tell the whole sad tale to the Priest there. I am not sure but depending on your level of participation there may be excommunications that apply. It is that serious a breech with the Church to attend the Masses these ordained women preform. The big tip off in the story is the fact that about halfway through the Mass people started getting up and leaving. Obviously the womanpriest was visible by those in front and they knew enough to not participate in her Mass for fear of automatic excommunication for doing so. They were hostage to those in charge of that Parish and were there in good faith for a genuine Mass but the Pastor let the lady serve. This is an offense that has automatic excommunications involved. You cannot participate in these highly illicit Masses without incurring one automatically that is why those in the front where the OP couldn’t see left to avoid excommunication and censure. It really is that bad. GET YE TO THE CONFESSIONAL PROMPTLY! And never go there again.

Glenda
 
Don’t obsess! Just go to confession and tell all. Your sins will be forgiven and you can go on with your life. You are right to refrain from receiving communion until you have confessed and received absolution. Don’t compound the problem by holding back and ruminating. Ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness and make things right. God bless you.
 
I find it hard to believe that there would be a Catholic woman priest. It must have been an Anglican church. Like I said in an earlier post, there are some Anglican churches that call themselves Catholic.
 
[edited]

I forgot the Latae Sententiae (I think that’s what you are referring to). And yes, that would be incurred just like any other sin. That’s part of why we go to Confession is to get that removed/washed away alogn with any other sins, and of course to receive the special graces to help us recognize sin and hopefully refrain from it.

I really did forget about the Latae Sententiae. Good eye. 😉
 
Hello Born Again.
BornAgain2010 said:
I forgot the Latae Sententiae (I think that’s what you are referring to). And yes, that would be incurred just like any other sin. That’s part of why we go to Confession is to get that removed/washed away alogn with any other sins, and of course to receive the special graces to help us recognize sin and hopefully refrain from it.

I really did forget about the Latae Sententiae. Good eye. 😉
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The thing I’m not certain about is whether or not the types of excommunications involved in this offense are reserved to the Holy See and how much the participation in the Mass effects the level and type of penalties involved. It would take some research on my part to find out. I do know if one willingly participates in the Masses of the womenpriests, one is excommunicated, period, beginning of sentence. If it is a reserved excommunication then one cannot have it removed by the ordinary means available in the Confessional. I wish I knew more to give a better answer. I hope the OP’s Confessor gets to the bottom of her dilemma and points her to the right persons if it is a reserved excommunication. People generally don’t know how deep the swamp is till they are half-way across and regret their excursion into the muck.

Glenda
 
Hi crossfaith,

Sorry to hear about your troubling experience. Firstly - no you didn’t sin. You have to consciously choose to participate in something contrary to church teaching for this to be a sin. If you had willingly gone and received with full knowledge, then it would have been sinful. Because you were blindsided by it and had to make a split second decision about receiving Communion, I would say no sin.

To answer your other questions - yes, a woman cannot be a priest, so there was no Eucharist or mass. What you received was just bread. It is generally sinful and I would say mortal to willingly attend a service like the one you described, if done with full knowledge and consent (obviously, that wasn’t the case with you). It’s unfortunate that people choose to mock Church teaching rather than just respect the teachings and go join another religion if they honestly disagree with it. But this is the world we live in.

But please don’t think you did anything wrong. You had no way of knowing.

All the best and God bless you!
 
Another thing to consider. Excommunication by its nature means NO SACRAMENTS, not just the Eucharist and that includes the Sacrament of Penance. You cannot not just go to Confession and be absolved. You also cannot be Married or receive Confirmation. It is a serious breech not easily remedied.

Glenda
 
glendab said:
Another thing to consider. Excommunication by its nature means NO SACRAMENTS, not just the Eucharist and that includes the Sacrament of Penance. You cannot not just go to Confession and be absolved. You also cannot be Married or receive Confirmation. It is a serious breech not easily remedied.

Glenda
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Hmmmmmm…
 
Hello Yago.

As far as I know, the question you link to is about the penalties for an abortion. And it used to be a reserved excommunication but they lifted the restriction a few years ago so it could be confessed in the Confessional. Used to be you had to go to someone with the faculties to lift the excommunication for abortion. But the thread concerns itself with the excommunication that is achieved by participation in the Masses preformed by women priests. That excommunication is reserved to the Holy See so it cannot be relieved at all by an ordinary Priest. I was looking for the specific documents that say this on the net somewhere, but I don’t have the time to find them. Trust me, when an excommunication is reserved to the Holy See, you’re gonna have to pack a bag for Rome and you might be there a while.

Glenda
 
glendab said:
Well, the right thing to do is to go to Confession and tell the whole sad tale to the Priest there. I am not sure but depending on your level of participation there may be excommunications that apply. It is that serious a breech with the Church to attend the Masses these ordained women preform. The big tip off in the story is the fact that about halfway through the Mass people started getting up and leaving. Obviously the womanpriest was visible by those in front and they knew enough to not participate in her Mass for fear of automatic excommunication for doing so. They were hostage to those in charge of that Parish and were there in good faith for a genuine Mass but the Pastor let the lady serve. This is an offense that has automatic excommunications involved. You cannot participate in these highly illicit Masses without incurring one automatically that is why those in the front where the OP couldn’t see left to avoid excommunication and censure. It really is that bad. GET YE TO THE CONFESSIONAL PROMPTLY! And never go there again.

Glenda
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Since women’s attempt to be priests and thus celebrate some form of the Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the United States is relatively new, would you kindly provide Catholic documentation that there is an automatic excommunication involved.

Can anyone provide these documents?

Thank you sincerely.
 
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