Time for Confession?

[Jsmith17]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but was raised in a Protestant Church and was never fully recieved into the Catholic Church. I am now seeking to rejoin the Catholic Church, and my parish priest has instructed me to join the RCIA. My question is when should I make my first confession? Am I allowed to do it now or must I wait until I am fully recieved into the Church on Easter Vigil?

 

[ibkc]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but was raised in a Protestant Church and was never fully recieved into the Catholic Church. I am now seeking to rejoin the Catholic Church, and my parish priest has instructed me to join the RCIA. My question is when should I make my first confession? Am I allowed to do it now or must I wait until I am fully recieved into the Church on Easter Vigil?

In RCIA class, you will be instructed about how and when to make your first confession. Just go with how your parish has it set up. God bless.

 

[puzzleannie]

You must do it sometime before you come into full communion with the Catholic Church through confirmation and first communion, and solemn profession of faith. You will formally be prepared for this sacrament sometime during the RCIA process and there will probably be a penance service scheduled for your class, but you do not have to wait until then. Go when you feel ready, consult threads on this topic here for “how to go to confession.” However you will probably want to go more than once between then and Easter (and of course frequently for the rest of your life). For one thing as your knowledge of the faith increases you will also learn more about the moral law and come to new awareness and conviction of your sins (if any) of your past life.

before somebody chimes in, yes there is a provision in the RCIA for a baptized Catholic who through no fault of his own has never been instructed in the faith and has been brought up to learn and practice a non-Catholic religion, and such a person does belong in RCIA if that is the means prescribed by the bishop to bring that person back into the Church.

 

[Jsmith17]

before somebody chimes in, yes there is a provision in the RCIA for a baptized Catholic who through no fault of his own has never been instructed in the faith and has been brought up to learn and practice a non-Catholic religion, and such a person does belong in RCIA if that is the means prescribed by the bishop to bring that person back into the Church.

This has led me to another question, I’m not sure if the full RCIA program is where I belong.

The National Statutes for the Catechumenate states

“Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate” (NSC 31).

"It is preferable that reception into full communion not take place at the Easter Vigil lest there be any confusion of such baptized Christians with the candidates for baptism . . . " (NSC 33).

"The reception of candidates into the communion of the Catholic Church should ordinarily take place at the Sunday Eucharist of the parish community, in such a way that it is understood that they are indeed Christian believers who have already shared in the sacramental life of the Church and are now welcomed into the Catholic Eucharistic community . . . " (NSC 32).

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOW2.htm

Should I bring these points up with my priest? I have lived as a Christian and have recieved religious education my entire life from a non-denominational Christian school. I wanted to bring it up when speaking to him earlier, but I didn’t want it to seem as if I was impatient; if the soonest I can possibly be recieved into the Church is in 10 months, then I am by all means willing to wait, but I would like to be recieved sooner.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but was raised in a Protestant Church and was never fully recieved into the Catholic Church.

You were fully received into the Catholic Church by your baptism therein.

 

[puzzleannie]

as I said there is a specific provision for someone who meets the specific circumstance described in OP, and OP can safely leave it to the pastor to decide, in accordance with wishes of local ordinary, how he will be prepared for and received into full communion with the Catholic Church. The pastor, not the candidate, is the best judge of “where he belongs.” It is not necessary for the candidate to peruse the national statutes and the RCIA ritual book, that is for the pastor and those preparing the candidate.

Should I bring these points up with my priest? I have lived as a Christian and have recieved religious education my entire life from a non-denominational Christian school. I wanted to bring it up when speaking to him earlier, but I didn’t want it to seem as if I was impatient; if the soonest I can possibly be recieved into the Church is in 10 months, then I am by all means willing to wait, but I would like to be recieved sooner.

absolutely, you should have brought up all the circumstances at your initial interview, and the priest cannot guide you if he does not know your circumstance.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Should I bring these points up with my priest? I have lived as a Christian and have recieved religious education my entire life from a non-denominational Christian school. I wanted to bring it up when speaking to him earlier, but I didn’t want it to seem as if I was impatient; if the soonest I can possibly be recieved into the Church is in 10 months, then I am by all means willing to wait, but I would like to be recieved sooner.

Yes, you should. Actually, someone should have asked you about all this in your initial interview. In all likelihood, however, you’ll still go through RCIA for the instruction you need about what the Catholic Church teaches. You may not have to wait until Easter to complete your sacraments of initiation, but that will be up to your RCIA director and pastor.

Since apparently they didn’t ask about your life as a Christian, I wonder if they left out anything else. Are you married? If so, have either you or your spouse been divorced? This is an area that throws up roadblocks for some people.

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but was raised in a Protestant Church and was never fully recieved into the Catholic Church.

You were fully received into the Catholic Church by your baptism therein.

But the OP needs to complete his sacraments of initiation. He can still look forward to Confirmation and First Eucharist.