RCIA is almost complete and my time to swim the Tiber is soon upon me. I have another question before the Easter Vigil. As a protestant I have never been to confession before. I have always known that I can take my sins straight to God. I know that the RCC teaches the confession of mortal sins is needed (which I agree with by the way) for entrance into heaven. The RCC also teaches that non Catholic Christians can gain entrance as well. To me this means that entrance is OK for protestants even without the sacrament of reconciliation. My question then is what do I confess? If any mortal sins were already confessed straight to God before I recognized the need for the RCC teachings and that would have been fine if I stayed a protestant do I have to confess those same sins again? Not trying to avoid and dodge a true confession I feel as if I am truly forgiven for those sins from my protestant days.
Any full teachings on this?
First of all, welcome home!
Well, yes and no for Protestants entering heaven without confession.
Yes, because Protestants are not subject to the Church’s canon law, since they are not fully in union with the Church, and so don’t have access to the sacraments. This doesn’t mean, however, that they won’t have to go through purgatory. It’s not a “get into heaven free card” deal. It merely means that God does not hold people accountable for what they did not have and did not know.
Now that you are a candidate, however, you are no longer considered a Protestant, but a Catholic, so canon law now applies to you. Of course, God could have forgiven you, but you still need to be reconciled to Christ’s Body (all the baptized), whether or not this is the case. This is what absolution does. And the penance Father will give you pays, in justice, for the damage your sins did to you and the whole Body of Christ.
So, confess any and all mortal sins you can remember–keeping in mind that if you knew they were grave sins when you committed them, that you did them freely, and you did them deliberately you should confess them. I don’t say must only because since you were a Protestant, you weren’t under canon law. Still, it’s always good to get these things out in the open. Not merely to be right with God and the Church but to see where you’ve been and where you still need to go.
Don’t sweat it, though. Simply confess your sins as you remember them. If Father needs any explanations he will ask for them. If he doesn’t know you are a candidate, you can explain that to him just to give him some context for you confession.
All the best to you and yours this Lent and Easter!
