Who in RCIA should received the sacrament of Reconciliation

[doggieDaddy]

We have three classes of people in our RCIA program.

Catechumens: the unbaptised. These do not need to received the sacrament of Reconciliation before their baptism at the Easter vigil. Their sins will be wiped clean by their Baptism. I assume they would still benefit from an examination of their past life and a discussion with a priest about this examination. I assume something like this occurs in our program but that is part of the RCIA program I am not involved in.

Confirmandis: baptised Catholics wishing to be confirmed. In our parish these people go through the RCiA class. There simply aren’t enough of them or volunteers to have a separate program even though this is preferable. These should receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before the sacrament of Confirmation, especially if they have not received the sacrament previously. Ours will have several opportunities to do this.

Candidates: baptised non-catholics. What about these? What are these people to do before being accepted into the Catholic Church and receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist? Can they receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before they are accepted into the church? If not, what are they to do about any grave sin they may have committed? If they are a member of a faith tradition with a valid equivalent to the sacrament of Reconciliation should they receive the sacrament in the faith tradition they are leaving?

 

[ZMystiCat]

Candidates : baptised non-catholics. What about these? What are these people to do before being accepted into the Catholic Church and receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist? Can they receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before they are accepted into the church?

I think that they can technically receive the sacrament at any time, though it is standard, at least in my parish, to wait until shortly before Easter. That said, if one commits a mortal sin between that first confession and Easter, then they absolutely should go to confession prior to Easter.

Edit: Obviously, ask your priest about the details. He may just be waiting until closer to Easter to discuss those matters.

 

[twf]

I’m not sure about this. Until one is formally received into the Church, baptized or not, one is not yet a Catholic… It is the purview of the bishop, or one he delegates, to receive baptized non-Catholics into the Church. Otherwise any Protestant could show up for confession at any time? I could be wrong. I know Orthodox Christians can licitly (from a Catholic perspective) receive our sacraments.

 

[ZMystiCat]

I’m not sure about this. Until one is formally received into the Church, baptized or not, one is not yet a Catholic…

Having been a candidate myself, I know that first confession is made prior to Easter. Mine occurred a few weeks out, and I was struggling with a grave matter at the time, so I had to have a second one prior to Easter. The priest didn’t care. (I do mine face-to-face.) I’ve heard of others doing the same.

Otherwise any Protestant could show up for confession at any time?

Jimmy Akin goes into more detail on the matter. By the time you reach near Easter, candidates seeking confession are probably valid, since they believe it, are seeking it in the sacraments, and have been baptized. I would imagine being able to validly receive the Eucharist is also important enough to warrant it.

Generally, speaking, though, Protestants aren’t able to. Either they don’t believe it or aren’t in a serious enough situation to warrant not waiting.

 

[EnglishTeacher]

Yes, I was also a candidate in RCIA, and we made our first confession a few days before Easter.

Candidates must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before being received into the Church. In our case, the priest had us wait until the week that we were received.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

This is covered in the Rite. See #482.

 

[glorybe]

Discernment as to the candidates serious intention of becoming a Catholic is normally finalized by the time of the Rite of Election which occurs first Sunday of Lent, after that, the candidate would receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation any time, usually by appointment, but best to wait closer to Easter for the actual confession. Keep in mind the closer to Easter, the busier the priest is, so make the appointment early before he gets a full calendar. Some RCIA groups schedule a confession day with the priest, where the candidates go on the same day, one after the other, and there might be more than one priest.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Candidates : baptised non-catholics. What about these? What are these people to do before being accepted into the Catholic Church and receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist? Can they receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before they are accepted into the church? If not, what are they to do about any grave sin they may have committed? If they are a member of a faith tradition with a valid equivalent to the sacrament of Reconciliation should they receive the sacrament in the faith tradition they are leaving?

When we validly Baptized Christians enter the Catholic Church, we may begin confession when we and our pastor agree we are ready.

 

[mrsdizzyd]

I wish I could go to confession and receive the graces of that sacrament.

Honestly, the wait is the most difficult part of this process for me. I already believe. Completely. I have already given assent of my will to the full doctrine of the church.

Having said that, I do understand that it is important to go through the process and that this can be a grace in and of itself.

When I get sad about how long I have to wait, I remember St. Augustine who was far more knowledgeable than I and yet still had to go through basically the same process. Then, I ask for his intercession and pray for patience and humility.

 

[Horton]

The baptized non Catholic waits to receive the sacrament of reconciliation until they are told it is time. Most often, though a good RCIA program this would be in the time of Lent, closer to Easter. Generally a penance service is a good time for candidates make their first reconciliation.

One thing I’m noticing here and in real life is the notion of I want this now and I know enough to have it. I shouldn’t have to wait or follow the rules to partake of the sacraments. I feel many people are forgetting about the virtues of obedience, patience, fortitude, and humility. Those of us who converted all started in the same place. Everyone knows a great deal about some things Catholic, no one knows everything about everything Catholic. It is wise to stay humble.

 

[EricF]

Our program includes catechumens, confirmandi, and candidates. I realize they should all have separate instruction, but resources don’t allow for it. Our usual procedure is we have a rehearsal for the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday morning. After that rehearsal, the confirmandi and candidates will make their confessions. The catechumens don’t need it as they will be baptized during the Vigil.

 

[FrDavid96]

We have three classes of people in our RCIA program.

Catechumens:

Since they are not yet baptized, they cannot go to Confession. Also, remember that baptism remits ALL sins.

Confirmandis:

Since they are already baptized Catholic, they are already eligible to go to Confession to any qualified priest at any time. No restrictions.

Candidates:

That one is tricky. I want to address this in a separate post.

 

[FrDavid96]

With regard to Candidates (ie. the already baptized, but not yet full members of the Church).

The way that the RCIA program is written, and as it was intended to be used from its inception: candidates are to be received whenever they are deemed ready as individuals (not, repeat not, at the Easter Vigil Mass). They should be received into the Church before anything else. The Church suggests a simple ceremony for this. Then, they are to go to Confession. Then they receive First Communion and Confirmation at Mass.

The actual experience of RCIA (at least in the U.S.) is quite different. Candidates are often combines with Catechumens, and both are received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. Although this is liturgically very un-sound practice, many parishes are almost forced to do it this way for practical reasons.

Here’s what happens: the reception of Candidates gets moved to a place within the Easter Vigil Mass (where it does not belong). Obviously, that leaves no time for Confession before Confirmation and First Communion.

The practical solution is for the Candidates to make their Confessions shortly before the Easter Vigil.

This creates a problem because they are not yet Catholic, and so not yet eligible to take part in Confession. So the Church makes an exception and allows them to go to Confession shortly before being received into the Church. However, the Church does not define any time requirements.

Personally, I solve that by having the Candidates go to Confession on Good Friday or Holy Saturday. From what I observe personally, most priests do it this way. But I cannot say that I’ve done any proper research into this, nor do I know if anyone has done it (like a nationwide survey, for example). I certainly do know of some priests who allow Candidates to go to Confession much earlier.

The problem here is that the actual Rite of RCIA is either
a–not being followed (but should be)
or
b–needs to be revised.

I’m open to option b (revised) because when RCIA was first written, it was, in many ways, still an experiment. I do think the Church needs to evaluate the whole program and decide what works and what doesn’t, and what needs to be changed.

 

[chessnerd321]

They should be received into the Church before anything else. The Church suggests a simple ceremony for this. Then, they are to go to Confession. Then they receive First Communion and Confirmation at Mass.

Interesting. Thanks for that. I was invited to confess about 3 weeks before the vigil my year. It was a lot of pressure to be good for 3 weeks. Not that I couldn’t have confessed again I’m sure. ANYWAY,

I do know that my bishop has a mass to confirm candidates in the Easter season, but as we’re a university parish I would have already been home. If it doesn’t matter when they are confirmed, how could the Easter vigil be wrong?

The problem here is that the actual Rite of RCIA is either
a–not being followed (but should be)
or
b–needs to be revised.

I think some of a and b. Rcia was a huge grace in my life even tho I might have been theoretically ready a lot sooner. But it can be hard to explain why we bar people from sacraments when they are ready to recieve them and the church has no good reason not to.

I know someone who begged for special treatment in this area (being confirmed early) and it drove me nuts that she somehow thought her faith was Superior to others in RCIA. That said, it shouldn’t be “special treatment” to admit people to sacraments when they’re ready.

 

[mrsdizzyd]

By received before Vigil, are you referring to the Rite of Election? If so, we do our Rite of Election a month before Vigil.

 

[FrDavid96]

If it doesn’t matter when they are confirmed, how could the Easter vigil be wrong?

Exactly because the Easter Vigil (as it currently exists) is about Baptism. Since Candidates are already baptised, they do not “fit” into the theme and the prayers of the Easter Vigil. It’s improper to treat the baptised and non-baptised the same; because logic dictates that we cannot look at the already baptised and say things like “as you prepare to be baptised…”

Now, that doesn’t mean the Church cannot modify the Easter Vigil to address that issue. It simply means that in its current state, the Easter Vigil is not really a suitable time to receive the already baptised.

The other reason, I’ll address in the second half…

 

[FrDavid96]

… That said, it shouldn’t be “special treatment” to admit people to sacraments when they’re ready.

Right.
We should not make people wait overly long to be received into the Church if they are already baptised Christians. For example, if a person wants to become Catholic (and is ready to do so), but makes that decision known to the local pastor in late April, that person often has to wait nearly a year to join the Church. There’s not much sense in that.

RCIA is based on the Catechumenate of the early centuries. That was a time when people knew mostly nothing about Christianity (beyond a general knowledge that there were Christians out there somewhere). It took a year of teaching and discernment (both by the candidate and the Church) to first learn what Christians believe, and to be ready to make a commitment to become a Christian.

For people in places like the U.S., we live in an entirely different world. We’re not persecuted (not in the same way, at least). We don’t live in hiding. And most non-Christians have a fair understanding of what Christians believe anyway. Many people have actually been raised as believing Christians, but, due to circumstances, were never baptised. For example, someone might be a lifelong Baptist, but happen to attend a local congregation that doesn’t put much emphasis on water Baptism, and thereby be an unbaptized adult, who decides to become a Catholic.

As far as the Candidates are concerned, everyone’s situation is different. Some people are more ready to become Catholic than others. For example, a few years ago, I received a man into the Church with less than a week’s notice. He’s married to a Catholic. They had been married for more than 45 years, and in that time, he had gone to Mass with his wife and Catholic children faithfully every Sunday. He never became Catholic because when they married, the priest had this absurd idea: he composed a written test, and required that anyone becoming Catholic had to score a certain percentage on the test (I kid you not). He finally told me that he had always wanted to become Catholic. When I asked him why he hadn’t done it sooner, and he told me the reason, I received him as a Catholic at the next Sunday Mass. I’m just posting this as an example to illustrate that there are times when baptised Christians are ready to become Catholic with very little instruction necessary (or even none).

So again, for the already baptised, there is no set period of instruction that can apply to all persons. Some are more ready than others. That’s the simple truth. The baptised should be received into the Church whenever they are ready; and that has to be evaluated on an individual basis.

 

[Dovekin]

The rite of acceptance accepts people into the catechumenate.

The rite of welcome is the corresponding ceremony for those already baptized. It happens before catechesis, so the individual is considered a member of the Church from that time.

But Fr is right, this should not be the usual way the unbaptized are received. It is for the uncatechized, ao might apply to anyone who is forced to take classes. The purrpose of the catechumenate is to form people into members of the community, it is more than classroom instruction.

As to reconciliation, I believe people should receive it before their reception as a renewal of the reconciliation they received at Baptism. The initiation rites are baptism, confirmation and eucharist, and it is good to recall the baptismal grace at least by the forgiveness of sin.

 

[EricF]

I wish our priest 11 years ago had viewed it this way. My wife and I started late with the RCIA group, ended up going all the way through it twice before we were received. I don’t know the reason, but I doubt it was because we weren’t “getting it” as I have been asked to teach RCIA ever since. In hindsight, I am grateful for all the instruction though.

 

[FrDavid96]

The rite of welcome is the corresponding ceremony for those already baptized. It happens before catechesis, so the individual is considered a member of the Church from that time.

Actually, they are not.

They are not yet members of the Church. That happens later. The Rite of Welcoming welcomes them into a period of discernment, to be received into the Church at a later date.

The 2 ideas of
–being a full member of the Church
–being eligible to receive the Sacraments (of Confession, Confirmation, Eucharist)

are really one and the same. If a person is a full member, then he may receive the Eucharist. If he is not yet ready to receive Communion, then he’s not a member.

It’s illogical to separate those 2 realities. Membership equals eligibility.