First Confession

[seeker]

First of all, it is okay to go to confession as a non-Catholic, right? If not, the rest of the question is irrelevant. :\ I wasn't raised Catholic, so I've never been to confession. Does that mean I have to confess everything from my 24 years of life? Do I only confess mortal sins? If I don't remember everything I've ever done, how can I get those sins forgiven?

[cappie]

I am assuming that the question is not about "can God forgive?" The question is "can a priest absolve?"

 

Absolution, on the other hand, is a juridic act of the Church. Very important. It is a "legal" act whereby the priest, acting as a minister of the Church, reconciles the penitent to the community which is the Church. Remember that the priest is a minister of the Church, and as such absolves on behalf of the Church. The scriptural basis for this is (not John 20) but Matthew 16 "Thou art Peter...whatever you bind on earth..." This Power of the Keys was given to Peter and his successors. The successors to Peter extend (or delegate) that to priests who can act in the name of the Church--we call this "faculties."

 

In the sacrament of Confession, when the sacrament is complete, we are both forgiven (John) and absolved (Matthew). Both of these together constitute reconciliation. It might be helpful to think of "reconciliation" as being a single coin with 2 sides: forgiveness and absolution.

 

We can be forgiven without being absolved (God forgives absolutely).

 

Whenever we are absolved, we are also forgiven because the priest reconciles us to both God and the Church.

 

absolution is a juridic (legal) act of the Church which reconciles the sinner to the Church. That means 2 things:

 

1. The priest (any priest "sacerdos") only absolves when he has the legal, canonical authority to act in the name of the Church. Without the authority of the Church, a priest simply cannot absolve--because he cannot commit a juridic act without that authority. This is not the same thing as a priest who can still consecrate the Eucharist even while suspended. A priest must have the faculty to absolve; if not, absolution simply does not occur, regardless of the circumstances or the motivation.

 

(Aside: The Church, in Her wisdom and concern for souls, gives priests the necessary faculties even when they otherwise would not have them, in certain circumstances. That means that a suspended but still ordained priest who does not have faculties to absolve is given them by the law itself in danger of death. Keep in mind that he is "given" these faculties; he does not automatically have them by virtue of his ordination.)

 

2. Absolution reconciles the sinner to the Church. Keep in mind that a person cannot be "reconciled" to the Church without first being a member of the Church. One cannot be restored to a state that never existed in the first place.

 

In conclusion:

 

The answer to your question is "no," for 2 reasons...

 

1. Canon 844 states "Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone..." This means that a priest has the juridic authority to absolve (a juridic act) only the Catholic faithful. (For brevity here, I'm omitting circumstances like the Orthodox or danger-of-death--yes, that does change things, but i assuming that's not what the question was about.)

Without the canonical, juridic, legal authority (faculties) to absolve, a priest cannot do so. Under normal circumstances, a priest does not have the faculties to absolve non-Catholics. No faculties means no absolution.

 

2. A person simply cannot be reconciled to the Church unless he was first fully a member of the Communion/Community which is the Church. Non-Catholic Christians are united to the Church, but not fully members of the Church. They cannot be restored to a state which they never had in the first place.

 

I know in this country (Australia) when a person is in the process of converting to the Catholic faith the celebration of the sacrament of "first Confession" with candidates for reception into full communion is to be carried out at a time prior to and distinct from the celebration of the rite of reception into full communion with the Church