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Question
Pax et bonum!
What happens if christian who are not roman-catholic talks to a roman-catholic priest and confess her sin in the sacrament of penance? Will god forgive her too?
A priest cannot hear the confession of a non-Catholic any more than he can witness the marriage of a non-Catholic. The Catholic must first be baptized into the true Church. If he doesn't, he is not truly penitent, and the "confession" would be void, as he would be in a state of spurning God.
Related Articles
- Penance: A Sacrament of Healing - Catholicism
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- What Must We Do to Receive the Sacrament of Penance Worthily? - Question 191 - Baltimore Catechism
- The Sacrament of Confession - Why Catholics Go to Confession - Confession in the Catholic Church
- On Confession - Lesson Nineteenth - Baltimore Catechism No. 2
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Answers by Expert:
Fr. Michael
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A traditional Catholic priest, who provides forthright answers to questions FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLICISM (not the New Order) on topics pertaining to TRADITIONAL Roman Catholicism, including theology, the Bible, Church history, the Latin language, liturgy (especially the Traditional Latin Mass), and music (especially Gregorian chant), and current events in the Catholic Church.
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