Expert: Fr. Michael - 9/30/2011

Question
I was raised "catholic", although my parents were not a church going family.  I thought that if you confessed all your sins (mortal or venial) in private to God/Jesus with great sincerity followed by an earnest and honest effort to correct all behavior and repent by doing good for others you will achieve absolution. There is no need to confess to a Priest. Or is this what the New Order is about?  If confession to another human (a Priest) is a MUST then what about all other faiths.  Are only Catholics the only ones who can acquire absolution?  I'm afaid I do not agree with the High church methods.  Am I now doomed?  Is not the New Order and Low Church pretty much the same.  What about Broad Church which is inbetween High and Low.  Since I as a Catholic have difficulty with the confession methods of the old tradition do I need to change faith?

Answer
You certainly cannot have been raised Catholic if you had such a "thought."  Absolution is by its nature a Sacrament.  It is imparted, through Divine command, by a priest.  You can't "absolve" yourself.  That doesn't really even sound logical.  It's like trying to perform surgery on yourself without even knowing how to operate!

Unfortunately, when one is knowingly or unknowingly outside the true Faith, one deprives oneself of the Sacraments as a consequence.  That is why one must be careful to profess and practice only the true Faith.  If you give precedence to your own personal whims, obviously founded in ignorance of the Faith, as you yourself indicate, and fail humbly seek out the truth, you do deliberately place yourself on the path to "doom," as you call it.

You desperately need to get a traditional confessor that can guide you out of substantial ignorance about your Faith to an understanding of what your Faith really teaches.  There is a convenient geographical list at www.traditio.com/nat.htm.