1st Penance for RCIA

[kateri05]

my husband is being received into the church at Easter. ()

when is it appropriate for him to receive 1st penance? our RCIA director said that he can do it anytime, but since he's techinically not Catholic yet .... i don't quite understand how that works

any clarifications would be great!

[cappie]

From the Code:

[i]Canon 844 #1 says that Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ's faithful. [/i]

Then the Code goes on to speak of baptism

TITLE I: BAPTISM (Cann. 849 - 878)

[i]Can. 849 Baptism, the gateway to the sacraments, is necessary for salva-tion, either by actual reception or at least by desire. By it people are freed from sins, are born again as children of God and, made like to Christ by an indelible character, are incorporated into the Church. It is validly conferred only by a washing in real water with the proper form of words.
[/i]
Then Penance:

[i]Can. 959 In the sacrament of penance the faithful who confess their sins to a lawful minister, are sorry for those sins and have a purpose of amendment, receive from God, through the absolution given by that minister, forgiveness of sins they have committed after baptism, and at the same time they are reconciled with the Church, which by sinning they wounded.[/i]

From this then one can only receive a sacrament as a Christian. Normally in the case of RCIA candidates their celebration of the Sacrament of Penance takes place some time after Baptism which washes away all previous sins. :