QUESTION: My husband is in the process of becoming Catholic and would like to attend his first confession. He will be confirmed this coming Easter. Does he need to do anything special to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation or can he just go in and tell the priest it's his first time going to confession as a convert?
Answer: First, you must have been baptized to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through Reconciliation you are not only reconciled with God but also with the Church, so you must be a member of the Church to be reconciled to it.
Secondly, through the RCIA process the catechumens (unbaptized) and candidates (baptized) are being prepared to come into full communion with Church. The ordinary time for acceptance into the Church is at the Easter Vigil. When entering the Church the person should be free from all sin. Because the Sacrament of Baptism washes away all the stains of sin, the catechumen will not have to make a confession. But since the candidate will not be baptized the director of the RCIA program should schedule their First Confession as close to the Easter Vigil as possible, preferably before the Vigil Mass. When they enter into the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Priest will know it is there first time, so he will not have to say or do anything special.
Thirdly, the Church does understand the reality of the burden of sin and would never withhold God's grace from someone. If your husband understands the fullness of the Sacrament and therefore knows its power and wants to receive healing and forgiveness for his sins that burden his relationship with God, he should mention this to the priest at the Church and ask to receive the Sacrament earlier.
