ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on May 23, 2004

Dear Nicole: Yes, valid Baptism, regardless of who does the baptism is accepted by the Catholic Church because there can be only one valid baptism. Baptism to be valid must be conducted with proper form, matter, and intention. If the Church has doubts about whether the convert was validly baptized, or if the convert cannot prove he was batpized, then the Church will do what is called a "conditional batpism". A "Condition Baptism" is, in essence, saying, "Lord, just in case this person was not validly baptized before, we are doing it now, and if the person was validly baptized when we bless this person has we wet him down with holy water :) " On the definition of Valid Baptism, the proper form is to baptize the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (the Trinitarian Formula). The proper matter is to use real water for the Baptism. Although the preferred method is to immerse one in water, it is valid to pour or sprinkle water over the head as long as there is enough water to flow on the head touching the skin directly. If the water only touches the hair, or does not flow, then it is not valid. The proper intention of the minister of the Baptism must be to do what the Church intends by the Baptism which is to use water flowing over the skin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Any group that does not do these Three things does not have a valid Baptism. While the Orthodox and most Protestants have valid baptism, some others do not. For example, there are several "One God Holiness" groups or "Jesus Only" groups that do not baptize with the Trinitarian Formula. Thus their baptism is not valid. Jehovah Witness fall within this group of non-valid baptisms, too, since they do not believe in the Trinity. There is a group out there that baptizes with Rose Pedals instead of Water. Their baptism is not valid. Some groups, like the Mormons, who may use the Trinitarian Formula but their understanding of the Trinity is so flawed that it invalidates the baptism. Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers, that Jesus was an "ascended master" and that we all become gods, or some such nonsense as that. Thus, for example, the One God Pentecostals, Jehovah Witness, and Mormons all do not have valid baptism and would thus need to be validly baptized if they converted to Christianity. (Those without valid baptism are technically NOT Christian). On the subject of early confession, it was indeed irregular to have confession early, but as far as I know it is valid. You should have been properly catechized about this, however, since there was no need to have an early confession. There are many reasons that a person may not be able to get to confession quickly after committing a mortal sin. So what happens if the person dies before receiving Confession? Our God is a great and merciful God; He always provides a way. The official Church teaching is that when one commits a mortal sin, he should as soon as possible offer a Act of Perfect Contrition (with intention to bring the sin to confession at the next opportunity). When the sinner does this, he is forgiven of the mortal sin right there on the spot even though he has not been to Confession yet. Thus if he was to die before getting to Confession, the mortal sin has already been removed from his soul and he dies in a state of grace. Now, one cannot receive communion, however, until actually getting to Confession, but the sin has been forgiven upon a genuine Act of Perfect Contrition. This availability of God salfivic grace is from a loving and merciful Father who is not about to allow His children to die in a state of sin, merely because they died before getting the confession they intended to go to had they lived long enough. So what you should have been advised is to make a Act of Perfect Contrition and then go to Confession at the normal time. Since you received Confession early, however, does not mean that you should decline the confession at the time the RCIA class was scheduled to receive it even it you had not committed a mortal sin. The Church teaches that bringing venial sin to Confession is good to even though not requried. The Sacrament of Confession is a healing Sacrament and serves to help heal wounds of venial sin too. When I converted to the Church, our first confession was one week before the Easter Vigil. I went to that confession along with everyone else in the RCIA class. On the following Saturday, however, as the priest was getting things ready for the Easter Vigil Mass, I pulled him aside and ask him to hear my confession. Although he was busy, confession is more important. He heard my confession. I told him, as a way of explaining, "Father, do you really expect me to not sin for a whole week?" He laughed and told me he was pleased that I took Confession that seriously -- especially since I was a ordained preacher and evangelist of the Baptist persuasion. Most devout Catholics go to confession at least once per month "whether they need to or not". The older tradition was to receive confession once per week. The Pope goes to confession weekly. God Bless and Welcome to the Church, Bro. Ignatius Mary God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary