Catholics,confession,and the mass?

Question

Are catholics still required to go confession before mass if they have anything between them and God?Or if they are "out of pocket" w/ the church? The reason I ask is a co-worker I work w/ advocates some un-catholic beliefs openly.But, goes to mass every sunday and takes communion.Growing up my neighbors said this was against their church.You had to go to confession first.OR you were taking communion unworthily, which was considered a sin.Sorry this question was SO long! Thank You!

kagmi · Accepted Answer

Catholics are supposed to go to Confession before receiving communion at Mass if they have any "mortal" sins between them and God. These "mortal sins" include things like murder (of course), advocating or assisting in an abortion, or just about any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage. The Church's teaching is still quite clear that these are not allowed and they are considered serious obstacles between God and the believer if they occur. "Lesser" sins do not require confession, but there are a whole lot of things that do.

However, a great many people who call themselves Catholic and go to Mass regularly do not fully adhere to or even agree with the laws of the Catholic Church. I've known many people who considered themselves to be Catholic and felt a strong loyalty to the Church, but who actually did not practice or believe many parts of Catholic law. It sounds as though your friend may be one of these "cafeteria Catholics," a term for someone who takes only the parts of Catholic belief that they like and ignores the teachings they don't like. Cafeteria Catholics are pretty common in the U.S..

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Catholics,confession,and the mass?

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