My niece was baptized anglican. Her father is Catholic. Her mother is anglican. They were married in the anglican church. My niece attends a Catholic school. There seemed to be some confusion in my family as to what the protocol was. My niece is the one who wants to become Catholic.
This very much sounds, then, like our starting point is that the girl is
not Catholic and thus must first become Catholic before receiving the Eucharist. Much of the advice so far has been fairly well to the point, but there have been some inaccuracies that I hope to address.
If she hasn’t yet reached her 7th birthday, it’s relatively easy. She can simply be admitted into the Church by a special rite for admitting previously baptised children into the the Church. This rite is almost identical to an infant baptism. It supplies the ritual and blessings of Baptism. The pastor can do this immediately, as soon as he has at least a founded hope that the child will be raised in the Catholic faith.
If she’s past her 7th birthday, that makes things a little different. Technically, she should go through the RCIA program (ironically, the RCI of Adults) but that’s not an absolute. The short answer is to say talk to your pastor. If she isn’t yet 7, talk to him as soon as possible.
Yes, the first key distinction here is that of age. If the girl is as yet below the age of reason, she can very easily be received into the Church and proceed along the “standard” sacramental path in her parish. If she is in the second grade, though, I highly doubt that she is below the age of reason, and in that case she would need to convert as an “adult” (canonically, that is everyone who has attained reason, de facto set at seven years; she would be an adult who is still a minor). Father has said that she should technically go through RCIA; RCIA, though, is only for
non-Christians who are entering the Church. There may be some special guidelines for adults below the age of 14, but the general rule is that a non-Catholic Christian can be received by his/her pastor at any time the pastor feels they have a sufficient grasp of Catholics’ beliefs and responsibilities.
it is essentially up to the bishop of each diocese, but such children, as would adults baptized in another Christian denomination, should go through RCIA and be received into full communion in the Catholic Church through profession of faith, Confirmation and first communion (preceded by first confession). This may be at Easter, or at another time selected by the pastor. She most likely will prepare for sacraments in a class with here peers, some Catholic, and some not. There are still some bishops who think it wiser that such children celebrate 1st communion in 2nd or 3rd grade with others of their class, and delay Confirmation until the normal age for Catholic youth of the diocese.
Having said that RCIA is not necessary, I will concede that in some parishes Annie’s “should” isn’t too far off. If the girl has insufficient grasp of Catholicism (despite her Catholic schooling) and parish resources are set up in such a way that their RCIA program is the best way to remedy this deficiency, then it ought to be used. Actually, an RCIC (…for Children) is designed for those between 7 and 14, so if one of those exists that might be your best bet. Really, though, all that is minimally necessary is private instruction/examination by the pastor and reception when he sees fit.
The inaccuracy I would clear up in Annie’s post, though, is that about the timing of Eucharist and Confirmation. It is not simply up to the bishop to decide what he thinks best. Canonically, a pastor who receives a non-Catholic Christian into the Church is obligated to confirm that person at the reception, regardless of whether anyone thinks it would be nicer to get confirmed with classmates. Whether or not we are going to raise the possibility of a bishop dispensing from the canonical requirement, then, the canonical norm for anyone of 7 years or older is for reception through profession, confirmation, and Eucharist.
