Am I Catholic?

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jspencer said:
Thank You one and all for the multitude of responses. For the record, my father taught me about reconciliation and had me go to confession before receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord. As for RCIA I have decided to go ahead with that for all of the reasons posted here and to make sure there are no gaps in my Catholic education. Besides, one of the priests at my local parish said, “you never know, maybe your presence there will help someone else”. I am currently trying to determine which parish I was baptized in. My father was the one who told me about my baptism, before he passed away. When I was younger all of this didn’t matter, it was only after I was dumb enough to fall away from the Church and make some poor decisions. I am just beginning the process of seeking a decree of nullity for my first marriage. I do not take part in the sacraments right now, and will not do so until all of this is straightened out. My current wife wants to do everything necessary to be able to have our marriage blessed (convalidated) in the local parish.
Any more comments/opinions/advice are/is welcomed.
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God bless you on your journey back!
 
jspencer said:
I am currently trying to determine which parish I was baptized in. My father was the one who told me about my baptism, before he passed away.
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Finding your parish of baptism can be just as easy as calling each one in the city and asking if you are on record there. Complications can arise if the parish no longer exists.

Somewhat off-topic, 7Sorrows, were you confirmed in the Catholic Church?
 
Thank You for all of the prayers. Just to clarify, I was living in the UK until I was about 12 yrs old. I was born in the mid-60’s and I never thought to ask my father which parish he had me baptized in. I am currently making contact with all of the parish’s in that part of England. Also I am trying to locate the priest that was on the air base where my father was stationed, (it is closed now). I wish I had asked more questions while growing up, but it never occured to me that I would be in this situation. Thanks Again and any more comments would be great.
 
jspencer said:
Thank You for all of the prayers. Just to clarify, I was living in the UK until I was about 12 yrs old. I was born in the mid-60’s and I never thought to ask my father which parish he had me baptized in. I am currently making contact with all of the parish’s in that part of England. Also I am trying to locate the priest that was on the air base where my father was stationed, (it is closed now). I wish I had asked more questions while growing up, but it never occured to me that I would be in this situation. Thanks Again and any more comments would be great.
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I don’t know about the UK, but here in the US the military has its own diocese, and the baptismal records are centralized. Worth a try?
 
Spirithound said:
Finding your parish of baptism can be just as easy as calling each one in the city and asking if you are on record there. Complications can arise if the parish no longer exists.

Somewhat off-topic, 7Sorrows, were you confirmed in the Catholic Church?
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i sent you a PM regarding your last question. yes, i am a member of the Catholic church.
 
jspencer said:
Thank You for all of the prayers. Just to clarify, I was living in the UK until I was about 12 yrs old. I was born in the mid-60’s and I never thought to ask my father which parish he had me baptized in. I am currently making contact with all of the parish’s in that part of England. Also I am trying to locate the priest that was on the air base where my father was stationed, (it is closed now). I wish I had asked more questions while growing up, but it never occured to me that I would be in this situation. Thanks Again and any more comments would be great.
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If your father had you baptized on a United States military base then your records are with the military ordinariate for the United States. Even if the base is in a foreign country, if the chain of command is part of the United States military then it’s the US military ordinariate which has jurisdiction. Not the military ordinariate of the host country.

Contact info for the US military ordinariate is on their website here. There’s a form on the site you can use to request your records (and leave a tax-deductible donation for the processing costs), but you may want to give them a call first since you don’t even know for sure if they have your records. Usually your name, military base where the sacrament was received, and year are more than sufficient to find the record.

Assuming your father was an American on an American base, of course. If he was English on an English base, then contact the military ordinariate for the UK. It’s referred to as the Bishopric of the Forces and their contact info is here 🙂
 
If you had a valid Baptism, than you are, indeed, Catholic. Since you can’t prove you were Baptised, you will probably go through a conditional Baptism. This would probably be good anyway, to make sure you are in fact Baptised. Also, you will want to get your marriage situation taken care of since you remarried.
 
Please take my “Two cents” in the spirit in which it is intended. I think it is all too easy, for those of you who have been to RCIA to say “Oh, you must”. I am not saying it is not a good thing, only that there can be other factors.
I was baptised Catholic, but when my parents divorced, I was removed from the church. I now attend a denomination that takes communion every week, but lately have been questioning many of it’s values and am thinking about going back to the Catholic Church.
I would hate the thought of not being able to take the sacrements for 2 years, while I completed “classes” (tho I do need to “relearn” many, many things. Are you saying God would not recognize my heart if I confessed and repented, or instead that “The Church” would not? I don’t see God that way.
 
turnepr said:
Please take my “Two cents” in the spirit in which it is intended. I think it is all too easy, for those of you who have been to RCIA to say “Oh, you must”. I am not saying it is not a good thing, only that there can be other factors.
I was baptised Catholic, but when my parents divorced, I was removed from the church. I now attend a denomination that takes communion every week, but lately have been questioning many of it’s values and am thinking about going back to the Catholic Church.
I would hate the thought of not being able to take the sacrements for 2 years, while I completed “classes” (tho I do need to “relearn” many, many things. Are you saying God would not recognize my heart if I confessed and repented, or instead that “The Church” would not? I don’t see God that way.
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RCIA does not last 2 years.

Talk to your priest.
 
turnepr said:
Please take my “Two cents” in the spirit in which it is intended. I think it is all too easy, for those of you who have been to RCIA to say “Oh, you must”. I am not saying it is not a good thing, only that there can be other factors.
I was baptised Catholic, but when my parents divorced, I was removed from the church. I now attend a denomination that takes communion every week, but lately have been questioning many of it’s values and am thinking about going back to the Catholic Church.
I would hate the thought of not being able to take the sacrements for 2 years, while I completed “classes” (tho I do need to “relearn” many, many things. Are you saying God would not recognize my heart if I confessed and repented, or instead that “The Church” would not? I don’t see God that way.
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Take comfort in knowing that RCIA isn’t for you anyway. RCIA is a general term for many different situations. The “typical” RCIA experience is not intended for someone in your situation, so there’s no waiting 2 years, or even 1 year. All you have to do to “become Catholic again” is to go to Confession–and of course, to stop going to the non-Catholic place. Yes, if you haven’t been Confirmed, and haven’t received First Communion, you need to speak to your priest about that. But don’t think that you have to go through (what we usually mean when we say) the RCIA.
 
jspencer said:
Thank You one and all for the multitude of responses. For the record, my father taught me about reconciliation and had me go to confession before receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord. As for RCIA I have decided to go ahead with that for all of the reasons posted here and to make sure there are no gaps in my Catholic education. Besides, one of the priests at my local parish said, “you never know, maybe your presence there will help someone else”. I am currently trying to determine which parish I was baptized in. My father was the one who told me about my baptism, before he passed away. When I was younger all of this didn’t matter, it was only after I was dumb enough to fall away from the Church and make some poor decisions. I am just beginning the process of seeking a decree of nullity for my first marriage. I do not take part in the sacraments right now, and will not do so until all of this is straightened out. My current wife wants to do everything necessary to be able to have our marriage blessed (convalidated) in the local parish.
Any more comments/opinions/advice are/is welcomed.
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Welcome Home!!!

To support I would like you to know that I and many others who would hear your story find what you are doing admirable: taking the efforts to wait on the Sacraments and thoroughly learn the faith.
 
turnepr said:
Please take my “Two cents” in the spirit in which it is intended. I think it is all too easy, for those of you who have been to RCIA to say “Oh, you must”. I am not saying it is not a good thing, only that there can be other factors.
I was baptised Catholic, but when my parents divorced, I was removed from the church. I now attend a denomination that takes communion every week, but lately have been questioning many of it’s values and am thinking about going back to the Catholic Church.
I would hate the thought of not being able to take the sacrements for 2 years, while I completed “classes” (tho I do need to “relearn” many, many things. Are you saying God would not recognize my heart if I confessed and repented, or instead that “The Church” would not? I don’t see God that way.
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I know what you mean about RCIA shouldn’t take 2 years. I have been speaking with people at my local parish and have discovered that most of the “cradle” Catholics are the ones who “need” RCIA.
 
jspencer said:
I know what you mean about RCIA shouldn’t take 2 years. I have been speaking with people at my local parish and have discovered that most of the “cradle” Catholics are the ones who “need” RCIA.
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i agree and especially those involved in the adult education classes. i was astounded to be sitting in an adult class one evening and the “teacher” said that praying the rosary, attending mass, going to adoration are mere ways of trying to earn brownie points with God. that we are dysfunctional in our prayer life. somehow, many have forgotten what it means to be Catholic.
 
The normal procedure to follow is to go through RCIA, but, discuss it with a parish priest. Maybe he might have alternatives.
 
hamburglar said:
If you had a valid Baptism, than you are, indeed, Catholic. Since you can’t prove you were Baptised, you will probably go through a conditional Baptism. This would probably be good anyway, to make sure you are in fact Baptised. Also, you will want to get your marriage situation taken care of since you remarried.
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Unless his mom also had him baptized.
 
His mom probably didn’t since he was baptized in secret.

Hello again OP, I just wanted to add in that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an easy way to fill in the holes in your own time between RCIA and talking with priests. The Scriptures are well quoted in the Catechism as well so that you can pair them up or bounce from one to the other.
 
jspencer said:
I know what you mean about RCIA shouldn’t take 2 years. I have been speaking with people at my local parish and have discovered that most of the “cradle” Catholics are the ones who “need” RCIA.
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This is really true. The program where I am going through RCIA is really, basically a class for adults who were baptized Catholic and need Confirmation and/or first Holy Communion. Maybe some people here will say, “Oh, they shouldn’t be going through RCIA because they are already Catholic,” but the truth is, many of them had never heard of the Real Presence, had no idea what “the incarnation” referred to because they did not know Jesus was God (yes, really), and other things that demonstrate absolutely no catechesis whatsoever. Fortunately they are now receiving excellent catechesis.

I’m not baptized and know pretty much all of it already (that is being taught in the class - there’s always much more to learn, of course), since studying Catholic theology was part of what brought me to the Church in the first place, but it’s alright because I like going there and listening to the priest talk for an hour. 🙂
 
*Thank You one and all for the multitude of responses. For the record, my father taught me about reconciliation and had me go to confession before receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord. As for RCIA I have decided to go ahead with that for all of the reasons posted here and to make sure there are no gaps in my Catholic education. Besides, one of the priests at my local parish said, “you never know, maybe your presence there will help someone else”. I am currently trying to determine which parish I was baptized in. My father was the one who told me about my baptism, before he passed away. When I was younger all of this didn’t matter, it was only after I was dumb enough to fall away from the Church and make some poor decisions. I am just beginning the process of seeking a decree of nullity for my first marriage. I do not take part in the sacraments right now, and will not do so until all of this is straightened out. My current wife wants to do everything necessary to be able to have our marriage blessed (convalidated) in the local parish.
Any more comments/opinions/advice are/is welcomed. *

This sounds great. I went through RCIA (needed it) and taught it for a few years. Of course Father is right that you don’t need it, but from my experience many baptized Catholics do go through RCIA if they are lacking catechesis, and it’s a good experience.

You should be able to go to confession and receive Communion if you can live with your spouse ‘as brother and sister’ until the declaration of nullity is worked out and you are married in the Church.

Deo gratias.
 
Hi, just a question…cause I’m sort of confused… were you confirmed? If you were not, you would probably need RCIA. If you were, maybe it would be a good idea to go through it just to learn more about the faith - as reverts to Catholicism sometimes go through the program as well… maybe talk to your priest about this?

but if you were baptized Catholic, yes you are a Catholic 🙂

God bless
 
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