Baptized Catholic + RCIA

[katesmom]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant. Ive been a Christian my whole life.
I have received the Sacrament of Marriage and both of my children are baptized Catholics.

As an adult, I am ready to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Holy First Communion. Why is my parish requiring I go thru RCIA? Im not trying to rush through the process, but am curious why this is a requirement?

Thanks

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant. Ive been a Christian my whole life.
I have received the Sacrament of Marriage and both of my children are baptized Catholics.

As an adult, I am ready to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Holy First Communion. Why is my parish requiring I go thru RCIA? Im not trying to rush through the process, but am curious why this is a requirement?

The pastor wants to be sure that you know and understand the sacraments you are about to receive. If you haven’t had any formal education in Catholicism its a great opportunity to learn about the Church and our faith.
And besides, you’re missing 2 of the sacraments of initiation and RCIA is short for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.

 

[Marie5890]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant. Ive been a Christian my whole life.
I have received the Sacrament of Marriage and both of my children are baptized Catholics.

As an adult, I am ready to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Holy First Communion. Why is my parish requiring I go thru RCIA? Im not trying to rush through the process, but am curious why this is a requirement?

Thanks

Similar situation here. I was baptized as an infant. When I wanted to come into full communion later on, I went thru RCIA

Its to make sure you are well prepared and catechized. I highly recommend it. It is very helpful for all concerned. Esp since you havent had the Sacremant of Confirmation either

 

[FrDavid96]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant. Ive been a Christian my whole life.
I have received the Sacrament of Marriage and both of my children are baptized Catholics.

As an adult, I am ready to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Holy First Communion. Why is my parish requiring I go thru RCIA? Im not trying to rush through the process, but am curious why this is a requirement?

Thanks

RCIA is exactly the right program.

RCIA has different forms. The ones familiar to most Catholics are RCIA for the unbaptised or RCIA for those baptised outside the Church.

The “type” of RCIA that applies to you is the form for baptised yet uncatechised Catholics.

Despite the popular misconception (and mis-use of the term), RCIA is not limited to unbaptised or non-Catholics.

 

[katesmom]

Thank you very much for the replies!

I had read/heard conflicting information regarding RCIA & already baptized Catholics - so I needed clarification.

During my childhood,we never attended mass. My parents are divorced and my father would take me to his non denominational churches, but I knew nothing about the Catholic Church. After I had my first child 7 years ago, I became very interested in the Catholic faith! I knew I wanted to baptize my children in the church but knew nothing about my faith - so my journey began at age 30.

Thanks again!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

While some will hold that RCIA is only for the non-baptized, there are others, baptized non-Catholics and uncatechized Catholics, who also need preparation for some of the sacraments. This requires skilled teachers and many volunteers, who are both in short supply. It is usually not practical to operate more than one program; so it has to be adapted to meet the needs of all.

In practice, I have found it to work quite well; much like a one room school. The variety of backgrounds and knowledge of the participants promotes questions and discussions which would not be as fruitful with a homogeneous class.

We do have a shorter class for adults who have been catechized, but need some additional preparation to receive Confirmation only. I have found this works well if one has the teacher available and enough candidates. I prefer at least 5 or 6. I have done one-to-one instruction, but found the results not as satisfactory. I need some discussion from the students to guide my teaching. I was often able to get an extra student or two from adjacent parishes, which did not have such a program.

 

[puzzleannie]

I was baptized Catholic as an infant. Ive been a Christian my whole life.
I have received the Sacrament of Marriage and both of my children are baptized Catholics.

As an adult, I am ready to receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Holy First Communion. Why is my parish requiring I go thru RCIA? Im not trying to rush through the process, but am curious why this is a requirement?

Thanks

they aren’t requiring you to go to RCIA, they are being sloppy about terminology. The acronym means Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults, and there is a provision for including baptized but uncatechized Catholic adults (or children over the age of reason). But just as with baptized non-Catholic Christians, these are called “candidates” because they are candidates for confirmation and first communion. There are optional rites for them to punctuate the transitions on their faith journey.

The catechumens are the unbaptized and the rites celebrated for them during their preparation are based on that fact and that the character of their conversion is different.

Most parishes for all practical purposes include all adults who need initiation sacraments in one class for the doctrine instruction and separate the two groups only for the rites themselves, and since RCIA is easier to say than “confirmation class for Catholic adults” we get in the habit of calling all adult sacramental classes “RCIA”.

In this diocese priests who initiated new Christians at Easter are specifically excluded from confirming previously baptized Catholic adults. They are supposed to be confirmed (and make first communion, preceded by confession at the same time if they need it) either when the bishop visits the parish to confirm youth, or in the one large diocesan celebration at Pentecost.

Why not simply ask the director or catechist of your program, for one good reason, to make sure they understand your status and your particular needs.

I used to try and keep catechumens, non-Catholic baptized candidates, and Catholic adults in need of confirmation in separate classes, but found they all essentially need the same instruction so for most of the preparation they are in the same doctrine class. This time of year, just before and during Lent and Easter, we separate the catechumens for their specific rites and preparation. We found it a better use of resources and the time and talent of catechists to separate groups on the basis of age, child, youth or adult, and language, Spanish or English.