Can you be received into Catholic Church outside of Easter

[Inbetweener]

Hello all, I have been baptized in an independent church many years ago and I done some of the RCIA with a religious sister and I would like to ask isn’t it possible for me to be received at a normal mass service as the previous priest told me that the bishop must be present at Easter. Are people received outside the Easter period and must a bishop be present as that means I must be at a Cathredral.

 

[Bonnie]

Have you talked to the priest of your parish? He’s the one who can tell you. I know people can be received into the Church at times other than Easter, but it is up to the priest.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

In the US, the USCCB says on their website,

The Candidates may be received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil or at another Sunday during the year depending on pastoral circumstances and readiness of the Candidate.

Source: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/rite-of-christian-initiation-of-adults/

I would imagine there are situations where someone might need to be received into the Church earlier than Easter, such as a person who is shipping out with the military, a person who is getting married in the Church and wants to be a full member prior to the wedding, or a person in danger of death who might not make it to the next Easter Vigil. I would suggest speaking to your RCIA leader and/or priest about your circumstance.

 

[Inbetweener]

Thanks for the info. The Catholic Church is the hardest church to join. It isn’t easy. The reason I wanted to join outside Easter so my ex Pentecostal fundamentalist friends won’t come to disrupt the service to save me!!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

This is one of those issues where you need to consult with your pastor and/or RCIA director.

Absolutely, yes, people can and are received into the Church outside of Easter. See, for example, the National Statutes for the Catechumenate (in the United States):

1. It is preferable that reception into full communion not take place at the Easter Vigil lest there be any confusion of such baptized Christians with the candidates for baptism, possible misunderstanding of or even reflection upon the sacrament of baptism celebrated in another Church or ecclesial community, or any perceived triumphalism in the liturgical welcome into the Catholic eucharistic community.

With that being said, most of the parishes I know routinely receive baptized Christians into the Church at the Easter Vigil. All you can do is talk with the pastor and find out what the practice is in your particular parish.

 

[exnihilo]

If you have been validly baptized then, as I understand it, ideally you would be received outside of Easter. In practice lots of parishes bring in those who were baptized along with those who were not. But this is up to the priest. So speak with him.

 

[Inbetweener]

Thank you both! I will speak to the new priest as the previous one has retired.

 

[1ke]

Hello all, I have been baptized in an independent church many years ago and I done some of the RCIA with a religious sister and I would like to ask isn’t it possible for me to be received at a normal mass service as the previous priest told me that the bishop must be present at Easter.

The pastor typically has faculties to bring baptized non-Catholics into full communion rather than the bishop. And this can be done any time. In fact, the rites speak of the Elect (unbaptized) being fully initiated at Easter and those already baptized brought in at another time. But, of course, many are brought into the Church at Easter.

It need not be a bishop and it need not be at Easter.

That said, your bishop may have given his priests instructions on how he wants things done in his diocese, and if so then what he says goes.

Are people received outside the Easter period and must a bishop be present as that means I must be at a Cathredral.

Yes people are brought into the Church at times other than Easter. No a bishop need not bring the person into the Church. The bishop need not confirm them if the pastor has been given faculties to do so. And, lastly, it need not be in the cathedral church of the diocese. It can be in the parish church.

What any specific bishop decides to do in his diocese is up to him.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I just want to say, I came into the church on Pentecost Sunday in 2009. I wasn’t even confirmed by the bishop, you don’t actually have to be although that is the norm. I was baptized as an adult, so I think that has something to do with it for me. Again, you don’t have to be on Easter, that’s just when it’s commonly done.

 

[Usige]

Hello all, I have been baptized in an independent church many years ago and I done some of the RCIA with a religious sister and I would like to ask isn’t it possible for me to be received at a normal mass service as the previous priest told me that the bishop must be present at Easter. Are people received outside the Easter period and must a bishop be present as that means I must be at a Cathredral.

I was received at a Saturday evening Mass in February after 3.5 months of instruction… maybe two weeks before Lent started that year. I also have a friend who was received in mid-summer after meeting with the pastor for 6 or 8 weeks. In neither case was the Bishop present. So yes, it is perfectly possible to be received outside of the Easter season. Just because it is possible, does not mean a given pastor will do so though.

On a side note… the one time you can almost guarantee the Bishop will not be involved with confirmation is at Easter. My diocese has roughly 50 parishes scattered over more than 16,500 square miles. It would be physically impossible for him to visit every parish. I suppose the bishop could require everyone to attend at the Cathedral, but he doesn’t and instead grant faculties to the pastors to confirm those they receive into the Church.

 

[Inbetweener]

So I am able to be received outside Easter subject to the bishops approval. There should be flexibility.

 

[exnihilo]

So I am able to be received outside Easter subject to the bishops approval. There should be flexibility.

Part of being a Catholic is being subject to the bishop. The Catholic Church isn’t inflexible but it also has rules and order.

It does have flexibility regarding being received into the Church. If it happens to not go the way you want that doesn’t make it inflexible.

Talk with your priest.

 

[Lenten_ashes1]

I was received a few months before Easter.

Your clergy will have info on where and when candidates can be received outside of the normal vigil. You may have to go to another parish to attend it.

 

[Inbetweener]

Thanks for letting me know this. My heart is, if I can be received today I will go.

 

[Usige]

Thanks for letting me know this. My heart is, if I can be received today I will go.

I certainly know how that feels. I alway said my conversion was a bit like Paul on the road to Damascus or maybe more like Father Felix Leseur.

If you have to wait, the best I can suggest is to find a place where you can regularly participate in Eucharistic Adoration. While my heart still ached while I waited, I found quiet time before the blessed sacrament was a balm for my broken, bloody and wearied soul.

 

[Inbetweener]

Usige yes last year I went to this perpetual adoration and at times it can get too much, too holy, whilst others it felt like the Matrix - going into another world and the prayers you pray in front of it are not worldly