CHRP for Non-Catholics

[CathLove1]

I am a cradle Catholic but my wife is planning on going through the RCIA program next year but would like to attend a CRHP retreat. As a non-Catholic, is she able to attend CRHP?

 

[rwoehmke]

I am a cradle Catholic but my wife is planning on going through the RCIA program next year but would like to attend a CRHP retreat. As a non-Catholic, is she able to attend CRHP?

I was on a CHRP team and one of the guys was a non-Catholic who had been on the previous retreat and who became a part of our formation team. He did well and learned how to say the Rosary during formation. It will probably be up to the leadership of the team who will be putting on the woman’s retreat. She of course could not receive the Eucharist or go to confession, but could take part in everything else.

 

[tobinatorstark]

Why certainly. Last year we had one that was not Catholic and he decided in between his first weekend and when he joined team that he wanted to be Catholic. He is now Catholic. The women’s team this year has a couple of non-Catholics this year. They get just as much out of it as Catholics do. I my personal opinion everyone needs at least 1 CHRP weekend, Catholic or not. The only thing they could not do was participate in communion.

 

[geneseesquire]

I am a cradle Catholic but my wife is planning on going through the RCIA program next year but would like to attend a CRHP retreat. As a non-Catholic, is she able to attend CRHP?

My experience has been that participation of non-Catholics is at the discretion of the parish.

You state that your wife will be going through the RCIA program “next year.” I know several men and women from CRHP who went through the RCIA program at our church. In every case, they were asked by our CRHP coordinator, who also happens to be the Director of Religious Ed and the RCIA facilitator, to wait until after they had completed RCIA before attending a CRHP weekend.

In the CRHP manual, I read that this program was developed for Catholics and, as such, is strongly focused on Catholic Spiritual development, the Eucharist and Reconciliation, which can be upsetting and bewildering to non-Catholics.

I urge you to talk with the CRHP coordinator at your parish.

If your church asks that she wait until after completing RCIA, you can keep her interested in the weekend by letting her see how CRHP has affected your relationship with God and not telling too much about the weekend itself.

ybiC,
–Mark D.