Confirmation question

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Jasonrt85

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Hi,

I have recently returned home to the church after 15 years as a Atheist!

I was baptized and raised Catholic. Also, I received my first communion. But, even though I took all my confirmation classes as a teenager, I decided not to be confirmed at the time…

Last week I started RCIA classes to become confirmed. However, I am wondering if I’m in the right place? As I understand, almost all the people in my class have never been baptized or received communion. When I asked the teacher about this, she seemed to be confused about what I was asking.

I feel super ready to be confirmed. Do I need to go through RCIA or is there another way? I certainly don’t mind taking the classes as I’m sure I can learn some new things.

Thanks!
 
Parishes handle adult confirmation in various ways. A parish or diocese may offer preparation for adults who want to be confirmed. In other cases – and I get the impression this is the most common thing – a parish puts those needing confirmation into RCIA along with catechumens (those who are seeking baptism) and candidates (those who are already baptized).

You might want to make an appointment with your pastor to see what your options are. If the pastor thinks you are already prepared, perhaps you can simply wait until the bishop is coming for youth confirmations and be confirmed at that time.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Parishes handle adult confirmation in various ways. A parish or diocese may offer preparation for adults who want to be confirmed. In other cases – and I get the impression this is the most common thing – a parish puts those needing confirmation into RCIA along with catechumens (those who are seeking baptism) and candidates (those who are already baptized).

You might want to make an appointment with your pastor to see what your options are. If the pastor thinks you are already prepared, perhaps you can simply wait until the bishop is coming for youth confirmations and be confirmed at that time.
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This. Our pastor teaches a class for adults. But more often than not, the people end up in RCIA. Either way is fine. It’s your pastor’s call.
 
If you are currently in RCIA, just discuss your concerns with the Priest.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
Hi,

I have recently returned home to the church after 15 years as a Atheist!

I was baptized and raised Catholic. Also, I received my first communion. But, even though I took all my confirmation classes as a teenager, I decided not to be confirmed at the time…

Last week I started RCIA classes to become confirmed. However, I am wondering if I’m in the right place? As I understand, almost all the people in my class have never been baptized or received communion. When I asked the teacher about this, she seemed to be confused about what I was asking.

I feel super ready to be confirmed. Do I need to go through RCIA or is there another way? I certainly don’t mind taking the classes as I’m sure I can learn some new things.

Thanks!
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As a catechized, adult Catholic seeking confirmation, no RCIA is not the place for you. Keep in mind RCIA is two things:
  • catechism classes
  • a process with rites appropriate to catechumens and candidates for full communion
Many parishes run adult confirmation classes-- about 6 weeks of classes prior to being confirmed. Catholics would normally be confirmed by the bishop, but a pastor can receive permission to confirm a Catholic.

For those that do not run adult confirmation classes, they may put adults in need of confirmation in the RCIA classes. That is appropriate when the Catholic in question never received any formation. But, that is not the case with you, therefore it is unfortunate that your RCIA director seems unfamiliar with this fact.

You can receive formation in a different way-- through self paced instruction, private meetings with a priest, group meetings, etc. But you should not be denied or delayed unduly in your confirmation in order to fit into an RCIA structure.

I encourage you to contact the pastor of the parish directly and in person for a sit down meeting. Explain you are lacking only confirmation, not formation, and ask about when you can join one of the bishop’s confirmation groups or whether he can be delegated to confirm you instead.

In the meantime, certainly go to confession if you haven’t already, and resume the sacramental life of the church including Eucharist (assuming you don’t have a marriage situation to resolve, also talk to your pastor about that if you do).

If the pastor decides you are not ready for confirmation after discussion with you, I hope you can be OK with that and work with him toward a confirmation date.
 
Thanks so much for the replies!

It sounds like I really need to talk to the priest. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to talk to him for a few months now. Also, because I’m engaged to an amazing Catholic woman and we wanted to talk to him about getting married in the church.

He’s a newly ordained priest put in charge of a good sized church. So, I’m sure he must be very busy. I really like his Homilies. But, he has a reputation for not wanting to meet with people or respond to peoples messages… I even had a deacon tell me that he asked him to set up a meeting time with me. But, that was 2 months ago now.

Would it be wrong for me to ask a priest at a different parish?
 
Also, I go to confession on a regular basis and have been receiving communion sometimes several times a week. My heart is on fire for the Lord! So, in my heart I feel ready to be confirmed even today.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
Thanks so much for the replies!

It sounds like I really need to talk to the priest. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to talk to him for a few months now. Also, because I’m engaged to an amazing Catholic woman and we wanted to talk to him about getting married in the church.

He’s a newly ordained priest put in charge of a good sized church. So, I’m sure he must be very busy. I really like his Homilies. But, he has a reputation for not wanting to meet with people or respond to peoples messages… I even had a deacon tell me that he asked him to set up a meeting time with me. But, that was 2 months ago now.

Would it be wrong for me to ask a priest at a different parish?
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I would obtain his email and write to him.
The Deacon should run interference for you.
Who is the Director of RCIA? They could help as well…
 
I tried writing a email again today. So I’m hoping he will reply. The director of the RCIA seemed confused about my situation but, I’ll try asking again at my class tonight. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
I tried writing a email again today. So I’m hoping he will reply. The director of the RCIA seemed confused about my situation but, I’ll try asking again at my class tonight. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut.
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Well, that says to me that they don’t normally put confirmation candidates into RCIA in your parish.
I would also ask the Director of Religious Ed if there is a Confirmation class for adults.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
Thanks so much for the replies!

It sounds like I really need to talk to the priest. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to talk to him for a few months now. Also, because I’m engaged to an amazing Catholic woman and we wanted to talk to him about getting married in the church.

He’s a newly ordained priest put in charge of a good sized church. So, I’m sure he must be very busy. I really like his Homilies. But, he has a reputation for not wanting to meet with people or respond to peoples messages… I even had a deacon tell me that he asked him to set up a meeting time with me. But, that was 2 months ago now.

Would it be wrong for me to ask a priest at a different parish?
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He may be a bit overwhelmed. You can talk to the deacon, or to another priest, but ultimately it’s your pastor who you do need to visit with.

Since you are engaged, and you do need to be confirmed before marriage (barring special circumstances) then you should by all means talk to the deacon or whoever is preparing you two for marriage and discuss the situation. They should be able to expedite confirmation to enable your nuptials to move forward.
 
In my church in Australia, I went through RCIA and although I needed to be baptised, there was a woman who was in a similar situation to you, she had been baptised Catholic but hadn’t been confirmed because she left the church young but came back so she could marry in the church.
She attended RCIA classes and was confirmed on the Easter vigil. I actually didn’t get to see her confirmation or what happened because I got baptised before her confirmation and had to go and change my clothes into something white.
 
1ke said:
As a catechized, adult Catholic seeking confirmation, no RCIA is not the place for you. Keep in mind RCIA is two things:
  • catechism classes
  • a process with rites appropriate to catechumens and candidates for full communion
    …
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No, that’s not the case.

RCIA is not limited to those 2 scenarios. RCIA applies to all adults who are in-need of the sacraments of initiation.

There is an entire section of the RCIA rite that deals with the OPs situation. It’s Part II #4 of RCIA

Whether or not the different groups of RCIA belong in the same room at the same time is a practical matter for the pastor to decide. Ideally, each group would be handled separately (at least for the most part), but that’s not always practical. It is also recommended (strongly, at that) to avoid administering Confirmation to the previously-baptised at the Easter Vigil–again, while that’s the ideal, it’s not always practical.
 
Our RCIA classes contain people who have not been baptized and/or confirmed in the Catholic Church. If you were already baptized, IMO, it doesn’t hurt to go to the class that concentrates on baptism; a refresher might be in order. At the Easter Vigil, those who are to be baptized are baptized. Then, those to be confirmed follow the newly baptized up in to the sanctuary to be confirmed. The Catholic Church does recognize the baptism of those who were baptized in a liturgical protestant church, but not confirmation.
 
Thanks for the replies. Hopefully next week I’ll be meeting with the priest so I can make sure I’m doing things right.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
Thanks for the replies. Hopefully next week I’ll be meeting with the priest so I can make sure I’m doing things right.
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Good luck. I hope it all works out well for you. In my opinion, you already were baptized…good; you already went through the confirmation classes…good. I would not think he would want you to continue through the RCIA program, but who knows. That explains the teacher’s confused look. They had no answer! Your situation is unique. Let us all know what the result is please.
 
Jasonrt85 said:
I tried writing a email again today. So I’m hoping he will reply. The director of the RCIA seemed confused about my situation but, I’ll try asking again at my class tonight. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut.
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I have been to a number of Easter Vigils where there were people getting baptized and confirmed and other people just getting confirmed. I think you may be in the right place.
 
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