Converting to Catholicism (requirements)?

[delefin]

Hello everyone, I have a question that I can’t really get from a google search (i’m really bad with google).

I want to convert to Catholicism and I would like to know how to do this? I believe I can’t just walk inside a mass on sunday and just copy off what people do there, so I assume there are classes or something that I may need to take to know how to pray the rosary, Holy Communion, the sacraments and all that to be a fully catholic.

Is it possible to take this online, or do i really have to go to my nearest church and take classes?

please take in note that I was baptized as a Catholic during birth, however, I grew up as a Protestant most of my life, will I be required to be baptized again?.

 

[Wesrock]

Hello everyone, I have a question that I can’t really get from a google search (i’m really bad with google).

I want to convert to Catholicism and I would like to know how to do this? I believe I can’t just walk inside a mass on sunday and just copy off what people do there, so I assume there are classes or something that I may need to take to know how to pray the rosary, Holy Communion, the sacraments and all that to be a fully catholic.

Is it possible to take this online, or do i really have to go to my nearest church and take classes?

please take in note that I was baptized as a Catholic during birth, however, I grew up as a Protestant most of my life, will I be required to be baptized again?.

If you were babtized in a Catholic parish, then you’re technically Catholic already. Do you know where you were baptized? I would suggest calling a local parish to set up an appointment with a priest to make a (first?) confession, and also to speak with a priest about a desire to receive first communion and confirmation. Let him know in advance you were baptized in a Catholic parish as a baby but never received any formation and which sacraments you’ve never received, so he knows what he has to prepare for.

If you already had first communion in the RCC, you should be good to start receiving after your confession, but if not I’d talk to the priest about it first. He will probably want you to go through some type of formation for it and the sacrament of Confirmation. If so, he may direct you to their director of adult education and they may ask you to go through RCIA or something similar. (RCIA is intended for non-baptized converts, but limited resources means the baptized or even Catholic reverts who didn’t receive confirmation go through it, too. Even so, it may still be a good experience if you’ve been away all your life.)

 

[delefin]

Yes, i still have my baptizmal certificate too… but it was a LONG time ago and it’s pretty far from where I am now. I’m in my 30’s btw, so it has been some time.

Never had first communion. The only thing I know about Sacraments is in terms of apologetics, one of the main reasons why I am going to convert is that I when I was young, living as a Baptist, I thought the Catholic church was bad, you know the typical Protestant arguments on whatever Catholics practice, and the whole Sola Scriptura. So, i wanted to refute the catholic church however the more I ended up trying to dig all the Bible stuff to throw at the RCC, the more I just found out how much more intelligent and correct the RCC was in their theology, scripture, and just apologetics in general.

 

[CatholicSpirit]

You have to go to a place called a rectory (building near the church where the priests live), call and say you are interested in learning about RCIA.

The knights of Columbus have a free course they mail to you for practice, sign up and receive it to see if this is a good choice for you:

https://www.kofc.org/en/who-we-are/our-faith/cis.html

 

[Wesrock]

Yes, i still have my baptizmal certificate too… but it was a LONG time ago and it’s pretty far from where I am now. I’m in my 30’s btw, so it has been some time.

Never had first communion. The only thing I know about Sacraments is in terms of apologetics, one of the main reasons why I am going to convert is that I when I was young, living as a Baptist, I thought the Catholic church was bad, you know the typical Protestant arguments on whatever Catholics practice, and the whole Sola Scriptura. So, i wanted to refute the catholic church however the more I ended up trying to dig all the Bible stuff to throw at the RCC, the more I just found out how much more intelligent and correct the RCC was in their theology, scripture, and just apologetics in general.

Great, so it sounds like the Catholic Church would already consider you Catholic, meaning you’ll want to make a confession as your first big step, and I recommend at your earliest convenience.

Since you’ve been gone so long and never had formation, I suggest making an appointment with a priest to help you with this as I described in my last post. You’ll just want to call the office of a parish near you. Such a confession and conversation may take longer than normal timeframes would allow, especially if there are other people waiting. If you’re unsure about what to do during confession, we can help explain how it usually works, but if you ask the priest to help walk you through the confession, letting him know you’ve never done this before, he can do that, too.