How can I become Catholic and what are the steps?

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jmcrae said:
Members of Orthodox Churches do not require RCIA, and there are no Rites established for them in the Blue Book.

There are Rites for those who have never been Baptized, for those who are coming from various Protestant denominations with baptism completed, and for baptized Catholics who have not received any of their other Sacraments of Initiation. But there is nothing for those coming from Orthodox Churches - probably because they have validly received all three Sacraments of Initiation.

My recommendation would be to locate your nearest Eastern Rite Church that is in full communion with the Church, and set an appointment to see the priest. If there is none near by, go to the nearest Latin Rite parish, and discuss it with their priest - but be prepared that he might not know very much about how to help you make the transition. your Diocese also has an Office of Liturgy, though, so what you can do is, together with your priest, consult with them on proper procedures.

It should be quite painless.
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RCIA has a rite for Orthodox coming into full communion with the Catholic Church:****9. ** ** ** ***Validly baptized and catechized Orthodox person, of catechetical age and up *********** **
Sophia, aged 25, was fully initiated as a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. She is catechized and attends the local Orthodox Church. She now wishes to become a member of the Catholic Church. After an appropriate time of inquiry on the part of Eugenia and the church, catechesis for her reception into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church begins.
Rite used: Rite of Reception into Full Communion of the Catholic Church, RCIA Part II: #491, 492.
Title: Candidate.
Definition: a person of catechetical age, validly baptized in the Orthodox Church, and catechized in that tradition.
Age: 7 and above
Process: Since Sophia is Eastern Orthodox, she will be received into the corresponding Eastern Catholic Church. After a suitable liturgical and doctrinal preparation, Sophia is only obligated to make a simple profession of faith in order to be received into the Catholic Church (RCIA #491, 492) as she was fully initiated at the time of Baptism (baptism, chrismation/confirmation, and Eucharist).
Time of Celebration: Any Sunday Eucharist throughout the year.
Minister: The parish priest is the presiding minister.
Faculty to Confirm: Sophia is not to be confirmed again since she was fully initiated at Baptism.

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www2.richmonddiocese.org/worship/rcia/rcia9.htm
 
Vico said:
RCIA has a rite for Orthodox coming into full communion with the Catholic Church:***9. ** ** ** Validly baptized and catechized Orthodox person, of catechetical age and up *************
Sophia, aged 25, was fully initiated as a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. She is catechized and attends the local Orthodox Church. She now wishes to become a member of the Catholic Church. After an appropriate time of inquiry on the part of Eugenia and the church, catechesis for her reception into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church begins.
Rite used: Rite of Reception into Full Communion of the Catholic Church, RCIA Part II: #491, 492.
Title: Candidate.
Definition: a person of catechetical age, validly baptized in the Orthodox Church, and catechized in that tradition.
Age: 7 and above
Process: Since Sophia is Eastern Orthodox, she will be received into the corresponding Eastern Catholic Church. After a suitable liturgical and doctrinal preparation, Sophia​
is only obligated to make a simple profession of faith​
​
in order to be received into the Catholic Church (RCIA #491, 492) as she was fully initiated at the time of Baptism (baptism, chrismation/confirmation, and Eucharist).
Time of Celebration: Any Sunday Eucharist throughout the year.
Minister: The parish priest is the presiding minister.
Faculty to Confirm: Sophia is not to be confirmed again since she was fully initiated at Baptism.

​
www2.richmonddiocese.org/worship/rcia/rcia9.htm
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Fascinating. I don’t know why they are deviating from the Ritual Text.

**Rite of Reception of Baptized Christians into Full communion of the Catholic Church ** Ritual Text Page 275
Article 473 This is the liturgical rite by which a person born and baptized in a separated ecclesial Community is received, according to the Latin Rite, into full communion of the Catholic Church…
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article 474 In the case of Eastern Christians who enter into fullness of Catholic communion, no liturgical rite is required, but simply** a profession of Catholic faith,** even if such persons are permitted, in virtue of recourse to the Apostolic See, to transfer to the Latin Rite.
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This simple profession of faith is just that and there is no Rite in the Ritual text for it since as the text states the Rite of Reception of Baptized Christians into Full communion of the Catholic Church is the Rite for “a person born and baptized in a separated ecclesial Community”, a validly baptized Christian who is anything other than Orthodox.

Another source from Team RCIA: How ought a Russian Orthodox person be received into the Catholic Church?

Another Diocese which follows the RCIA Ritual Text..

Reception into the Catholic Church should occur during the Mass, and need not be on a Sunday. I was received during a week day Mass many decades ago, and the Latin parish where I am a catechist has had several time this year the Rite of Reception of Baptized Christians into Full communion of the Catholic Church during a weekday Mass.
 
5Loaves said:
Fascinating. I don’t know why they are deviating from the Ritual Text.

This simple profession of faith is just that and there is no Rite in the Ritual text for it since as the text states the Rite of Reception of Baptized Christians into Full communion of the Catholic Church is the Rite for “a person born and baptized in a separated ecclesial Community”, a validly baptized Christian who is anything other than Orthodox.
…
Reception into the Catholic Church should occur during the Mass, and need not be on a Sunday. I was received during a week day Mass many decades ago, and the Latin parish where I am a catechist has had several time this year the Rite of Reception of Baptized Christians into Full communion of the Catholic Church during a weekday Mass.
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A reception rite is not required but is also not prohibited to have a rite.

I see there is some variance of practice with the reception of eastern Apostolic Christians. There are a few varieties of reception:
  • eastern received into the Latin Church by a Latin church.
  • eastern received into an eastern church by a Latin church.
  • eastern received into the Latin Church by an eastern Catholic church.
  • eastern received into an eastern church by an eastern Catholic church.
What do you think of what Catholic layman Todd Flowerday wrote on On Catholic Sensibility on RCIA, particularly the red: We’ll take these next 14 sections very slowly, with the full texts. Today, just two sections:
473. This is the liturgical rite by which a person born and baptized in a separated ecclesial Community is received, according to the Latin rite, (Sacrosanctum Concilium 69, Unitatis Redintegratio 3, Ecumenical Directory I, no 19) into the full communion of the Catholic Church. The rite is so arranged that no greater burden then necessary (see Acts 15:28) is required for the establishment of communion and unity. (Unitatis Redintegratio 18).
  1. In the case of Eastern Christians who enter the fullness of Catholic communion, no liturgical rite is required, but simply a profession of Catholic faith, even if such persons are permitted, in virtue of recourse to the Apostolic See, to transfer to the Latin rite. (Orientalium Ecclesiarum 25 and 4)
  1. How to sum up the overall approach? People who want to become Catholics may be unbaptized or baptized. The former will enter a catechumenate, unless life circumstances make this unduly difficult. As for the baptized, they may be in one or two of several categories.
Baptized but uncatechized Catholics (who have not received Confirmation and First Eucharist) may benefit spiritually from the rites of part 4 (RCIA 400-472) but these are not strictly required.

Eastern Christians require no full communion rite (473-504) but they may be publicly accepted as Roman Catholics through these rituals. Eastern Christians “transferring” to a non-Latin Church in communion with Rome would follow whatever guidelines and disciplines offered there–this case is not covered in RCIA.

All other Christians (Protestants, Anglicans, evangelicals, etc.) with valid baptism will be either uncatechized or catechized. For the former group, the preparation rites of 400-472 are still optional. RCIA gives no rites, suggested or otherwise, for committed and catechized Christians wishing to become Catholic. For both groups, the principle of “no greater burden than necessary” applies. Always.

Is that clear? It may be at variance with practice in many parishes today, but it is the Church’s prescription for bringing people into full communion.

Later on, which would see to be the for for reception into the Latin Church not an eastern Catholic Church, in light of the previous comment:The invitation (RCIA 490) and profession of faith (491) are closely linked. The text for the latter is often a memorized response by the candidate, no leeway on wording is given in the rite:
I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.
In RCIA 493, the text for the Act of Reception follows:N, the Lord receives you into the Catholic Church.
His loving kindness has led you here,
so that in the unity of the Holy Spirit
you may have full communion with us
in the faith that you have professed in the presence of his family.
The accompanying rubric instructs the celebrant to lay his right hand on the head of the candidate, unless confirmation is to follow, in which case the two-handed gesture will accompany the prayer (RCIA 493) before anointing (494).

​
catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/rcia/
 
I would like to tell everyone I have joined the Catholic church as of Today the 10th of December. I would like to thank all of you for the help. May the Lord of us all bless and keep you this day and forever:thumbsup:
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
I would like to tell everyone I have joined the Catholic church as of Today the 10th of December. I would like to thank all of you for the help. May the Lord of us all bless and keep you this day and forever:thumbsup:
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Welcome Home!
Many Years!
 
Peter J, Before he said he was raised Catholic but then his family converted to the Russian Orthodox church when he was ten.
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
I would like to tell everyone I have joined the Catholic church as of Today the 10th of December. I would like to thank all of you for the help. May the Lord of us all bless and keep you this day and forever:thumbsup:
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Welcome (back) home! 👍

I just want to clarify something sir: your status says “Roman Catholic.” Shouldn’t you be in one of the Eastern Catholic Churches?
 
cholicks,

He was raised Catholic, baptised and received first Eucharist, and later his family became Russian Orthodox, when he was ten. So he was always Catholic.
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
I would like to tell everyone I have joined the Catholic church as of Today the 10th of December. I would like to thank all of you for the help. May the Lord of us all bless and keep you this day and forever:thumbsup:
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That’s awesome! :extrahappy: :extrahappy: :extrahappy:
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
Yes that is correct 👍
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Oh, yes alright. I’m afraid that, in the elapsed time, I had temporarily forgotten your situation, and even what I said myself e.g.
Peter_J said:
No, you’ve got the wrong idea there, I would not say “optional”. I don’t regard myself as free to leave Catholicism, unless I had some strong reason to do so.

On the other hand, that’s not to say that those who are born into Catholicism can absolutely *never *leave for Orthodoxy – nor do I want to say that those who are born into Orthodoxy can absolutely never leave for Catholicism – but it isn’t something to be done lightly.

In the particular case that this thread was (originally) discussing, I believe that OrthodoxGuy is justified in “switching sides” (but even then, I wouldn’t push him to do so if he didn’t want to become Catholic of his own volition).
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Hope you’re doing well. Thanks for updating us on your situation. 🙂
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
I would like to tell everyone I have joined the Catholic church as of Today the 10th of December. I would like to thank all of you for the help. May the Lord of us all bless and keep you this day and forever:thumbsup:
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Welcome Home!
Peace in Christ, and the Lord bless us all indeed!
Mary.
 
Vico said:
Since you converted to Orthodoxy, it is significant if you were baptized first in a Catholic or western non-Catholic Church, and if it was before age of 7 or after age 7.
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Vico, I was curious why the age of “7” is significant? In example, what if you were baptized in a Protestant church around the age of 10, and then converted to Eastern Orthodoxy yet were desiring to join the Catholic Church? I think someone told me on the forums that this person would be Latin Rite.
 
AveChriste11 said:
Vico, I was curious why the age of “7” is significant? In example, what if you were baptized in a Protestant church around the age of 10, and then converted to Eastern Orthodoxy yet were desiring to join the Catholic Church? I think someone told me on the forums that this person would be Latin Rite.
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8 year olds are generally presumed to be of the “age of reason” by the Catholic Church.
 
AveChriste11 said:
Vico, I was curious why the age of “7” is significant? In example, what if you were baptized in a Protestant church around the age of 10, and then converted to Eastern Orthodoxy yet were desiring to join the Catholic Church? I think someone told me on the forums that this person would be Latin Rite.
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There are three age groups to consider: infant (0-7), child (8-13), adult (14 and later). Age eight is the age of accountability (age of reason), and younger is called infant. Infant baptism make the infant a member of the parent or guardians Catholic ritual church. At age eight the rules for adult baptism are used, rather than infant baptism, which then requires the intention to be baptized. Under age fourteen there are restrictions to becoming Catholic without the approval of the parents. (CCEO 900)

Membership is established at the time of baptism (CIC 111). One baptized Protestant around the age of ten is Christian of the Latin traditions because Protestant is derived from the Latin Church, therefore **reception into full communion **is into the Latin Church. (CIC 112, CCEO 35)CIC Can. 111
§1 Through the reception of baptism a child becomes a member of the Latin Church if the parents belong to that Church or, should one of them not belong to it, if they have both by common consent chosen that the child be baptized in the Latin Church: if that common consent is lacking, the child becomes a member of the ritual Church to which the father belongs.
§2 Any candidate for baptism who has completed the fourteenth year of age may freely choose to be baptized either in the Latin Church or in another autonomous ritual Church; in which case the person belongs to the Church which he or she has chosen.

CIC Can. 112
§1 After the reception of baptism, the following become members of another autonomous ritual Church:
1° those who have obtained permission from the Apostolic See;
2° a spouse who, on entering marriage or during its course, has declared that he or she is transferring to the autonomous ritual
Church of the other spouse; on the dissolution of the marriage, however, that person may freely return to the latin Church;
3° the children of those mentioned in nn. 1 and 2 who have not completed their fourteenth year, and likewise in a mixed marriage the children of a catholic party who has lawfully transferred to another ritual Church; on completion of their fourteenth year, however, they may return to the latin Church.
§2 The practice, however long standing, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of an autonomous ritual Church, does not bring with it membership of that Church.
Reception to full communion, by the validly baptized, enrolls one in the ritual Church closest to the original baptism. The eastern canon law show this:CCEO Canon 35
Baptized non-Catholics coming into full communion with the Catholic Church should retain and practice their own rite everywhere in the world and should observe it as much as humanly possible. Thus, they are to be enrolled in the Church sui iuris of the same rite with due regard for the right of approaching the Apostolic See in special cases of persons, communities or regions.
CCEO Canon 900 §1. One who has not yet completed his fourteenth year shall not be received if the parents are opposed to it.
§2. If from the same reception, grave inconveniences are foreseen either to the Church or to the person, the reception may be put off unless there is imminent danger of death.
 
ThatOrthodoxGuy said:
Greetings in Christ,:highprayer:

I was wondering how a orthodox christian like me could become catholic, what are the steps, and what are some good reasons? I have become very interested in the Rcc and I can feel like God is pulling me to the church. Can anyone help me? 👍
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Why did you leave your mother church? for faith?
I think not. only catholic churches can give is lot of saints for different purposes.
 
rajun said:
Why did you leave your mother church? for faith?
I think not. only catholic churches can give is lot of saints for different purposes.
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There is no need to attack the Catholic Church like you are, Even if you disagree with the church. If you have questions or would like to debate certain beliefs in the church then please start a thread and discuss it. I became catholic because I feel that the church as the fullness of faith given by our Lord. If you keep this up you will be banned
 
We (Catholics) don’t encourage Orthodox to switch sides, but neither do we discourage them from doing so. But more to the point, I believe that there are extenuating circumstances in ThatOrthodoxGuy’s case that need to be considered before you jump to criticize his action.
 
Peter_J said:
We (Catholics) don’t encourage Orthodox to switch sides, but neither do we discourage them from doing so. But more to the point, I believe that there are extenuating circumstances in ThatOrthodoxGuy’s case that need to be considered before you jump to criticize his action.
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The Catholic Church does encourage all people to join the Church. Some Catholics might not share the Church’s salvific intent, but it is the Church’s intent nonetheless.
 
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