I have sympathy for RC church,consider converting

[Arcadian]

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
First of all, i want to say hello before asking my question and i thank you for enlightening my faith matters…

I really love the Catholic liturgy which seems to be mysterious (especially Tridentine mass),chanting,smells and bells…so beautiful…and biblical (although i m protestant,i know all those liturgical practices have biblical roots) and not idolatry …

I even consider converting to Roman Catholic church,i have some doubts though…its not an easy decision to make…i know my family would be supportive and cool with that…thats not the issue…i just want to learn more about the real church of Christ before entering his family…to learn how to glorify him in a right manner…

I am a baptized member of one those ‘‘non-denominational’’ christian fellowship churches…i attended Calvary Chapel first (they are Trinitarian but some consider it a sect rather than a protestant denomination though) and now a Pentecostal home-church community (a charismatic renewal church) they say they are inter and non-denominational though (which is very confusing to me)

I was baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (trinitarian formula)by immersion in the ocean by a pastor of Globe Missionary Evangelism, a missions sending ministry headquartered in Pensacola, FL…

I wonder do i have to be re-baptized to be a catholic? is my baptism valid according to catholic canon law? …i have a baptismal certificate ‘believer’s baptismal certificate’ (they dont practice infant baptism)

And they accept only two sacraments 1)Baptism 2)Holy Communion…and not the ‘‘Confirmation’’

If my baptism is valid,should i have to be confirmed for full communion with Roman Catholic church?..And under normal circumstances,how long does it take?

Thank you so much…

Tom

 

[LDNCatholic]

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
First of all, i want to say hello before asking my question and i thank you for enlightening my faith matters…

I really love the Catholic liturgy which seems to be mysterious (especially Tridentine mass),chanting,smells and bells…so beautiful…and biblical (although i m protestant,i know all those liturgical practices have biblical roots) and not idolatry …

I even consider converting to Roman Catholic church,i have some doubts though…its not an easy decision to make…i know my family would be supportive and cool with that…thats not the issue…i just want to learn more about the real church of Christ before entering his family…to learn how to glorify him in a right manner…

I am a baptized member of one those ‘‘non-denominational’’ christian fellowship churches…i attended Calvary Chapel first (they are Trinitarian but some consider it a sect rather than a protestant denomination though) and now a Pentecostal home-church community (a charismatic renewal church) they say they are inter and non-denominational though (which is very confusing to me)

I was baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (trinitarian formula)by immersion in the ocean by a pastor of Globe Missionary Evangelism, a missions sending ministry headquartered in Pensacola, FL…

I wonder do i have to be re-baptized to be a catholic? is my baptism valid according to catholic canon law? …i have a baptismal certificate ‘believer’s baptismal certificate’ (they dont practice infant baptism)

And they accept only two sacraments 1)Baptism 2)Holy Communion…and not the ‘‘Confirmation’’

If my baptism is valid,should i have to be confirmed for full communion with Roman Catholic church?..And under normal circumstances,how long does it take?

Thank you so much…

Tom

Hi Tom

That is wonderful news that you are considering conversion.

To the best of my knowledge your baptism is indeed valid and you would not need to be baptised again in order to join the Catholic Church. You should contact your local parish priest to begin RCIA if you would like to begin the formal conversion process, I do not know how long it takes but if I remember correctly it is August/September until the following Easter.

I hope this helps, God bless

Peter

 

[jesusluv]

You will NOT have to be re-baptized. Neither myself, nor my wife had to be re-baptized upon entering the church.

 

[chris_molter]

If my baptism is valid,should i have to be confirmed for full communion with Roman Catholic church?..And under normal circumstances,how long does it take?

Thank you so much…

Tom

Tom,

As mentioned above, your Baptism appears valid, so that’s good. You do not have to be confirmed for full communion, only received into the Church, make your confession, and receive. However, oftentimes the Church will Confirm you when you are received (your prior Confirmation is invalid). The process can take up to a year, but I would speak to a Priest regarding your desire and he will either suggest you enroll in RCIA or perhaps something less formal (like one on one discussions) to ascertain if you know what you’re getting yourself into!

God bless you!

 

[Arcadian]

Thank you all … Well since i dont know Roman Catholic Church’s standing with Calvary Chapel and Charismatic/Pentecostal groups,i had some doubts concerning my baptism…

Because i thought Catholic Church does not recognize Pentecostal/non-denominational baptisms valid…according to Archdiocese of Santa Fe…here u can see the list denomination by denomination and Pentecostal baptism is invalid?

archdiocesesantafe.org/Offices/Worship/RCIA/RCIAInformation/Baptisms.pdf

Because i was baptised in a Trinitarian formula ,not in the name of Jesus only or so

 

[LDNCatholic]

Thank you all … Well since i dont know Roman Catholic Church’s standing with Calvary Chapel and Charismatic/Pentecostal groups,i had some doubts concerning my baptism…

Because i thought Catholic Church does not recognize Pentecostal/non-denominational baptisms valid…according to Archdiocese of Santa Fe…here u can see the list denomination by denomination and Pentecostal baptism is invalid?

archdiocesesantafe.org/Offices/Worship/RCIA/RCIAInformation/Baptisms.pdf

Because i was baptised in a Trinitarian formula ,not in the name of Jesus only or so

The Trinitarian formula constitutes a valid baptism. Some non denominational groups use other formulae ‘‘In the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier’’ and other such things.

 

[Robbinson]

I was baptized in the Assembly of God Pentacostal Church. I’m in RCIA now. I understand additional baptism is not required, but that I would go through confirmation as part of my entry into the Church. Partaking in the Eucharist is not permitted until I’m in full communion in the Church (absent extraordinary circumstances).

I’ve been studying this out and praying about it for quite some time. Feel free to pm me if you like.

If you are interested, two books that I found very helpful in my on “walk of faith” towards the Tiber are (i) Scott Hahn’s “Rome Sweet Home” and (ii) Stephen Ray’s Crossing the Tiber. Scott’s book is not so much an apologetic as a powerful story of his conversion from being an presptyerian minister to Catholicism and Stephen’s book is a strong apologetic work discussing the scriptural basis for the Catholic Deposit of Faith. These are just a couple numerous helpful books.

Blessings,

Brian

 

[BlestOne]

I wonder do i have to be re-baptized to be a catholic? **NO **is my baptism valid according to catholic canon law?Yes …i have a baptismal certificate ‘believer’s baptismal certificate’ (they dont practice infant baptism)

And they accept only two sacraments 1)Baptism 2)Holy Communion…and not the ‘‘Confirmation’’

If my baptism is valid,should i have to be confirmed for full communion with Roman Catholic church?Yes…And under normal circumstances,how long does it take?About 9 mos to a year… more below

Thank you so much…

Tom

Tom,
There is a program called RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation in Adults) that you would take. It generally starts around this time of year and ends at the Easter Vigil with Baptism (if you need it, which you don’t) Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. ABout a week before that, you will also receive another sacrament called reconciliation… or confession. To sign up for the classes, just call your local parish office and tell them you want to learn about the Catholic faith… they will tell you when and where classes are.

Feel free to ask questions here though or you can pm me if you have questions you don’t want to ask publicly.

 

[Ruthie]

Tom, glad to “meet” you!

RCIA is not just for people intending to convert, but also for people who just want to investigate the church. So see if you can get enrolled now!

Also, the Library here at Catholic Answers has a lot of articles that will help you investigate the faith. Just click on “library” at the very top of the page.

Just to clear something up, there is a branch of Pentecostals whose baptisms are not valid. They’re called “oneness Pentecostals” because they don’t believe in the Trinity, but believe that Jesus, the one person, is also the Father and the Holy Spirit. So they baptize in the name of Jesus.

Praying for you,

Ruthie