Ineligible for RCIA; any other options?

[whatistrue]

maybe I want to be baptized again so it can renew its meaning to me, that would be a personal thing, nothing to do with the Church being right or wrong?

If you say that you can be baptized again, then you are saying the Church is wrong. Baptism is “one and done”; a second attempt is merely getting wet no matter who does it or what words are said.

 

[GreenHorse]

Thank you all for the helpful information.

I’m assuming the sister who told me this has lived in the Catholic faith her whole life and might not understand that people who lived differently wouldn’t have access to their records.

I found a church run by Franciscans (I think they’re Catholic but a different branch or something) and they have a different program than RCIA; they seemed very friendly and welcoming so I will likely try that route.

EDIT:

I actually just called St. Bonaventure’s, which is a Franciscan Church, and they were very helpful and explained everything. I was assured it wasn’t a problem and they would be glad to help me through a period of study towards this.

I’ll keep people in the loop as to how it goes, but thank you again for all the helpful advice!!

 

[annad347]

“They didn’t ask me for proof of my Communion or Confirmation either.” Why would they have to do that if it happened there?

I’m from NY… live in Orlando now so it didn’t happen there.

Well it doesn’t matter, they never asked for proof, that’s not on me since I didn’t lie. That’s on them.

 

[o_mlly]

I explained it to the sister who was running the RCIA class, and she looked at me like I had three heads and said no, I need the baptism record, end of story.

Anything that comes between you and Christ ought to be removed. Talk to the pastor. If he is of like mind, write to the bishop. Christ rebuked the bureaucrats of his time, so should we.

 

[childinthefaith]

When my wife and I signed up for RCIA, she had a certificate but I was baptized around age 7, in a creek, by a preacher who didn’t do records. My word was accepted and we were enrolled with no further ado about baptisms. I was asked about MY baptism, whether it met the Trinitarian formula or not. It did, and again my word for that was enough. At the time I did not know any better about baptisms and told the lady in charge I was willing to be baptized again, then was informed about the teaching of only one baptism. We finished RCIA and joined the Church approx 6 months later.

I do not understand why, if you were baptized, your word is not enough.

I will pray for you and this situation. Best of luck.
Blessings,

 

[Wesrock]

Wesrock:

If you know the Church’s teaching but still say “the Church is wrong and I want to be baptized again” and do so then yes that can be a sin.

has nothing to do with the Church, I was an infant when I was baptized. It meant nothing to me, maybe I want to be baptized again so it can renew its meaning to me, that would be a personal thing, nothing to do with the Church being right or wrong? Why would wanting to be cleaned and renewed again in Christ be a sin?

besides I didn’t say the Church was wrong.

Because the Church teaches as a dogma of faith as confessed in the creed that attempts at second baptisms do not clean or renew you in Christ.

 

[annad347]

thank you… see, I’m not the only one who’s word was enough.

 

[Gorgias]

I don’t understand, they should have asked me for proof?

Yeah, they should have.

It’s nothing against you or your truthfulness. It’s just like when you walk up to a border crossing – when you say “I’m a U.S. citizen”, they still ask to see your passport. It’s the procedure they follow.

I also don’t understand, why is it so wrong to get baptized a second time.

Is it a sin to be baptized twice?

A “sin”? No, I wouldn’t call it that. However, there is no such thing as “second baptism”. There is only one baptism per person.

If you want to look it up, then go to canon law: the only person who can be baptized is one who was never baptized. So, we do our due diligence to make sure we’re not attempting invalid baptisms.

Its obvious he’s willing to do everything necessary to become Catholic, so why not just baptize him again?

Because a “second” baptism would be invalid.

maybe I want to be baptized again so it can renew its meaning to me

We renew our baptism each year at Easter, when we renew our baptismal promises. The baptism itself, though? Can’t be duplicated.

I found a church run by Franciscans (I think they’re Catholic but a different branch or something)

LOL! Well… they’re Catholic, trust me.

I do not understand why, if you were baptized, your word is not enough.

Because it’s supposed to be verified by someone other than the person who claims baptism.

see, I’m not the only one who’s word was enough.

They did it wrong for him, too.

 

[Phemie]

Phemie:

“They didn’t ask me for proof of my Communion or Confirmation either.” Why would they have to do that if it happened there?

I’m from NY… live in Orlando now so it didn’t happen there.

Well it doesn’t matter, they never asked for proof, that’s not on me since I didn’t lie. That’s on them.

I’m still a bit confused by your statement. Were you baptized in one parish, had your Confirmation and First Communion in another, and now you reside in a third parish? That third parish would not need proof of anything unless you were getting married and then they would need your certificate of Baptism from the parish where you were baptized, which should also have on it where you were confirmed and when – that’s why the confirming parish is supposed to send a notification to the parish of baptism, which is why they are supposed to ask all those questions before they do anything.

Nobody said it was on you, I said it was negligent of the parish where you were confirmed to not request your certificate of Baptism.

 

[tafan2]

The Church teaches that attempted rebaptism is sacrilege against the sacrament. It us grave matter.

 

[yankeesouth]

It meant nothing to me, maybe I want to be baptized again so it can renew its meaning to me, that would be a personal thing, nothing to do with the Church being right or wrong?

See CCC 977 One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sin.

Why would wanting to be cleaned and renewed again in Christ be a sin?

That is why the Lord instituted the Sacrament of Confession for us.

 

[annad347]

They did it wrong for him, too

apparently not, cause they did it.

Were you were baptized in one parish, had your Confirmation and First Communion in another, and now you reside in a third parish?

I was an infant when I was baptized so not sure if it was the same church I did my first Communion and Confirmation in… everyone who was there is dead so I can’t ask them.

I now live in Orlando and a year a wanted to return to church… was thinking of returning to the Catholic church since that’s what I was baptized into… realized there is a lot I don’t remember about being Catholic so I went to an RCIA class… they never asked me for proof for anything.

 

[MNathaniel]

I’m sorry to hear about this weird situation, GreenHorse!

I’m with you on being “baffled”.

It is NOT “end of story” that you lack a baptismal record. Such an unfortunate scenario is by no means unheard of, and of course you should be able to proceed through RCIA without that being a problem.

It sounds like the sister running the RCIA class is (unfortunately) confused. And worse, acting like she isn’t confused. I agree with you that the way you’ve been treated makes it seem like the people around you are acting cavalier about something tremendously important (your entry into communion with Christ’s Church).

As others have said, definitely talk to a priest. Don’t lie about being baptized. Just tell the truth that you were baptized as a teenager in X denomination, but the church was demolished and they cannot provide a record. The priest will be able to check whether your denomination is, in general, one that has valid baptisms, or one that does not have valid baptisms. The priest will also be able to perform something for you called a ‘conditional baptism’, if necessary. Usually, baptisms would take place at the same time (just a few minutes before) you receive the sacrament of Confirmation, at the end of RCIA. It’s possible that a conditional baptism might take place separately beforehand (again, your priest could talk to you about that).

Overall: keep pursuing Christ! Your persistence is blessed. And remember that even in Jesus’ time, sometimes his disciples were woefully inadequate at helping the people who tried to come to Jesus. Please pray for the sister (and anyone else) who is putting up accidental roadblocks for you, and please be assured of our prayers here – and Welcome Home soon! (From one convert to another.)

 

[Phemie]

When my wife and I signed up for RCIA, she had a certificate but I was baptized around age 7, in a creek, by a preacher who didn’t do records. My word was accepted and we were enrolled with no further ado about baptisms. I was asked about MY baptism, whether it met the Trinitarian formula or not. It did, and again my word for that was enough. At the time I did not know any better about baptisms and told the lady in charge I was willing to be baptized again, then was informed about the teaching of only one baptism. We finished RCIA and joined the Church approx 6 months later.

I do not understand why, if you were baptized, your word is not enough.

I will pray for you and this situation. Best of luck.
Blessings,

You were old enough to remember your Baptism. You could say whether it was Trinitarian or not. Most cradle Catholics can’t.

If I went in today at the age of 66 and asked to be confirmed saying I was baptized Catholic but I didn’t have a certificate to prove it, I would be going on hearsay, because I was 9 days old when I was baptized and have no memory of it. Neither do most cradle Catholics. That’s why all baptisms are recorded in the register of the parish where they take place. Because proof is required to avail of the other sacraments.

 

[Horton]

thank you… see, I’m not the only one who’s word was enough.

I don’t think you understand that your situation is far different than the OP’s. You were and are a Catholic who has been fully initiated. All you did was join a parish. Easy enough to do, people do it all the time. I’ve changed parishes twice, no questions, no documents.

With the OP, he was given incorrect information when attempting to join RCIA to come into the Church. He is not a fully initiated Catholic yet. Do you understand the difference?

 

[annad347]

No I didn’t realize, I thought he was baptized Catholic, didn’t realize he wasn’t… but there was a guy in my class who was baptized after the RCIA class, he said he was Baptist.

 

[Phemie]

Gorgias:

They did it wrong for him, too

apparently not, cause they did it.

Were you were baptized in one parish, had your Confirmation and First Communion in another, and now you reside in a third parish?

I was an infant when I was baptized so not sure if it was the same church I did my first Communion and Confirmation in… everyone who was there is dead so I can’t ask them.

I now live in Orlando and a year a wanted to return to church… was thinking of returning to the Catholic church since that’s what I was baptized into… realized there is a lot I don’t remember about being Catholic so I went to an RCIA class… they never asked me for proof for anything.

Oh, well that’s a horse of an entirely different colour. You were already fully initiated. I’m very sorry, I had totally misunderstood you. I thought you went to RCIA as a Catholic who had only been baptized but needed to be confirmed. I apologize.

You don’t get asked anything if you’re just changing parishes. That I’m sure of, I’ve been a member of 13 different parishes in my life.

 

[Petergee]

Unfortunately the church I was baptized at has since closed and been demolished. There are no records to obtain.

If the denomination still exists in your city/state/ country, their central office may have the baptismal records.

I explained it to the sister who was running the RCIA class, and she looked at me like I had three heads and said no, I need the baptism record, end of story.

This makes me so angry (presuming that you didn’t misunderstand what she meant). Some people working for parishes and even heading RCIA teams seem to actually want to discourage people from joining the Church rather than encourage it and remove any obstacles which is their job.

 

[Gorgias]

apparently not, cause they did it.

That would be like saying “it’s not wrong to murder someone, 'cause Jeffrey Dahmer did it.”

 

[LilyM]

annad347:

Wesrock:

If you know the Church’s teaching but still say “the Church is wrong and I want to be baptized again” and do so then yes that can be a sin.

has nothing to do with the Church, I was an infant when I was baptized. It meant nothing to me, maybe I want to be baptized again so it can renew its meaning to me, that would be a personal thing, nothing to do with the Church being right or wrong? Why would wanting to be cleaned and renewed again in Christ be a sin?

besides I didn’t say the Church was wrong.

You wouldn’t be “cleaned and renewed again in Christ” by having water poured over your head if you’re already baptized. You get that with confession.

You renewed your baptismal promises at Confirmation and can do so again at Easter.

Or for that matter you can do so informally any time.you want!