Is RCIA totally worthless?

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caroljm36

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Sorry for the hyperbolic subject line, but I am still angry about my RCIA experience 11 years ago. Another thread here reminded me of it.

The RCIA class was run by a young gal fresh out of (Catholic) college, and she was more interested in talking about herself and making us listen to Christian pop music than teaching us anything. There was no substance at all, no catechesis, no “instruction” (what is that, anyway?). It was just a lot of feel-good blather, prayer handouts…I think I remember her hoping out loud that the Church would “see the light” and allow ordination of women someday…there was no contact with the priests or deacons. I get the distinct impression they’re happy not to be involved. Someone finally had to ask her “Uh, how exactly do we cross ourselves? Why do people kneel at the pew when they come in?” It was just this annoying ordeal I had to get through to be accepted. It seemed the faith itself has gone underground.

Is this common around the country or did I pick a really bad parish? When did this RCIA thing start and why?
 
RCIA is almost unbelievably reverent at my parish. That’s the only one I’ve ever experienced (twice, as a sponsor). I have nothing but praise for the groups who are carrying quite a load at a rather large parish.

And if you’ve seen my posts here, you KNOW that I would have been going after any apostasy or heresy like a big dog!
 
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caroljm36:
Sorry for the hyperbolic subject line, but I am still angry about my RCIA experience 11 years ago. Another thread here reminded me of it.

Is this common around the country or did I pick a really bad parish? When did this RCIA thing start and why?
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You mention it was 11 years ago. Hopefully, since then, classes in general have become more consistant, controlled and accurate (to Churches teaching).

My wife is presently in an RCIA class. There are more instructors (team members) then Catechumes. The team consists of a regular priest, a couple of deacons and some volunteers. There are also a couple of guest speakers one of which is also a priest.

I go with her. Thus far the teaching has been superb. Nothing too controversal but also doesn’t shy away from some of the common controversal subject matter.

I hope the experience we are experiencing is typical. My daughter is also going to yet another RCIA class at her college. I think that particular class is a little less organized but so far she seems to be enjoying it.
 
Eleven years ago? I’d say it’s time to give it another try. When I went through RCIA in the 80’s, the presenters were not the most gripping speakers, but the instruction I recieved was solid. The RCIA at my current parish is top notch. Our pastoral associate who oversees our adult religious education (and is a U of Stuebeville graduate) is into orthodoxy and apologetics. The lady that runs RCIA is knowledgable and enthusiastic about her faith, and she brings in top notch presenters from within the parish for special topics. A RCIA progam is as only as good as the orthodoxy and love of the truth of the presenters and the eagerness of the participants. I recommend you give it another try. 🙂
 
I think the RCIA is generally improved over the last few years.

The biggest problem, as you noted, even in good programs, seems to be lack of substance. I’m constantly amazed at what persons who have gone through 9 to 12 months of RCIA don’k know about their faith! Maybe we need a “no catechumen left behind” program!
 
Well that’s good to know. I had heard bad things elsewhere and thought maybe the Church had taken a wrong turn when this program started up.

I got on my own case for being disgruntled and tried to read up on my own, but there is so much heresy out there! And we seemed to be in some limbo between catechisms…anyway I have the official new catechism and am reading it a little at a time

Probably I should offer to be a sponsor in order to go through it again. How do you handle it though if you think what they’re teaching is wrong or misleading? Anyone deal with that?
 
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caroljm36:
Well that’s good to know. I had heard bad things elsewhere and thought maybe the Church had taken a wrong turn when this program started up.

I got on my own case for being disgruntled and tried to read up on my own, but there is so much heresy out there! And we seemed to be in some limbo between catechisms…anyway I have the official new catechism and am reading it a little at a time

Probably I should offer to be a sponsor in order to go through it again. How do you handle it though if you think what they’re teaching is wrong or misleading? Anyone deal with that?
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I am my wifes sponsor and have yet to deal with this issue.
If I were to encounter it I think I’d have to weigh the significance of the misleading teaching. If it were an outright heresy then I suppose I’d have to confront the teacher. I’d do this one on one, after class or at a seperate time and with an open mind and as much charity as possible. If there was no doubt in my mind with regard to the issue, and I saw it as a show stopper, Id have to council the candidate accordingly and maybe look for another RCIA class. Hopefully this would seldom happen.
 
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caroljm36:
I got on my own case for being disgruntled and tried to read up on my own, but there is so much heresy out there! And we seemed to be in some limbo between catechisms…anyway I have the official new catechism and am reading it a little at a time.

If you order books from Ignatius Press or books by Scott Hahn and others from Stuebenville, you will not have to worry about Heresy.

Probably I should offer to be a sponsor in order to go through it again. How do you handle it though if you think what they’re teaching is wrong or misleading? Anyone deal with that?
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At St. Pat’s we have past RCIA people who volunteer as sponsors. In my opinion they know the Faith better than our average parishioner. We take nine months, use a Liguorean publication in looseleaf format. It hits all the bases from Catholic practices to social justice, a 2 hour session on each sacrament, to the Bible and How Catholics use it, and more. I would look around for another parish with the RCIA program and make sure that its not being taught by an idiot and that the written material comes from a reliable source. Our group is led by an 82 year old nun and three lay leaders. Our pastor sometimes sits in and adds his 2 cents. 🙂 🙂
 
Felt I needed to add a little more. Here in Superior Diocese of Western Wisconsin, the RCIA programs seem to be going quite well. In our own parish, one of our recent converts(three years ago, got Perpetual Adoration up and running, several others have been actively involved in Christ Renews His Parish retreats, many others have been sponsors, take communion to shut-ins, have become readers and choir members. I have seen a number of threads from arouind the country where it seems the program gets into the hands of what I would kindly call people with an agenda inconsistent with the Catholic Faith.
 
My wife (for reception) and my 2 daughters (to complete initiation) went through RCIA last year. Their only comment was that it was kind of “slow starting”, since there were many people there who were unbaptized, and had to begin at the very beginning. But the result was 3 definite Catholics, who know the faith, so it seems to have worked fine.

Our parish is blessed with an able and conscientious full-time religious education coordinator, and that no doubt contributed.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
I will confess that during my 49 years as a Roman Catholic I never was aware of RICA until I saw it on this site.

I have been teaching CCD on and off for almost 30 years to H.S. boys.

I assume RICA is for adult converts. I assume it would have workbooks and/or a curriculum. I cannot imagine my Bishop turning laity loose to instruct converts with out specific instructions in the form of a curriculum. I would think that even a Priest would be happy to have a Bishop-approved curriculum so he didn’t skip something.

If I had been a convert who had that recient collge female grad who played music - I would have walked out, gone straight to the Pastor to ask for instruction, not a feel good session.
 
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rwoehmke:
At St. Pat’s we have past RCIA people who volunteer as sponsors. In my opinion they know the Faith better than our average parishioner. We take nine months, use a Liguorean publication in looseleaf format. It hits all the bases from Catholic practices to social justice, a 2 hour session on each sacrament, to the Bible and How Catholics use it, and more. I would look around for another parish with the RCIA program and make sure that its not being taught by an idiot and that the written material comes from a reliable source. Our group is led by an 82 year old nun and three lay leaders. Our pastor sometimes sits in and adds his 2 cents. 🙂 🙂
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A recent poster mentioned that in their parish they have a good RCIA program, and they use a curriculum from Liguorian Publications. I have not seen that particular text from Liguorian. It might be good. However be aware that many publications printed by once solid Catholic publishers such as Liguorian, St. Anthony’s Messenger, and Catholic Digest are not orthodox. (Of course, some of their publications are orthodox). Look for an Imprimatur. That’s no longer a solid guarantee, but it at least meets a minimum standard. I would be very suspicious of any publication that only says it is “published with Ecclesiastical Permission”. That does not mean any bishop approved this particular publication, it only means the publisher was given permission to publish, maybe decades ago. Many publications that can’t get an imprimatur put than “ecclesiastic permission” blurb on their title page. Here in Western New York, the problem with RCIA is not so much that they teach heresy - that’s rare if at all - the problem is what they omit. Anything of specific doctrinal content, anything referencing absolute truths, or any mention of supernatural, such as angels, original sin, grace, miracles, etc gets left out. If the Catechism of the Catholic Church is given to every catechumen you probably have a good program. If the Catechism occupies an honored, but undisturbed spot on the reference shelf in the religious education office, you probably have a bad program; whether it be CCD, RCIA or whatever. In one RCIA program near Buffalo, someone handed out free catechisms to each participant, but the person in charge carefully gathered them all up and returned them to the donor. I think you can guess about the mindset of that program.
 
For anyone interested on what to do in case this comes up in their lives in the future, I reccommend two special steps:
  1. Confront. If you suspect someone’s teaching is inadequate or even heretical, ask them questions. If, during this process you ascertain this person is especially incompetent or rebellious, you may go to the next step.
  2. Snitch. That’s one of the whole reasons we have an authoritative Church: to protect the truth from half-truths or lies. Tell the person in charge of religious education in your parish. Tell the deacon and the priest – go to the bishop, if necessary. No one helping anyone by letting a know-nothing continue adding confusion to the mix. Ours is a HIGHLY nuanced faith and it demands a lot from its teachers.
Of course, in all situations, you need to engage these people with charity, humility and a prayerful attitude. The idea is not to blast someone for being a bad teacher, but to right a wrong.

Doing the right thing is not always easy, but it is always right. 😉
 
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Exporter:
I will confess that during my 49 years as a Roman Catholic I never was aware of RICA until I saw it on this site.

I have been teaching CCD on and off for almost 30 years to H.S. boys.

I assume RICA is for adult converts. I assume it would have workbooks and/or a curriculum. I cannot imagine my Bishop turning laity loose to instruct converts with out specific instructions in the form of a curriculum. I would think that even a Priest would be happy to have a Bishop-approved curriculum so he didn’t skip something.

I
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RCIA has been very slow to be implemented in the Valley. our bishop has been trying mightily to get all parishes on board with a systematic program, but is waiting for the conclusions of the Diocesan Synod which has just ended to be weighed and considered. Basically the situation now is every parish does their own thing.

RCIA is also for children of catechetical age who have not been baptized (over age 7) and after their preparation they are supposed to receive baptism, confirmation and first communion all at the same time at the Easter Vigil, but a lot of parishes do not follow the model outlined in the Ritual Book. The situation is complicated by the fact that many families hop over the border and have older children baptized and make first communion in Reynosa, bypassing the 2-year programs many parishes here insist upon.
 
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caroljm36:
Sorry for the hyperbolic subject line, but I am still angry about my RCIA experience 11 years ago. Another thread here reminded me of it.

The RCIA class was run by a young gal fresh out of (Catholic) college, and she was more interested in talking about herself and making us listen to Christian pop music than teaching us anything. There was no substance at all, no catechesis, no “instruction” (what is that, anyway?). It was just a lot of feel-good blather, prayer handouts…I think I remember her hoping out loud that the Church would “see the light” and allow ordination of women someday…there was no contact with the priests or deacons. I get the distinct impression they’re happy not to be involved. Someone finally had to ask her “Uh, how exactly do we cross ourselves? Why do people kneel at the pew when they come in?” It was just this annoying ordeal I had to get through to be accepted. It seemed the faith itself has gone underground.

Is this common around the country or did I pick a really bad parish? When did this RCIA thing start and why?
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RCIA…I just bypassed it when I converted, it can be done well allegedly, although most of what I hear about it is negative
 
My wife and I have attended RCIA meetings weekly for four months during which we spend the entire meetings on reading and re-reading the Gospel for that Sunday (lectio divina). That’s it! In four months I have learned absolutely nothing about the Catholic Church. We have complained to the Deacon and Parish Priest but they treat us as malcontents. Having read a considerable amount about the Church I know there are many, many subjects that should be discussed at these meetings but they are not.

Having read the postings, discussed the matter with many local Catholics (priests included) and based on our personal experience, it seems that the quality of RCIA meetings is all over the place. I actually had one priest tell us to forget about RCIA and just go to Church and do God’s work in your personal life. He said nobody knows if your Catholic???

Anyway, if we are going to attend RCIA meetings for a year, we don’t want to just go through the motions. Right now we are looking at other RCIA programs and hope we can find one that is effective.
 
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radesrochers:
My wife and I have attended RCIA meetings weekly for four months during which we spend the entire meetings on reading and re-reading the Gospel for that Sunday (lectio divina). That’s it! In four months I have learned absolutely nothing about the Catholic Church. We have complained to the Deacon and Parish Priest but they treat us as malcontents. Having read a considerable amount about the Church I know there are many, many subjects that should be discussed at these meetings but they are not.

Having read the postings, discussed the matter with many local Catholics (priests included) and based on our personal experience, it seems that the quality of RCIA meetings is all over the place. I actually had one priest tell us to forget about RCIA and just go to Church and do God’s work in your personal life. He said nobody knows if your Catholic???

Anyway, if we are going to attend RCIA meetings for a year, we don’t want to just go through the motions. Right now we are looking at other RCIA programs and hope we can find one that is effective.
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For the record, the RCIA program I went to was a dream come true. It had the perfect blend of intellectual content, spiritual prayer, social bonding, heated discussions, cake, and coffee! I still maintain contact with many of the friends I forged while going there and have every intention of going back.

Having had that experience, I can say with certainty that a good program can make all the difference. The problem comes when you get a parish where the leaders are not enthusiastic and may have been sort of pushed into doing the program. You need to find a program being run by someone with a clear (and orthodox) vision of what RCIA is supposed to be.

These programs have a very positive impact on the whole parish, as adult religious education classes are something of a non-entity. Craddle Catholics do learn a lot from converts (and vice versa, of course). Not having a good RCIA kind of closes the door on this type of spiritual development.

It makes me very sad to hear about the obstacles the parish leadership seem to be putting in your path to conversion but in their defense, most priests and deacons are a little stressed and over-worked and may be struggling with the basic administration of the parish … but I do not know the entire situation.

Good luck in your search! Please remember that, like people, not every program is perfect and that there is definitely a reason God has exposed you to this (to fix it, perhaps? :rolleyes: ) It seems that you are still determined to convert despite your setbacks – looks like God believes in YOU more than you know!

Many converts, including greats like Scott Hahn, have had to overcome such obstacles (even me.) This is part of your conversion story. Cherish it! 👋
 
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