Is RCIA universal?

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UpUpAndAway said:
Yep, it looks like the ICRSS is currently only active in the Archdiocese of Munich, the Diocese of Passau, and the Diocese of Trier. If you’re farther north than Mainz they’re probably out of reach for you, geographically speaking. Bummer. 😦
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I’m north of Hamburg, and therefore it’s not within my reach. However, depending on how quickly I get things sorted out, I may be moving to southern Germany later this year or early next year. And FSSP is down there! 🙂
 
CutlerB said:
I’m north of Hamburg, and therefore it’s not within my reach. However, depending on how quickly I get things sorted out, I may be moving to southern Germany later this year or early next year. And FSSP is down there! 🙂
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Wow, that is far north, all right. Is there still snow on the ground? 😉

Praying for your possible relocation and for your journey home to the Catholic Church. :signofcross:
 
UpUpAndAway said:
Wow, that is far north, all right. Is there still snow on the ground? 😉

Praying for your possible relocation and for your journey home to the Catholic Church. :signofcross:
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No, we have 25 degrees Celsius at the moment! 🙂

Thank you for your prayers, I need them 🙂
 
As universal RCIA is, I know not all parishes offer it due to lack of interest. In this case, I know often, the person will meet with the priest regularly and they will receive the direction they would normally receive in RCIA one on one. A friend of mine did that and it worked well for her. Perhaps you can look into that option at the moment.
 
SecretGarden said:
As universal RCIA is, I know not all parishes offer it due to lack of interest. In this case, I know often, the person will meet with the priest regularly and they will receive the direction they would normally receive in RCIA one on one. A friend of mine did that and it worked well for her. Perhaps you can look into that option at the moment.
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RCIA is not the classes, it’s the rituals involved.
 
RCIA is universal. It stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
I’m pretty sure it’s in the CCC and Canon Law. You could probably look it up. A lot of places like to call it something different, like “Journey of Faith” or “Faith Formation” or something along those lines. RCIA is the official name.

If you would like me to get in touch with your local parish and find out what the programme is and the start dates etc, let me know. I’ve been through the RCIA myself, so if you want any advice, feel free to ask me. God Bless.

Kim Lee Therese
Foundress
The Vocation Operation
vocationoperation.blogspot.com
 
CutlerB said:
I’ll keep looking, but I suppose it isn’t advertised so widely because there aren’t so many converts here as in the US. Europe is less religious after all.

I am baptised, so that would only be Confirmation. 🙂
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You don’t need RCIA. Is there nothing that can prepare you for confirmation?
 
CutlerB said:
Hello there dear friends,

As I have said a few times before, I want to become Catholic. All over CA and the US Catholic resources you see references to RCIA as the process to bring converts into the Church. I live in Germany, however, and have not heard of RCIA here. Is it a universal institution in the Church, or more of a US-only thing?

Thanks 🙂
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If there are not very many converts, it may be that the Bishop looks after the RCIA process at a Diocesan level. When it first got started in our Diocese during the 1970s, the RCIA process took place at the Cathedral, and the Bishop taught the Catechism classes and gave the Rites. There were about 15 people in the first class.

These days, we get nearly a thousand converts every year, so the process takes place at the parish level, and they come to the Cathedral only once a year for the Rite of Election or Call to Lenten Renewal (depending on which process they are in).
 
RCIA is not universal. You won’t find it in the majority of places where the Eastern and Oriental Churches predominate. That doesn’t help you figure out what to do in Germany, but it does answer the broader question.

The Latin Church had the RCIA process renewed at Vatican II. You might call it the catechumenate.
catholicdoors.com/courses/rcia.htm
The second Vatican Council’s involvement consisted of restoring within the Latin Church the “catechumenate for adults” (the several distinct steps of the entire RCIA process). The rites for these stages are to be found in the manual, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1232)
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Children don’t go through the RCIA itself, they go through the RCIC.

In my US diocese, some parishes offer the “instruction” part of the catechumenate via the priest, meeting with the group, generally focusing on the CCC. Other parishes do the instruction mostly via laypeople with various approved materials and activities from a national office. But regardless of which path they take, the catechumens would participate in the “Rites”, so they are all equally “RCIA” in that sense. As an earlier poster wrote, the RCIA refers to the rites, not which particular written materials or discussions they happen to choose.

Even Catholics who have been baptized and confirmed, but fell away, are encouraged to go through the RCIA in my area.
 
commenter said:
**Children don’t go through the RCIA itself, they go through the RCIC. **
In my US diocese, some parishes offer the “instruction” part of the catechumenate via the priest, meeting with the group, generally focusing on the CCC. Other parishes do the instruction mostly via laypeople with various approved materials and activities from a national office. But regardless of which path they take, the catechumens would participate in the “Rites”, so they are all equally “RCIA” in that sense. As an earlier poster wrote, the RCIA refers to the rites, not which particular written materials or discussions they happen to choose.

Even Catholics who have been baptized and confirmed, but fell away, are encouraged to go through the RCIA in my area.
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Although many parishes do use the term, there is no such thing as RCIC. In this instance the Church considers anyone who has attained the age of reason to be an "adult. What most likely happens is that the catechetical instruction and some of the formative activities of the RCIA are adapted to the children’s level but the children are to participate in the same ceremonies of the RCIA with the “grownup” adults.
 
The RCIA is the norm for unbaptized adult Western Catholics.

In many parishes in the United States it has been common to use the combined rites for catechumens and candidates. And the instruction classes that are associated with RCIA can be of benefit to candidates, catechumens, uncatechized Catholics, and returning Catholics. I really don’t know how instruction classes are handled in any nations of Europe.

But to the best of my knowledge there is no general global requirement that says instruction classes have to be communal. And I don’t think the liturgical rites for candidates need to be tied to any particular liturgical season. In my US parish candidates are received into the Church at various times of the year.

Only catechumens have to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil.
 
RCIA is not used in the Eastern Churches in Union with Rome; each has its own process for candidates and catechumens. It’s universal to the Roman Church, but is a broad umbrella, and the term itself may not be used in all places within the Roman Church.
 
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