S
srlucado
Guest
I’ve been working on this for months, and I admit to being confused.
I was baptized a Catholic, raised a Methodist, was married in a Catholic church, and am now seeking to be confirmed as a Catholic and become active in the faith.
From what I gather by reading (and I’ve studied this a lot), I’m a candidate, not a catechumen, and yet tonight when I went to an RCIA meeting, I was told I belong in RCIA and would have to undergo the complete process as though I’d never set foot in a Catholic church before.
Is that right?
I’m asking because this is what I got from a link on this very site:
I just want to do what’s right. What is proper? And if I’m told to do something improper, what do I do about it?
Thanks, everyone. I’m really stressed out over this.
I was baptized a Catholic, raised a Methodist, was married in a Catholic church, and am now seeking to be confirmed as a Catholic and become active in the faith.
From what I gather by reading (and I’ve studied this a lot), I’m a candidate, not a catechumen, and yet tonight when I went to an RCIA meeting, I was told I belong in RCIA and would have to undergo the complete process as though I’d never set foot in a Catholic church before.
Is that right?
I’m asking because this is what I got from a link on this very site:
The means by which those who have already been validly baptized become part of the Church differs considerably from that of the unbaptized. …
…Their doctrinal and spiritual preparation for reception into full Catholic communion should be determined according to the individual case…
[baptized Catholics] are not to participate in the rites intended for catechumens, such as the scrutinies. Even “[t]he rites of presentation of the creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the book of the Gospels are not proper except for those who have received no Christian instruction and formation” (NSC 31).
… The U.S. Conference of Bishops states, “Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate” (NSC 31). For this reason, they should not share in the same, full RCIA programs that catechumens do.
(catholic.com/library/How_to_Become_a_Catholic.asp)The timing of their reception into the Church also is different. The U.S. Conference of Bishops states, "It is preferable that reception into full communion not take place at the Easter Vigil lest there be any confusion of such baptized Christians with the candidates for baptism, possible misunderstanding of or even reflection upon the sacrament of baptism celebrated in another church or ecclesial community . . . " (NSC 33).
I just want to do what’s right. What is proper? And if I’m told to do something improper, what do I do about it?
Thanks, everyone. I’m really stressed out over this.