I went through RCIA two years ago and everyone going through this Rite lined up in front of the church and our sponsors did the crossing while the priest read the prayers. He was not infirm, there were just too many of us for him to do individually.
We did not spend one full year in RCIA. Inquiry classes started mid-September and Easter was late March. They would allow people to come in and join RCIA and still be received into the Church with the rest of us up until Christmas. Anyone interested after Christmas had to wait until the next round of classes started in the fall.
This is an abuse of the RCIA process. RCIA is in four parts: Inquiry, Catechesis, Purification and Enlightenment, and Mystagogia.
RCIA Inquiry is supposed to be available regularly, year round, with no start or end times - people can join the group whenever they want to, and stay as long as they need to. The ideal is to have an Inquiry group available that meets once a week, with a relatively informal format where they can discuss their questions about the Church, receive an orientation on the RCIA process, and check in with RCIA facilitators on their marital status, previous religious experiences, and current spiritual goals.
Instead of having an artificial start and end time for Inquiry, and instead of all moving as a group together at the same time, “ready or not,” people would remain in Inquiry for as long as they need, whether that is one month, or six months, or even several years.
Catechesis (during the week) and Breaking Open the Word (after Dismissal in Sunday Mass) should also be available weekly, without a start or end time. Inquirers who are ready to start Catechesis should not have to wait an inordinately long time, meaning that the Rite of Acceptance needs to be available several times a year - experienced RCIA people say that three or four times a year works out well. This way, those who have completed their Inquiry goals can join the Catechesis process within a reasonable period of time - for most people, it should work out to a few weeks at most, unless they are unlucky enough to complete their Inquiry goals the very week after a Rite of Acceptance, but even then, the longest wait would be four months, which is still shorter than waiting from January until September - and they would still keep coming to Inquiry meetings - we wouldn’t send them home and expect them to fend for themselves for four months. They should stay in Catechesis for at least one full calendar year, so that they
Break Open the Word at Dismissal on every set of Mass readings for the whole year, and also hear in-depth Catechesis on the doctrines and moral precepts arising from all of these readings, each week in a lecture-style class.
Purification and Enlightenment takes place during Lent after the Rite of Election, with the Bishop. Catechumens and their sponsors attend the next Rite of Election that occurs
after the completion of one year of Catechesis. They remain in Catechesis for the intervening period of time. Because of this, there will be cases where someone could remain in Catechesis for almost two years (say, if they started Catechesis half way through Lent). This would be unusual, but it wouldn’t hurt anything, since the person would end up hearing the majority of the teachings of the Church twice, instead of only once, and he would be doubly well-prepared to be a good Catholic.
Mystagogia takes place after the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil, where the Elect become Neophytes - the Neophytes should meet weekly until Pentecost. Mystagogia has the same casual, group discussion character as Inquiry, where the Neophytes can ask the new questions that now arise, now that they are receiving the Sacraments. There will be a lot of “review” during this period, especially on things like how to go to Confession, how to participate at Mass, and what volunteer activities they can participate in.
