I grew up with a Roman Catholic mother and a Jewish father, both of whom were not practicing or involved in the church/synagogue.
I recently have been considering my faith and have been finding a lot within the Catholic Church and has lead me to some extensive research. Within this time I have been considering inquiry about RCIA classes but I worry about my beliefs.
Having been raised without much direction in religion, I find that some of my beliefs go against those of the Church (I believe in contraception, am pro-choice and believe in same-sex marriage for starters) and I’m worried this will keep me from being able to go through in RCIA class or even being accepted by the Church.
Are my concerns ones to actually worry about??
Yes, your concerns are ones to worry about, but I wouldn’t let that stop you from going to RCIA.
However, I think it should be pointed out to you that there has been somewhat of an “epidemic” of bad catechesis (teaching) in RCIA classes in the past few decades. So be wary of that. The Catholic Church is not a democracy, and what it teaches (in terms of faith and morals) is set in stone. The best idea is to have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to check against what you’re hearing in class. So if anyone tells you, regarding contraception, abortion, gay marriage, etc., that these issues are “up to one’s conscience” or “up for debate,” you should know that they are in complete error.
Which brings me to my next point. If you do go through RCIA and/or other forms of Catholic education and find that you still disagree with the Church on these issues, you should
not be received into the Church. Part of becoming Catholic is professing, before God, the priest and the congregation, that you believe and accept
all that the Catholic Church teaches. So, if you reject the Church’s authority on these issues and nevertheless go through the motions of “coming into union” with her, you would essentially be lying, before God and the Church.
All that said, I would strongly recommend utilizing the resources available on
catholic.com to get a better understanding of the Church’s position on these issues. RCIA classes are great, but chances are that moral issues will not be covered extensively, and seeing as they are imposing an impediment to your entry into the Church, it would be a good idea to do some research on your own. The Catholic Answers website has a plethora of tracts, articles and even Q & A radio broadcasts that deal with these very topics.
I, myself, converted from atheism a few years ago and shared many of your current views. The Catholic Church does not argue its moral teachings from the basis of the Bible alone, but rather makes some very salient logical arguments in their defense, so you may be, as I was, quite surprised at how reasonable the Church really is.
Finally, I will say that I am somewhat of a self-proclaimed amateur philosopher/theologian, and am very passionate about learning and sharing the faith, so if you have any questions or concerns about the Church, feel free to send me a message.
Good luck on your search.
