RCIA at a normal parish or the FSSP parish?

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Brockman1996

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After months of research and prayer I have finally decided without a shadow of a doubt that Catholicism is the truth. When I get my licence in a few weeks I will start RCIA. There is one problem though I feel like I am being called to the FSSP Priesthood and God willing I will attend Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary when I graduate High School in a few years. The closest church to me is about ten minutes away but is not as traditional as the FSSP and the closest FSSP parish is 2 hours away in Lexington. So should I just do RCIA locally or drive the extra distance to attend the FSSP parish?
 
If it were me who had a strong pull towards the Priesthood, I would go the extra mile(s) and attend RCIA at the FSSP, since that does seem where you really want to be. Later on down the road, you won’t regret the drive, you probably won’t even remember the drive, you’ll remember going to the parish that is most suited to you. If it does get to be a hardship going that far, you may be able to transfer to the RCIA parish that is closest to you. I can’t imagine that would be a problem.

Good luck with your journey! 🙂
 
Brockman1996 said:
After months of research and prayer I have finally decided without a shadow of a doubt that Catholicism is the truth. When I get my licence in a few weeks I will start RCIA. There is one problem though I feel like I am being called to the FSSP Priesthood and God willing I will attend Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary when I graduate High School in a few years. The closest church to me is about ten minutes away but is not as traditional as the FSSP and the closest FSSP parish is 2 hours away in Lexington. So should I just do RCIA locally or drive the extra distance to attend the FSSP parish?
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Locally would be just fine, we are all of the same faith and adhere to the same doctrine and the same Pope.

We will pray for your vocation. 👍👍
 
there is also the matter of as Catholics we do not church shop ,go to your parish as determined by your Diocese.
 
A lot depends on the difficulty of the drive during the winter months. The important thing is that you get into RCIA and commence a Catholic life and study of Catholicism. It might be more prudent to start at the nearest parish and stay in touch with the FSSP.
 
The FSSP don’t do RCIA. They do it the way it was done before RCIA, one-on-one teaching. You would get a better more indepth catechises, but unless you intend on attending the TLM on a regular basis, as a courtesy to the priest’s time for his own flock, I would advise against it. I know the FSSP are stretched pretty thin these days and our priest is very busy.
 
Thank you all for your replies I think I know what to do now thank you all and God bless you!
 
Brockman1996 said:
After months of research and prayer I have finally decided without a shadow of a doubt that Catholicism is the truth. When I get my licence in a few weeks I will start RCIA. There is one problem though I feel like I am being called to the FSSP Priesthood and God willing I will attend Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary when I graduate High School in a few years. The closest church to me is about ten minutes away but is not as traditional as the FSSP and the closest FSSP parish is 2 hours away in Lexington. So should I just do RCIA locally or drive the extra distance to attend the FSSP parish?
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My opinion may not count because I am not yet in full communion with the Church myself (I am back in RCIA after many years, but still with many misgivings). But hey, I’ll offer it anyway.

It seems to me that this whole Catholic thing is about unity–not just as the universal but at the local level. The Fathers are pretty insistent on the idea that the faithful of one place should gather together around the Eucharist, under the authority of one bishop.

The idea has gained currency among many American Christians that driving a long distance, passing churches you consider to be valid parts of the one True Church, is a mark of commitment. To me it seems an expression of American individualism radically at odds with orthodox Christianity. In fact, that’s one reason why I have trouble remaining Protestant. As an Anglican, I don’t think Anglicanism is the one True Church–I think it has more truth than other Protestant churches, but I don’t think they are invalid (*that *is my big problem with becoming Catholic–but I digress). Where I live, the closest church is in fact the Episcopal church, which is handy. But I’ve lived in other places where that wasn’t the case. If I lived where my parents do, with the nearest church being a fundamentalist Baptist church, I couldn’t attend that church. (I know–I tried for a while when I first started thinking along these lines many years ago, before I left home to go to grad school.)

To my mind, if you pass up your local parish to attend the FSSP parish, you are declaring in practice that the local parish isn’t really Catholic, which strikes me as an arrogant and schismatic act.

Also, isn’t it a bit soon to be worrying about just which branch of the Catholic priesthood you are called to, when you aren’t Catholic yet? I certainly think at times about the possibility of pursuing a vocation to the diaconate if I go through with becoming Catholic (I’m married so the priesthood is out), but this isn’t the time to consider that seriously. Get a few years of being Catholic under your belt.

And finally, I’d be surprised if the FSSP had RCIA. Wouldn’t they do the old “instruction” method?

Edwin
 
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