RCIA for already baptised, etc....Please help :)

[PolishK]

Hi all! I have a few questions regarding RCIA.
I was baptised Catholic when I was a baby and proceeded to complete my 1st Communion. However, afterward my parents divorced and my Mother began taking me to a Methodist church. I never became Methodist and as a teenager I started going back to the Catholic Church.

Now that I’m grown up and married, I want to completely return. I am looking into fulfilling the sacraments by completing RCIA. I never had my Confirmation and need to do so. Also, because my husband is not Catholic, I assume that will be an issue.

Can I complete RCIA without my husband converting? How long will RCIA take for me if I have already been baptised and had my 1st Communion?

We are moving out of the country in March and, therefore, I will not be at the same Church on Easter, so what should I expect?

Any information is appreciated! Thank you kindly and God Bless!

 

[autdrew]

When I went through RCIA we had several people who were baptized & received 1st communion but not confirmed. They would like them to complete more RCIA to get the knowledge they may or may not have received as a child. However, it was not made mandatory on the ones I attended because they were military & not around much.
Your husband not being Catholic will not be a problem until you go to get your marriage convalidated. It will likely require you to get a dispensation, usually not a problem as you are already married. However, if one of you are divorced civilly, you need an annulment in the church to get convalidated. You priest will be able to tell you what you need to do for your particular situation.
Now for the being out of country, they may ask you to just wait & do it in your new place. There seems to be issues with “transfer of credit” as I call it, from RCIA to RCIA. They really prefer to have you complete in one location. Being military, I can relate, & I know that they try to work with you if time is an issue. However, if it is a matter of confirmation & dispensation, they may ask you to wait & do it at your new location. Confirmation is normally done at the once a yr Bishop visit. It is possible to do it at Easter Vigil but if it is your only sacrament needed, they may want you to do it with the Bishop visit.

These are my experiences with the American military. Your situation may be totally different, only your priest can give you the scoop on your situation. Call & make an appt & try to get ahold of your new church to find out what they are willing to do in your case.
Hope this helps!

 

[Scoobyshme]

How long it takes, I think depends on the parish you’re in. Usually, we start in late August, early September, and finish at Easter.

Since you are already a Catholic, you should talk to your pastor and see if he can kind of short cut you in because of your circumstances of moving out of the country. I think he has the authority to do so. He may only require you to go part way through RCIA, or maybe just till you leave, then Confirm you. But that’s his call. There have been cases of non-Catholic Christians who were already baptized and learned the faith on their own. They convinced the priest that they knew the faith, knew what they were doing, etc., and he accepted them into the Church outside of RCIA. RCIA was originally intended for the non-baptized, but they’ve kind of expanded it now.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Now that I’m grown up and married, I want to completely return. I am looking into fulfilling the sacraments by completing RCIA. I never had my Confirmation and need to do so. Also, because my husband is not Catholic, I assume that will be an issue.

Check with your parish to see what they offer for someone in your position. In my parish we have a separate adult confirmation program so someone who needs only that sacrament is prepared for it and then is confirmed by the bishop. In other parishes, adults needing confirmation go through RCIA.

Can I complete RCIA without my husband converting? How long will RCIA take for me if I have already been baptised and had my 1st Communion?

What your husband does or doesn’t do has no effect on whether you can be confirmed.

However, it does raise another issue and that is your marriage. Were you married in the Catholic church? Since you are Catholic you need to follow Catholic marriage laws. If you were married outside the Church you will need to speak with a priest about having your marriage convalidated (sometimes called “blessed”).

We are moving out of the country in March and, therefore, I will not be at the same Church on Easter, so what should I expect?

You will need to speak with your pastor or RCIA director. You are going to get into issues of how the parish prepares adults for confirmation and when confirmation takes place. Talk with them to see what your options are.

 

[e46m3]

because my husband is not Catholic, I assume that will be an issue.

I think this may be a problem. In my experience, having a partner/fiance/spouse, or whatever causes many problems. My girlfriend was raised mormon. We thought when we have kids it would be o.k. because we would go to my church one sunday and hers the next. Then I thought, “what if my kids ask me something about religion?” Am I supposed to tell them what I believe? It’s just so confusing. My girlfriend’s religion (mormonism) says you can use artificial birth control, Catholics say no. What will happen when these things come up? There is no ignoring them. One of you will have to give into the other person, which will mean giving up some of your own beliefs. The only solution I see is conversion. I showed my girlfriend all the flaws in mormonism, and she is slowly, but (admittedly) surely, converting to the Catholic faith. It is a long proccess, but in my oppinion, it’s very neccessary.

 

[PolishK]

Thank you all for your responses, they have helped me immensely! I do know a great deal about the faith already, so I’m hoping to be able to complete this process before we move. Thank goodness my husband and I have never been previously married. I remember what that annulment process was like for my parents!
As far as kids go, we don’t have any yet. Naturally, I will be required to raise my children Catholic and I plan on doing so. My husband knows there are many Catholic traditions and sacraments that are very important to me. He is very accepting of all other
Christian faiths.
We were married in his So. Baptist church so I know we’ll
need to square that away.
Again, thank you for your help!
I’m excited to finish what I started!

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi all! I have a few questions regarding RCIA.
I was baptised Catholic when I was a baby and proceeded to complete my 1st Communion. However, afterward my parents divorced and my Mother began taking me to a Methodist church. I never became Methodist and as a teenager I started going back to the Catholic Church.

Now that I’m grown up and married, I want to completely return. I am looking into fulfilling the sacraments by completing RCIA. I never had my Confirmation and need to do so. Also, because my husband is not Catholic, I assume that will be an issue.

Can I complete RCIA without my husband converting? How long will RCIA take for me if I have already been baptised and had my 1st Communion?

We are moving out of the country in March and, therefore, I will not be at the same Church on Easter, so what should I expect?

Any information is appreciated! Thank you kindly and God Bless!

I will answer as if you came into our parish office to ask this question.
First we would have you make an appointment with the priest or deacon to begin your marriage preparation, because some of these questions should be answered by him. No your husband not being Catholic is not necessarily an impediment but you would have to ask for a dispensation from your bishop to marry a non-Catholic, and your priest will want to make sure this would not present a challenge to your own faith. Also Catholic parishes require at least 6 months for marriage preparation so that is where to start. You will also want to obtain a recent (issued within the last 6 months) record from your baptismal parish showing all sacraments received, and the office can help you with that as well.

RCIA is for the unbaptized, or optionally for non-Catholics wishing to become Catholic, but for convenience, and lack of resources, many parishes including ours put all adults who need sacraments in one class for the instructional part of the program. This is because so many baptized Catholics, like yourself, also need instruction in the Catholic beliefs and practices, which like you they did not receive in childhood. Then each adult celebrates, at the proper time, the rites and sacraments appropriate to his situation. For you, that would be Confirmation, at the time set by your bishop. In my parish you could complete the class, but the bishop only confirms adults once a year, in May or June on Pentecost, so you would have to arrange for the sacrament itself before you leave, or in your new location, which is still possible.

The benefit is that your prospective husband may, only if he wishes, not because it is required, participate in the class with you so he knows what your obligations are as a Catholic, and knows more about the faith in which your children will be raised, because that is a promise you must make. And you also both could benefit from a deeper explanation of the Church’s teachings on the sacraments, marriage, family and children, parental obligations, and all that goes into Catholic living.

Depending on where you will be moving, the priest can help you arrange to continue your preparation and celebrate sacraments in your new location as well, if that is necessary.

My answer assumes you were married in a non-CAtholic setting and will first need to have your marriage convalidated before being confirmed, If I have the circumstances wrong, I apologise, and urge you to go into all those details when you have your interview with the priest.