RCIA: I have a confession

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Friends,

I have a confession. I hate RCIA. I love our Lord, the Holy Mother, and the holy Catholic Church, but going to RCIA is painful, bordering on unbearable. I’m going to list some of the things that are making me crazy and I fully expect to be written off as a whiner or malcontent, and that’s OK. I’ve just got to get this off my chest and hopefully see if I’m alone in these feelings.
  1. No structure. We start late and end early. The lessons have only a vague form and a series of questions starts us off on many tangents.
  2. The material is simple beyond reason. We spent nearly a full hour explaining how to look up things in the Bible and how the whole chapter/verse thing works. We reviewed that again tonight.
  3. Factual errors. No, the senate of the United States never “voted that Mary is the protectoress of the country”. No, the constitution of the United States does not say, “The US shall forever remain a Christian nation.”
  4. Doctrinal errors. Things that clearly contradict the CCC. For example, “To get to heaven, just be good and hope that God is happy with you.”
I really don’t know what to do. Guess I’ll just tough it out another nine months.

Paul
 
frankly in your position I would not sit still for this. If I were responsible for promoting such drivel in the name of RCIA I would expect the pastor to call me in tomorrow morning for an explanation, because my candidates called to tell him what a lousy job I am doing. You have the right to proper teaching on the faith and proper conduct of the rites leading up to your reception into full communion with the Church. I honestly urge you to collect your thoughts and communicate with the pastor.

If things don’t change, and you can’t find another parish program that won’t make you start over again, and decide to tough it out, I will explain the time-honored Catholic tradition of salutary spiritual effect called “offer it up for the poor souls.” In that case you will have to realize your most productive time will be spent in what you can read and study on your own, asking questions here, and quietly and politely questioning your teachers when they err (that you probably do owe to others in the class, but it is up to you how far you want to go with it).

meanwhile, welcome home, and try to take that as written, as in, yes I’m home and glad to be here, but that also means I have to put up with all my problem relatives and in-laws. The spiritual discipline will be priceless, of that I can assure you, but I am livid that you have to put up with this, and will be praying for you.
 
One of the problems sounds like those teaching RCIA are probably volunteer catechists who have not had any formal training themselves. It happens. I would speak to your pastor, or ask him to sit in on a few sessions. The Deacon or I are always at our RCIA sessions and if we are not leading the sessions we are always there to make corrections if a catechist says something wrong.
 
I agree. You need to ask questions and let people now that you are dissatisfied.
I was very lucky with my RCIA. It was taught through our local Catholic College by the student religious life coordinator. I was about 20 years older than everyone else in the class and was coming from the Episcopal Church. When I decided to go through RCIA, I also made sure to read more and study more to learn everything that I could about the church.
I also asked a lot of questions during class and, if I wasn’t getting the answers I needed, I sought them out.
Asking questions and getting the proper instruction is vital to your spiritual life.
 
That sounds truly painful. Is there another parish you can go to?

If nothing else, start documenting the errors you find and show them to the priest. If he doesn’t care, go to the bishop. That level of horrid catechesis should not be allowed to continue.

My prayers are with you.
 
In the meantime, patience with our fellow weak human beings is very sanctifying! 🙂
 
T700 said:
Friends,

I have a confession. I hate RCIA…
Click to expand...
Maybe you should offer to teach a lesson? You or they could pick a subject and date. It could be a win-win, and if not then it is just another attempt to improve RCIA.
 
Thanks to everyone for their comments and advice. I think the best solution is to just learn to smile and nod and pray. The instructor has been teaching the class for more than 15 years, so I think much change now is not likely.

I am not able to easily transfer to another parish because I am in the process of obtaining an annulment of a long ago marriage. All the paperwork has been submitted by one of the priests at this church. Granted it is not impossible to transfer “ownership” of the papers to someone else, but according to the tribunal, that would set back the time line at least a month and possibly more.

Paul
 
I am speechless. Our parish RCIA was run by our Director of Religous Education when I went through, and by the Pasor this year (our DRE resigned for another job :crying: )But I have been sitting in this year agin and learning even more, and putting in my 2 cents.
 
T700 said:
Friends,

I have a confession. I hate RCIA. I love our Lord, the Holy Mother, and the holy Catholic Church, but going to RCIA is painful, bordering on unbearable. I’m going to list some of the things that are making me crazy and I fully expect to be written off as a whiner or malcontent, and that’s OK. I’ve just got to get this off my chest and hopefully see if I’m alone in these feelings.
  1. No structure. We start late and end early. The lessons have only a vague form and a series of questions starts us off on many tangents.
  2. The material is simple beyond reason. We spent nearly a full hour explaining how to look up things in the Bible and how the whole chapter/verse thing works. We reviewed that again tonight.
  3. Factual errors. No, the senate of the United States never “voted that Mary is the protectoress of the country”. No, the constitution of the United States does not say, “The US shall forever remain a Christian nation.”
  4. Doctrinal errors. Things that clearly contradict the CCC. For example, “To get to heaven, just be good and hope that God is happy with you.”
I really don’t know what to do. Guess I’ll just tough it out another nine months.

Paul
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Yikes - I’m very sorry to hear this. Think about joining another program or an alternative method of training. Some parishes may have a decon, for example, willing to tutor you privately or as part of a small group of people in the same place in their “walk of faith” and knowledge of the Church. If you are already a Baptised Christian (but not Catholic), I believe this is more lattitude in the program you may be able to explore.

Blessings,

Brian
 
T700 said:
Friends,

I have a confession. I hate RCIA. I love our Lord, the Holy Mother, and the holy Catholic Church, but going to RCIA is painful, bordering on unbearable.
Paul
Click to expand...
Maybe you can look at is as penance. Offer up the suffering. It will help you much.
 
I would bring in my CCC and compendium and bible. I would keep quoting those books, if it were my turn to comment on a topic.
Heck, maybe I would have a rolling bag filled with resources with me. Print off what you can from the library here too. Take it with you.
 
I sympathise with you. I had a LOT of information misrepresented to me during RCIA. I was given the wrong info about a LOT of things which was extremely dangerous for me and the other candidates and catechumans because we took this information as gospel and really trusted the people who were “guiding” us… It wasnt until a year after RCIA that I actually realised that half of the information was WRONG and it lead me in to a state of mortal sin (i.e not giving a correct confession, taking the Eucharist without making proper confessions) and therefore you need to off your own back, research, find out things, challenge them and dont be afraid to say something if you think something doesn’t sound right!
 
Father Groeschel has complained many times that the really BIG scandal of the Roman Catholic Church is that lack of knowledge of Church teaching and the dismal state of passing knowledge along.
 
It’s Monday again and tonight is RCIA. I’m going to take the advice from this thread and just sit, take it in, examine what I’m taught in the light of the Church’s teachings, and be patient. Good medicine for me, I think!

Paul
 
T700 said:
It’s Monday again and tonight is RCIA. I’m going to take the advice from this thread and just sit, take it in, examine what I’m taught in the light of the Church’s teachings, and be patient. Good medicine for me, I think!

Paul
Click to expand...
As a RCIA alumni, I also found the RCIA to be very vague. Mine was taught by a priest at a very prominent city cathedral, so it was pretty good.

My feeling is that the Catechists tread lightly because they don’t want to instill too much fear into people entering the church. I was never taught about Mortal Sin when I did my RCIA. I didn’t even know what Mortal Sin was until I went on CAF.

Another post said that the RCIA led them into Mortal Sin…that’s impossible because the poster stated that she was not aware of the sin, so therefore it didn’t fit the 3 conditions for Mortal Sin to exist.

I think the Catholic church doesn’t want to scare people away…they have a very gentle approach in educating newcomers or people who are looking for answers. That has been my experience anyway.

If a person is serious about being a Catholic, they will do their own research as you are.

Good luck with the RCIA!!!
 
T700 said:
Friends,

I have a confession. I hate RCIA. I love our Lord, the Holy Mother, and the holy Catholic Church, but going to RCIA is painful, bordering on unbearable. I’m going to list some of the things that are making me crazy and I fully expect to be written off as a whiner or malcontent, and that’s OK. I’ve just got to get this off my chest and hopefully see if I’m alone in these feelings.
  1. No structure. We start late and end early. The lessons have only a vague form and a series of questions starts us off on many tangents.
  2. The material is simple beyond reason. We spent nearly a full hour explaining how to look up things in the Bible and how the whole chapter/verse thing works. We reviewed that again tonight.
  3. Factual errors. No, the senate of the United States never “voted that Mary is the protectoress of the country”. No, the constitution of the United States does not say, “The US shall forever remain a Christian nation.”
  4. Doctrinal errors. Things that clearly contradict the CCC. For example, “To get to heaven, just be good and hope that God is happy with you.”
I really don’t know what to do. Guess I’ll just tough it out another nine months.

Paul
Click to expand...
Hi Paul. I was having very similar issues. My problems were solved when I switched to a more orthodox parish. The parish I switched to is known for their doctrinal orthodoxy, and sticking to the Bible and the CCC.

If I were you, I’d call some local parishes, speak to their DRE’s, and ask the following questions.
  1. How much do they teach out of the Bible and the CCC? That’s the most important question.
  2. What is the structure of the classes like?
You’re just like me, because you don’t want to be tought any doctrinal errors. An RCIA program like you want may be hard to find, but I’m almost certain that you can find one. Your best bet would probably be a more traditional parish, but of course, one that’s not against the Pope or Vatican II. For example, the parish I go to now has perpetual Eucharistic adoration, traditional Catholic music with organ and choir even in the New Order Mass, and a Latin Mass is even offered for those who want to attend it. That type of parish, or one close to it, would probably be your best bet. Hope this helps.

Edit: I just read your other post about not being able to switch. However, if the annullment still sets your confirmation back to the next RCIA period, I’d try the more traditional parish.
 
When I volunteered to help teach RCIA, my frustrations were similar to yours. I wanted to teach a college-level course on the faith, and instead we were helping people look up passages in the Bible.

One realization I’ve gradually come to is that the process is primarily about faith formation, not just about facts. While the catechists should be knowledgeable, and blatant errors should be corrected, the most important thing is that those entering the church develop a strong faith and feel part of the (universal) community they are joining.

We all know that growing in our faith and learning about the faith is a lifelong process. What are the big things that set the Catholic faith apart? Things like the Magisterium and the Real Presence. If catecumens believe in the key doctrines, they can learn nuances as their own faith catches up, as long as they have the attitude that this is the Truth, the Church Jesus founded.

I still long for an RCIA process that would be several years of college-level theology, but that wouldn’t suit everyone. I’m also thinking that this course would benefit the whole parish, not just those joining the church. Perhaps that’s where our effort should be. For now, I’ve turned my efforts toward sharing my own faith with the candidates and praying for them.
 
freemanld said:
When I volunteered to help teach RCIA, my frustrations were similar to yours. I wanted to teach a college-level course on the faith, and instead we were helping people look up passages in the Bible.

One realization I’ve gradually come to is that the process is primarily about faith formation, not just about facts. While the catechists should be knowledgeable, and blatant errors should be corrected, the most important thing is that those entering the church develop a strong faith and feel part of the (universal) community they are joining.

We all know that growing in our faith and learning about the faith is a lifelong process. What are the big things that set the Catholic faith apart? Things like the Magisterium and the Real Presence. If catecumens believe in the key doctrines, they can learn nuances as their own faith catches up, as long as they have the attitude that this is the Truth, the Church Jesus founded.

I still long for an RCIA process that would be several years of college-level theology, but that wouldn’t suit everyone. I’m also thinking that this course would benefit the whole parish, not just those joining the church. Perhaps that’s where our effort should be. For now, I’ve turned my efforts toward sharing my own faith with the candidates and praying for them.
Click to expand...
I help teach RCIA and I agree, many of the people coming in know almost nothing about Christianity and you have to bring them in slowly or they won’t return the following week. As you progress throughtout the year, you add layers of Catholic doctrine.
But in the begining you may very well be teaching them how to look things up in the Bible.
 
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