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DianaCC
Guest
In order to convert, are you required to go through RCIA or can you just meet periodically with a priest?
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KarenElissa
Guest
Well, technically RCIA is the process by which one becomes Catholic. Part of this involves some sort of catechesis, but it isn’t the only part.
As for whether or not it is possible to meet individually with your priest just depends on the situation at your parish. While meeting with the priest may sound ideal, we also need to remember that they are super busy and it just may not be possible, especially in a large parish. So they will often delegate this to someone else. If you can’t meet with the regular group, or there is no RCIA group, then you should ask and they should work something out, either meeting with the priest or someone else.
Out of curiosity, why are you interested in just meeting with the priest?
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
Usually you are required to go through RCIA, but the priest may decide for one reason or another to instruct the person individually, for any number of reasons. If someone feels they cannot attend RCIA for some reason or that it would not be helpful for them, then they should definitely talk to the priest at the parish they would be joining and see what he thinks about their situation.
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Jim_Dandy
Guest
You learn more than the facts in RCIA. You also learn as a group how to be Catholic, how to think like a Catholic. It is a culture, a way of life, as well as a religion. RCIA is an introduction. You will need to study in addition to the classes if you want to know Catholicism.
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DianaCC
Guest
Because the RCIA at my old parish was a joke. I want to know if I can tell potential converts that RCIA is optional or not.
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DianaCC
Guest
I don’t want to support a situation where the priest erroneously thinks RCIA is mandatory if it’s not, especially if the RCIA program at that parish is heterodox.
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kmaaj
Guest
My priest brought me into the Church without RCIA. I had a unique set of circumstances. It can be done at the priest’s discretion. If any of my family decide to follow me into the Church, I will go through RCIA with them.
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KarenElissa
Guest
I would not tell people that RCIA is optional. There needs to be some sort of process before one converts and unfortunately is most places there just aren’t enough priests to go around. So unless there is a real compelling need (scheduling problems, illnesses, that kind of thing) most people will be encouraged to participate in the standard RCIA process. And I think this is a good thing. Part of RCIA is getting to know the community and this is much harder in a one on one situation. If there is a problem with the RCIA group, that needs to be addressed, not ignored and gone around.
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KarenElissa
Guest
The RCIA process is mandatory, except in extreme cases like danger of death. What is not mandatory is group catechetical session, but I would say they are highly encouraged. Like I said in my last post, if the catechesis is heterodox, that needs to be fixed, not by passed and ignored.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
i think it would depend if they ere already a baptized christian and the baptism was seen as valid by the Catholic church. for example, i was baptized and confirmed in the episcopal church. i had not attended church for many years and then studied for about 10 years before i decided to join the Catholic church. i met with the RCIA director for once
a week for about 2 months and then was received into the church in a small ceremony.
you would need to meet with the priest or the RCIA director to be approved for this and i am sure every situation is unique.
there is a lot to learn about being Catholic and the Catholic church.
i have been Catholic for a little over 3 years now and i am still learning and will continue to learn and study for the rest of my life i think.
a week for about 2 months and then was received into the church in a small ceremony.
you would need to meet with the priest or the RCIA director to be approved for this and i am sure every situation is unique.
there is a lot to learn about being Catholic and the Catholic church.
i have been Catholic for a little over 3 years now and i am still learning and will continue to learn and study for the rest of my life i think.
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
My RCIA program was a horrendous heretical mess, so I know where you are coming from. But if the RCIA program is so bad, what are the chances that meeting privately with the same priest who presumably is in charge of the RCIA program will be any better?
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EasterJoy
Guest
Hoo, boy. Generally speaking, RCIA is the normal means to prepare for entrance into the Church. Bishops are probably not in a hurry to have a catechumen’s first act as a prospective Catholic be to try to circumvent his normal preparation apparatus.
Having said that, I think you may want to ask at your local chancery office under what circumstances the bishop allows someone to enter the Church without RCIA classes. For instance, someone who works the swing shift and can’t make a single class is going to have to have other arrangements made. Typically speaking, when does the bishop allow the RCIA process he has set up in his diocese to be replaced with something else?
As far as classes that don’t meet your standards of orthodoxy, you generally start with the parishes you consider to be orthodox and see what they’re offering. You don’t get apples from a pear tree. Having said that, my understanding is that a bishop can require converts to go through RCIA in their geographical parish, except with special permission. So it depends on where you live, what sort of latitude the bishop allows, and whether or not there is a pastor at an accessible parish who sees fit to use that latitude.
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AlainVanille
Guest
Hi. So RCIA is necessary. But I want to know is there a way to undergo through it with utmost secrecy or something? As in, to protect one’s identity due to the danger of persecution?
Thanks for answering.
Thanks for answering.
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puzzleannie
Guest
ideally everyone in RCIA should be meeting periodically with the priest, in addition to instruction by catechists, and the other elements of the process (of which instruction is only one) and they will certainly do so for the various rites which are transitions through stages of the process. If you are asking is there an alternative to "classes"with a lay catechist, yes the rare priest who has time to do personalized instruction certainly may do so. The bishops have prescribed RCIA, as described in the ritual book, as the manner of catechizing and bringing the unbaptized to the initiation sacraments and into full participation in the life of the Church. If an individual priest decides as he is free to do, to take care of those needs in his own way, without using the rites, it is not RCIA.
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puzzleannie
Guest
it is optional for the bishops and pastors to decide if they will implement RCIA, it is not optional to the potential convert. By all means urge your friends in this situation to do what all potential converts should do as their first step. Make a formal appointment to talk to the priest.
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kmaaj
Guest
There are plenty of living, breathing exceptions to that, myself being one of them. The bottom line is that it is at the discretion of the priest.
I agree with the RCIA process. I believe it is a very beautiful thing. My parish has a thriving and orthodox RCIA program. There are some cases where it is not necessary or practical or both.
In my case, after 3 years of regular attendance at various Orthodox churches, 8 months of catechesis in an Antiochian Orthodox church, with this whole time sprinkled with generous (name removed by moderator)ut from a very ecunemically minded Serbian Orthodox priest. When it became clear to me that God was calling me to become Catholic, I attended mass for several weeks.
I then shared this with my parish priest. I told him that if he felt it necessary, that I’d enter RCIA. He did not. And here I am.
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DianaCC
Guest
Is there some website that has the official curriculum for RCIA spelled out?
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KarenElissa
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There is no standard curriculum for RCIA, there are a ton of different ways of going about the catechesis. Here is the book that contains the actual Rites as well information about the overall structure and what each period in the process is about. You can read some of it online, but they won’t let you preview the whole thing.
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ANNE_2
Guest
RICA is necessary to insure that you know/understand the Catholic Faith.
Reading the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” is necessary to insure accuracy and completeness.
Reading the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” is necessary to insure accuracy and completeness.
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DianaCC
Guest
Aha, that explains a lot. I figured either there is no official curriculum or if there is it’s being dismissed as an optional suggestion.
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