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teadough
Guest
Wow!!! 3 years? My wife would kill me if I had to go to RCIA for 3 years
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Epistemes
Guest
I haven’t read any of the responses to this thread, but I thought I would add my own thoughts:
RCIA, in its current, uncompromising, rigid form, has the tendency to be not only ridiculous but ridiculously pointless as a form of systematic catechism. In my own experience, not only was my own entry into the Church delayed by the bureauocratic red tape imposed by RCIA, but I spent months of my life hearing about material which was already common knowledge to me as a result of my own research and investigation, which any person could do similarly reading any basic introduction to Catholicism out on the market today. In fact, to my surprise, and to the surprise of many others in the class, the leaders of RCIA easily presented views, opinions and perceptions which, while not contrary to Church teaching, would easily lead to future formations of erroneous opinions. And, funnily enough, things which we were taught in class we revised or answered with a wholly new answer by the priest in private conversation!
I’ve known RCIA to turn off so many people from joining the Church. Many of the people who went through RCIA with me have even claimed that it wasn’t until our confirmation that they finally understood the full reason behind why they even wanted to join the Church. It’s absurd, then, to tell non-Catholics, “Have patience.” Have patience for what? If you don’t know, and many don’t, then the Lutheran or Episcopalian Church will do just nicely, thank you. I mean, c’mon! If you don’t know about the Real Presence but merely want baptism and communion with Christ and God, any churchwill do, right? If the topic of the Real Presence isn’t to be “taught” or “conveyed” until after months and months attending RCIA classes, then isn’t the Roman Catholic Church just another church, only crazy enough to have a Pope and thousands of saints for me to pick a confirmation name?
This current year, an unbaptized guy who was attending RCIA died. Let that sink in just a bit.
Because of all the bureaocratic red tape which exists, barring official entry into the Roman Church, eliminating the possibility of true communion with Christ who invited EVERYONE to his table…a fellow who yearned for this communion died and his fate rests in the dubious theology of “baptism of desire.”
RCIA, in its current, uncompromising, rigid form, has the tendency to be not only ridiculous but ridiculously pointless as a form of systematic catechism. In my own experience, not only was my own entry into the Church delayed by the bureauocratic red tape imposed by RCIA, but I spent months of my life hearing about material which was already common knowledge to me as a result of my own research and investigation, which any person could do similarly reading any basic introduction to Catholicism out on the market today. In fact, to my surprise, and to the surprise of many others in the class, the leaders of RCIA easily presented views, opinions and perceptions which, while not contrary to Church teaching, would easily lead to future formations of erroneous opinions. And, funnily enough, things which we were taught in class we revised or answered with a wholly new answer by the priest in private conversation!
I’ve known RCIA to turn off so many people from joining the Church. Many of the people who went through RCIA with me have even claimed that it wasn’t until our confirmation that they finally understood the full reason behind why they even wanted to join the Church. It’s absurd, then, to tell non-Catholics, “Have patience.” Have patience for what? If you don’t know, and many don’t, then the Lutheran or Episcopalian Church will do just nicely, thank you. I mean, c’mon! If you don’t know about the Real Presence but merely want baptism and communion with Christ and God, any churchwill do, right? If the topic of the Real Presence isn’t to be “taught” or “conveyed” until after months and months attending RCIA classes, then isn’t the Roman Catholic Church just another church, only crazy enough to have a Pope and thousands of saints for me to pick a confirmation name?
This current year, an unbaptized guy who was attending RCIA died. Let that sink in just a bit.
Because of all the bureaocratic red tape which exists, barring official entry into the Roman Church, eliminating the possibility of true communion with Christ who invited EVERYONE to his table…a fellow who yearned for this communion died and his fate rests in the dubious theology of “baptism of desire.”
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