Receiving Sacraments RCIA

  • Thread starter Thread starter Imcatholic7
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

Imcatholic7

Guest
Hello! Is it possible to receive RCIA classes in one Parish and receive the Sacraments at a different Parish? I don’t think the Parish (mission) where I am taking classes has a baptismal font or anything of that sort. Thank you!
 
I don’t think they would provide classes for Christian Initiation unless they had a plan for initiating you 😉

Since it is a mission parish, perhaps the sacraments will be imparted in the mother parish.
 
Spirithound said:
I don’t think they would provide classes for Christian Initiation unless they had a plan for initiating you 😉

Since it is a mission parish, perhaps the sacraments will be imparted in the mother parish.
Click to expand...
Exactly 🙂 If they have an RCIA program, they have a way of getting you baptized. Don’t worry! 😃
 
Don’t worry!

Our Church has a beautiful one- but you wouldn’t know it; they keep in in the back closet unless they are doing baptisms; then they pull it out!
 
Sometimes our parish takes care of the instruction for some of the smaller parishes in the area, if they only have one or two people.

When it is time for the Easter Vigil, some are brought in through their home parish, some are brought in through ours.

If you’re in RCIA, you’ll get the sacraments. Relax, they have done this before.😛
 
We have had people from other parishes in our RCIA sessions. They do the classes at our parish and the rites in their own.
 
Last Easter vigil, they used a small plastic blue pool but the people were a lot younger so maybe that’s why.
 
Catholic Baptism doesn’t require full immersion, so the Priest will have a way of baptizing you. I don’t think that a font is required technically.
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Hello! Is it possible to receive RCIA classes in one Parish and receive the Sacraments at a different Parish? I don’t think the Parish (mission) where I am taking classes has a baptismal font or anything of that sort. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Ask.

As others have pointed out, they wouldn’t be offering RCIA if they didn’t have a plan for giving you the Sacraments. 🙂
 
Imcatholic7 said:
Hello! Is it possible to receive RCIA classes in one Parish and receive the Sacraments at a different Parish? I don’t think the Parish (mission) where I am taking classes has a baptismal font or anything of that sort. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Rest assured, your RCIA leaders have a plan for making sure all the Catechumens get Baptized somewhere ;-). A neighboring parish to mine is a mission parish that holds Mass in a school gym, and they use a mobile Baptismal font that is only brought when a Baptism is happening…so you wouldn’t see it at a normal Sunday Mass. Perhaps they intend to have the Baptisms at the ‘parent’ parish. Either way, it’s nothing you need to worry about!

As RCIA coordinator for my home parish, I know that we do occasionally have people who prepare for the Sacraments with us but then actually receive them elsewhere. We had one gentleman last year who is stationed locally with the Air Force, but had a priest friend in his home town who actually gave him the Sacraments of Initiation. In those cases we usually send a letter certifying that the person completed their preparation and that we have no problem with their receiving the Sacraments. Sometimes they want a Priest’s signature, and sometimes mine (as RCIA coordinator) is enough. We try to provide whatever the Pastor of the parish where the actual Sacraments will occur needs for their records.

But either way, you don’t need to worry. Best wishes on your faith journey; God bless you!
 
achmafooma said:
Rest assured, your RCIA leaders have a plan for making sure all the Catechumens get Baptized somewhere ;-). A neighboring parish to mine is a mission parish that holds Mass in a school gym, and they use a mobile Baptismal font that is only brought when a Baptism is happening…so you wouldn’t see it at a normal Sunday Mass. Perhaps they intend to have the Baptisms at the ‘parent’ parish. Either way, it’s nothing you need to worry about!

As RCIA coordinator for my home parish, I know that we do occasionally have people who prepare for the Sacraments with us but then actually receive them elsewhere. We had one gentleman last year who is stationed locally with the Air Force, but had a priest friend in his home town who actually gave him the Sacraments of Initiation. In those cases we usually send a letter certifying that the person completed their preparation and that we have no problem with their receiving the Sacraments. Sometimes they want a Priest’s signature, and sometimes mine (as RCIA coordinator) is enough. We try to provide whatever the Pastor of the parish where the actual Sacraments will occur needs for their records.

But either way, you don’t need to worry. Best wishes on your faith journey; God bless you!
Click to expand...
This is sort of off topic, but if I chose to, I could receive the Sacraments of Initiation in a different Parish? There’s a significant one in our family but in a different state…
 
Imcatholic7 said:
This is sort of off topic, but if I chose to, I could receive the Sacraments of Initiation in a different Parish? There’s a significant one in our family but in a different state…
Click to expand...
Yes, it is possible and requires communication between the parishes.
 
dconklin said:
Yes, it is possible and requires communication between the parishes.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

Of course I suppose it’s possible that some pastors wouldn’t allow it…ultimately it is a parish’s pastor’s responsibility to decide who receives the Sacraments of Initiation at his parish, so he *could *say that he wasn’t comfortable with another parish’s RCIA program for some reason. But I’ve never actually run into that (and if I did, I’d ask my pastor to intervene on our behalf ;-)).

But in practice, that kind of thing happens with some regularity…at least around here (DC metro area) where we have a lot of people with families in other places, military folks passing through on assignments, etc. We always try to accommodate people’s individual needs as much as possible.
 
Imcatholic7 said:
This is sort of off topic, but if I chose to, I could receive the Sacraments of Initiation in a different Parish? There’s a significant one in our family but in a different state…
Click to expand...
Make sure everyone knows what’s going on right from the get go - and by “everyone” I mean, both your RCIA director and the RCIA director at the other parish, and both Pastors, and your sponsor(s), and any and all interested friends and family members - this isn’t something to “spring” on people at the first week of Lent, or the day before your RCIA Retreat. And make sure both Pastors are okay with it, in writing.
 
achmafooma said:
Exactly.

Of course I suppose it’s possible that some pastors wouldn’t allow it…ultimately it is a parish’s pastor’s responsibility to decide who receives the Sacraments of Initiation at his parish, so he *could *say that he wasn’t comfortable with another parish’s RCIA program for some reason. But I’ve never actually run into that (and if I did, I’d ask my pastor to intervene on our behalf ;-)).

But in practice, that kind of thing happens with some regularity…at least around here (DC metro area) where we have a lot of people with families in other places, military folks passing through on assignments, etc. We always try to accommodate people’s individual needs as much as possible.
Click to expand...
In this case, how would the sponsors work if it was in a different parish?
 
Imcatholic7 said:
In this case, how would the sponsors work if it was in a different parish?
Click to expand...
Depending on the distance, they could travel, and still be the sponsor of record.

Completely new sponsors could be chosen at the second location. They could even do proxy sponsors, and still list the original sponsors on the records. (it is rare, but can be done)
 
Imcatholic7 said:
In this case, how would the sponsors work if it was in a different parish?
Click to expand...
Usually we encourage our catechumens and candidates to choose their own sponsors, and only ‘assign’ one if they don’t know any suitable Catholics. So in these cases, the only thing we would do differently is we’d ask them to get in touch with the pastor who will actually confer the Sacraments to make sure their selection is acceptable and that any paperwork that parish needs gets collected.

As others have said, the sponsor can be pretty much any Catholic in good standing (at least 16 or older). Usually if they aren’t registered at the parish where the Sacraments will be performed, they will have to have their home parish submit a form or letter (signed by the pastor) certifying that they are suitable sponsors.

Also, while it’s preferred that a sponsor be present when the catechumen or candidate receives the Sacraments, it’s not required. A ‘proxy’ can stand in their place (and the proxy must meet the same requirements). My sponsor when I came into the Church was a Priest, so he was busy with his own Easter Vigil at his parish and couldn’t be there for mine. So I had a proxy to stand in his place. He also had to submit a form certifying that he was a Catholic who met the requirements to be a sponsor; it was especially funny since he was his own pastor…so he certified himself ;).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top