The "yearlong" catechumenate of RCIA

[Anesti33]

HomeschoolDad:

I… see…

I don’t intend this as any sort of assault upon anyone, but I find this positively outrageous. Salvation is between an individual and Our Lord (with the mediation of the Church and her ministers of the sacrament), not a “community decision”. This sounds more like a men’s lodge or a country club deciding whether they want a member or not. Would a prospective convert be “blackballed” if he called into question, for instance, the Church just “letting it slide” that 92 percent of Americans who call themselves Catholic dissent from Humanae vitae ? I thought this stunk to high heaven when I was a catechumen (I did one-on-one lessons, this was back when Paul VI was Pope), and I think it stinks to high heaven now. What would the “community” think of that?

I fully understand why we cannot just have people coming up to the door of the rectory and saying, “hey, I’d like to be baptized”. It’s not entirely out of reason, to think that a non-Catholic family might do this, to get subsidized Catholic school tuition for their children, or for some other temporal advantage. But in Scripture, when we hear of people being baptized, along with their whole families, I don’t see any evidence of “not so fast, let’s make sure you’re truly sincere, there’s a lot of stuff you need to learn first”. I know the early Church evolved a catechumenate. I know this had to be done, for among other reasons, to keep people hostile to the Church from infiltrating it. But if baptism is necessary for salvation — and at the end of the day, even though “God is not bound by the sacraments”, it is the ordinary means of salvation — then to make people wait a year, two years, maybe more, is forcing these people into a gauzy notion of “God knows your heart, you are on your way to the Church”, and having to live without the God-saved life of the sacraments. It comes across more like conversion to Judaism — they don’t get in any hurry, in fact, the first or second time you ask, they discourage you, but then again, they don’t teach that salvation depends on being received into Judaism.

We do so much looking to how our “separated brethren” do things these days — why not look at Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and so on, and see what they do about receiving new Christians. Do they have a lengthy catechumenate?

A couple things here.

The pastor of a parish has the final say about conferring sacraments to catechumens. He represents the community insofar as he represents the Church.

RCIA is a process, not a program. RCIA consists of rites administered to catechumens as they progress toward reception of the sacraments. This can be slow or it can be fast. If a year-long catechumenate enrages you, then blame your pastor. Some parishes opt for a one-size-fits-all program.

But RCIA does not specify a length of time, RCIA specifies rites to be performed as milestones to the faith of the catechumen. It is for pastors to recognize the need to accelerate or delay reception of those milestones in a way tailor-made for each person.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I… see…

I don’t intend this as any sort of assault upon anyone, but I find this positively outrageous. Salvation is between an individual and Our Lord (with the mediation of the Church and her ministers of the sacrament), not a “community decision”…

A couple things here.

The pastor of a parish has the final say about conferring sacraments to catechumens. He represents the community insofar as he represents the Church.

RCIA is a process, not a program. RCIA consists of rites administered to catechumens as they progress toward reception of the sacraments. This can be slow or it can be fast. If a year-long catechumenate enrages you, then blame your pastor. Some parishes opt for a one-size-fits-all program.

But RCIA does not specify a length of time, RCIA specifies rites to be performed as milestones to the faith of the catechumen. It is for pastors to recognize the need to accelerate or delay reception of those milestones in a way tailor-made for each person.

Very good. Thank you for this information.

In my former parish, I’m pretty sure it was a “one size fits all” situation. That parish skewed more “progressive” (I know we don’t like the word “liberal” as regards religion) and I don’t think they even so much as questioned what would happen to one’s salvation, if they were forced to do without the sacraments for one or two years. Pretty loosey-goosey, that’s one reason it is my former parish. I don’t know how they do it at my new parish — I just receive the sacraments there, and don’t delve into what they do. It’s a downtown parish, a half-hour from my home, and there is no real “community” aside from a core group of people who get more involved, and I’m not one of them.

I still think it would be interesting to see how Protestants handle this. I know how the Baptists do it — you “get saved”, tell the pastor that you want to be baptized, and it happens within a very short time, maybe not that day or this time next week, but pretty soon. I don’t know how the more formal, creedal churches do it. Anyone?

 

[BartholomewB]

It is for pastors to recognize the need to accelerate or delay reception of those milestones in a way tailor-made for each person.

That was my experience, back in the nineties. The whole process took about three months, from start to finish. I’m not sure what you mean by “rites,” though. Apart from my First Communion at the end, with just two others, there were no intervening rites.

 

[Cecilia2017]

Were you already baptised? That might explain the lack of other ‘rites’ as, strictly speaking, only the unbaptised take part in the Rite of Election…after which they are officially Catecumen. There should be means other than RCIA for baptised people to be instructed and received but often every prospective new catholic, baptised or not, in a parish will take part in the same RCIA instruction programme.
Were you received / confirmed and did you receive first communion all during one Mass at the Easter Vigil?

 

[Montrose]

When I went through RCIA in 1991 it ran for nearly 9 months.

 

[Dovekin]

The RCIA does specify a time period, up to 3 years for an uncatechized, unbaptized person. The Church has long recognized that during this process, the catechumen is motivated by a desire for Baptism, and so counts them as members of the Church in many respects. Salvation by their desire for baptism is acknowledged. Baptism itself will have its effects, as will the other sacraments. But God is a merciful God.

For a well catechized, baptized person, there is little need for catechesis. An Anglican minister becoming Catholic may need little catechesis and what she does need may be accomplished in days, not years. Sometimes there is a prolonged inquiry period for such individuals, and that phase will take longer. Many of these situations are described in the RCIA and are properly handled with our initiation rites. The RCIA even provides rites for the already baptized that parallel the rites for the unbaptized, in case the particular person might benefit. Yearlong “classes” may be what you see of the RCIA, but others may be handled differently and you do not see them.

 

[BartholomewB]

Were you already baptised?

Yes, I was baptized at the age of one month in the Church of England.

Were you received / confirmed and did you receive first communion all during one Mass at the Easter Vigil?

All during one Mass, but not at Easter. It was on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent. I had first approached the priest in September, just three months earlier.

 

[MarkRome]

I know this had to be done, for among other reasons, to keep people hostile to the Church from infiltrating it.

Actually, the reason for the cathecumenate was because pagans in Rome were converting to Christianity in droves and they had many people who knew nothing of the Gospel. They needed to be taught. (Acts 8:31)
The catechumenate was restored in modern times because society has drifted back into paganism and are far removed from Christianity.

Jesus told us to count the costs of being His disciple (Luke 14:25-34). RCIA is structured to help individuals do just that. I had one RCIA candidate tell me the week before she was to come into the Church that she wasn’t ready. And that’s OK.

 

[Phemie]

Cecilia2017:

Were you already baptised?

Yes, I was baptized at the age of one month in the Church of England.

Were you received / confirmed and did you receive first communion all during one Mass at the Easter Vigil?

All during one Mass, but not at Easter. It was on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent. I had first approached the priest in September, just three months earlier.

So, when you were determined to be ready, as it should be.

 

[Phemie]

I still think it would be interesting to see how Protestants handle this. I know how the Baptists do it — you “get saved”, tell the pastor that you want to be baptized, and it happens within a very short time, maybe not that day or this time next week, but pretty soon. I don’t know how the more formal, creedal churches do it. Anyone?

I had a conversation with an Anglican priest when one of our parishioners approached him to baptize her child. He wanted to know if we were refusing to baptize children of couples who weren’t in valid marriages. We weren’t, but she’d had a run-in with the Pastor a day or two before her wedding, got pissed, asked for her money back for the use of the church, and went to get married by a judge. It was all over not wanting the bridesmaids to sit through the readings and wrinkling their dresses.

Anyway, she was too embarrassed to face Fr. for Baptism so approached the military Chaplain who happened to be Anglican. He ended up telling her that if she became a member of his congregation he’d consider baptizing her child after 6 months or so. Whether that would apply to all parents, or to anyone who wanted to be baptized, I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s a question of ‘I’m saved, I get baptized without question” with the Anglicans.

 

[Dlee]

I still think it would be interesting to see how Protestants handle this. I know how the Baptists do it — you “get saved”, tell the pastor that you want to be baptized,

My experience as a former Baptist - I was saved at the age of 7, but not baptized until the age of 13. I had to take baptism classes for maybe 2-3 months. Now, baptisms take place closer to the age of being saved, but some type of education is required. My church teaching taught baptism was not required for salvation. Baptism was an outward expression of living for Christ.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

The RCIA does specify a time period, up to 3 years for an uncatechized, unbaptized person. The Church has long recognized that during this process, the catechumen is motivated by a desire for Baptism, and so counts them as members of the Church in many respects. Salvation by their desire for baptism is acknowledged. Baptism itself will have its effects, as will the other sacraments. But God is a merciful God.

Does the Church teach this? Is it in the Catechism? What about if the catechumen changes their mind before being baptized?

No doubt Our Lord is truly merciful, and I have to think a priest would baptize a catechumen who were dying. But people die in their sleep, as well as in accidents.

We weren’t, but she’d had a run-in with the Pastor a day or two before her wedding, got

Spoiler

pissed

, asked for her money back for the use of the church, and went to get married by a judge. It was all over not wanting the bridesmaids to sit through the readings and wrinkling their dresses.

Horrors! Wrinkling their dresses! That sounds like something Paul Lynde (requiescat in pace) would have said on Hollywood Squares. Perhaps a teachable moment for the bridesmaids? And you can always steam wrinkles out of fabric.

I assume you meant she got angry, not drunk.

 

[Montrose]

Dovekin:

The RCIA does specify a time period, up to 3 years for an uncatechized, unbaptized person. The Church has long recognized that during this process, the catechumen is motivated by a desire for Baptism, and so counts them as members of the Church in many respects. Salvation by their desire for baptism is acknowledged. Baptism itself will have its effects, as will the other sacraments. But God is a merciful God.

Does the Church teach this? Is it in the Catechism? What about if the catechumen changes their mind before being baptized?

No doubt Our Lord is truly merciful, and I have to think a priest would baptize a catechumen who were dying. But people die in their sleep, as well as in accidents.

CCC 1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.