What to put on hospital forms for religion?

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lynnw

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I hope I am putting this in the correct forum section, apologies if I have not,.

I am hoping someone can please tell me what I put down on hospital admission forms for religion. I am looking at RCIA in Sept. as I do not know if I was baptized as a child or not. I am having surgery before Sept.

Thank you in advance for any info are able to provide me with 🙂
 
Technically, you aren’t Catholic yet, so I don’t think you can put that down. What did you consider yourself before you decided to become Catholic? That is what, if I were you, I would go with and you should let Father know that you are having surgery and dates you will be in the hospital so he can make sure someone from the parish visits you.
 
You can put down anything you like. It is only an informational tool for the hospital.

Even though you are not technically Catholic, you can request that a priest come to see you prior to your surgery, or at any time you are in the hospital.

When the priest gets there, explain your situation, and he will take it from there.

Will be praying for a successful surgery for you.
 
lynnw said:
I hope I am putting this in the correct forum section, apologies if I have not,.

I am hoping someone can please tell me what I put down on hospital admission forms for religion. I am looking at RCIA in Sept. as I do not know if I was baptized as a child or not. I am having surgery before Sept.

Thank you in advance for any info are able to provide me with 🙂
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l would let the Chaplain at the hospital know of your intention to join the Catholic Church. He can advise you from that point. Good luck and God bless.
 
lynnw said:
I am looking at RCIA in Sept. as I do not know if I was baptized as a child or not. I am having surgery before Sept.
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On a side note, I do know that baptisms can sometimes be done outside of the norm for cases of “extreme circumstances”. You still wouldn’t be able to receive the Eucharist until after RCIA is completed, but (IMO) it would be better for your soul to be in a state of grace. If you think that this is an option you may want to pursue before your surgery, I’d recommend speaking to your parish priest about this and explaining the situation.

God bless,
Dean
 
If you would like a priest or a Catholic volunteer to visit with you, put down Catholic. That is the reason why hospitals ask, it is to hook you up with the various ministries that come o the hospital.
 
I don’t know in the eyes of the hospital what would make you an official “Catholic” or not. But I can tell you as a person converting to Catholicism, I would just put “Catholic”. 😉
 
dean24us said:
On a side note, I do know that baptisms can sometimes be done outside of the norm for cases of “extreme circumstances”. You still wouldn’t be able to receive the Eucharist until after RCIA is completed, but (IMO) it would be better for your soul to be in a state of grace. If you think that this is an option you may want to pursue before your surgery, I’d recommend speaking to your parish priest about this and explaining the situation.

God bless,
Dean
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If they receive baptism in an “extreme circumstance”, they would be able to receive the Eucharist.

However, RCIA, or some other form of instruction would be strongly encouraged/required after the situation has passed.
 
lynnw said:
I hope I am putting this in the correct forum section, apologies if I have not,.

I am hoping someone can please tell me what I put down on hospital admission forms for religion. I am looking at RCIA in Sept. as I do not know if I was baptized as a child or not. I am having surgery before Sept.

Thank you in advance for any info are able to provide me with 🙂
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For hospital administration purposes your Catholic- whether that is true in the eyes of the Church at this moment can be a different matter.
 
Couldn’t you just put something like “Catholic (catechumen)” down? That way the hospital still knows where to call, but any priest that comes down will be aware of the situation.
 
You can put on the form that you are starting the classes. That be perfectly acceptable.

Hospitals do use it especially if you indicate that you’d like hospital visitor or a hospital priest or if for some reason something has really upset you and you indicate want a priest then the ward staff will use that information to ring your current priest and he will come out to you and guide you through or if he is unavailable he will contact a colleague. So its as well you put simply that you are starting the classes.

When I was admitted with Meningitis the Church of England Priest who was the hospital chaplin gave me the last rites (it was Christmas so own priest was too busy but next time I was severely ill he came every week.) because its on all my information that am an active Church of England Worshipper. They do use your information so it be perfectly okay to say starting classes because that is what you intend etc:D

hope your operation goes well and a speedy recovery
 
Mgray82 said:
I don’t know in the eyes of the hospital what would make you an official “Catholic” or not. But I can tell you as a person converting to Catholicism, I would just put “Catholic”. 😉
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I gave birth in June…start RCIA in September. I put down Catholic.
 
twopekinguys said:
You can put down anything you like. It is only an informational tool for the hospital.

Even though you are not technically Catholic, you can request that a priest come to see you prior to your surgery, or at any time you are in the hospital.

When the priest gets there, explain your situation, and he will take it from there.

Will be praying for a successful surgery for you.
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This is what I was going to suggest too. Even if you haven’t been initiated into the Catholic church, a priest would probably be more comfortable for you, and I’m sure he’d know how to properly handle the situation.

Keeping you in my prayers!
 
Welcome to the Catholic Church!

Definitely list yourself as a Catholic on the forms. When the priest visits you can discuss the fact that you are going through RCIA and all of those details.
 
The hospital is asking for your religious preference, and since you apparently prefer Catholicism or else you wouldn’t be converting, that’s the proper answer.
 
I would put down Catholic since that is your desire and considering extra ecclesiam nulla salus. However, it is rare (at least in my experience) that a priest will come by. However, when I have been an (name removed by moderator)atient, I’ve always been visited by a deacon or lay minister (EMHC) and they can always summon a priest. I do not know why you are going to be in the hospital (and do not want to know) but if it is serious surgery you should ask for a priest and ask for “conditional baptism” since you do not know the current state of your soul.

Good luck and God Bless.
 
Thank you everyone for your responses and kind wishes, I very much appreciate it 🙂

My surgery is tomorrow morning, so have been busy getting everything ready for my family and myself.

I wish I had the time to respond to everyone, you have all been a great help.

Again, thank you all soooo much! 🙂
 
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