When can i call my self catholic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Damo73
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Damo73

Guest
I have phoned my local parish and have arranged a meeting to discuss joining the catholic church.I accept the church as the one Christ founded and i have accepted marian theology and i often ask Mary to pray for me ,since i am no longer a protestant and have not yet become a part of the catholic church, i dont know how to identify myself in the christian community, at what stage would i call myself a catholic?
 
Damo73 said:
I have phoned my local parish and have arranged a meeting to discuss joining the catholic church.I accept the church as the one Christ founded and i have accepted marian theology and i often ask Mary to pray for me ,since i am no longer a protestant and have not yet become a part of the catholic church, i dont know how to identify myself in the christian community, at what stage would i call myself a catholic?
Click to expand...
I assume that you are an adult, so when you talk with the Priest he will explain to you about RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). During RCIA you will be known as a Catechumenate. After RCIA you will be Confirmed and be considered a full member of the Catholic Church.
Congrats and welcome!!!
 
First, I’m so excited about your journey. I will keep you in prayer today! 🙂

Secondly, coming from a Protestant background, you cannot be a “catechumen” (a label reserved for non-Christians entering the Catholic faith); you would be considered a “candidate.” At your confirmation, the priest will formally welcome you into the communion of the Church, at which point you truly shall be “Catholic.”

That being said, it may be appropriate in certain circumstances to refer to yourself as Catholic before you have been received into the Church. Your beliefs are certainly Catholic, you are in the process of entering the Church, and you are already spiritually united with the Church in baptism. I found it easier to say “Catholic” if someone asked me my religion on the fly, even before I was fully confirmed, and when describing the technicalities of my situation was unnecessary.

Of course, saying briefly that you are “entering the Catholic Church” whenever someone asks you your religion is an excellent way to witness. People ALWAYS react to that statement–positively, negatively, or with curiosity (voiced or not).

I avoided that explanation in circumstances when I realized stating my actual situation would ONLY raise alarm and hostility; at those moments (i.e., in fundamentalist environments), I preferred to humbly say I was “Catholic.” People treated me kindly then, as if I was their new evangelistic mission field. I was assured of some measure of openness and kindness. By contrast, when I described my situation in those environments, I was IMMEDIATELY harassed or silently scorned. This happened so many times in the Christian college I attended, it just seemed better not to explain unless I felt I could trust my listener (which didn’t always prove to be the case).

I guess my central advice is this: if it is your firm and irrevocable desire to enter the Church, and you have already begun to attend RCIA, feel free to apply the label “Catholic” to yourself in a loose sense when appropriate. I am open to correction on this, but I don’t believe that any Church law would object to that usage. I certainly never doubted myself when I used it.
 
Damo73 said:
I have phoned my local parish and have arranged a meeting to discuss joining the catholic church.I accept the church as the one Christ founded and i have accepted marian theology and i often ask Mary to pray for me ,since i am no longer a protestant and have not yet become a part of the catholic church, i dont know how to identify myself in the christian community, at what stage would i call myself a catholic?
Click to expand...
You can consider yourself Catholic as soon as you are validly Baptized (you may already be), accept the Doctrinal and Moral teachings of the Church, and begin living as a Catholic. (attending Mass, praying, spending time in Adoration, helping the poor, visiting the lonely, etc.)
 
Damo73 said:
I have phoned my local parish and have arranged a meeting to discuss joining the catholic church.I accept the church as the one Christ founded and i have accepted marian theology and i often ask Mary to pray for me ,since i am no longer a protestant and have not yet become a part of the catholic church, i dont know how to identify myself in the christian community, at what stage would i call myself a catholic?
Click to expand...
[SIGN]Welcome Home!![/SIGN]

:clapping::dancing::love:🙂
 
I hope you will have the opportunity to join a RCIA class soon. I am glad you have found the truth. Like others had said , you can consider yourself Catholic.
 
I have been wondering the same thing. As many have read about why I’m unable to enter RCIA right now, and why it may be a while before I can, it would seem awfully unfair that I remain in “label limbo” for so long! And I find it even more unfair that I should not be able to call myself Catholic when I have actually taught cradle Catholics things about Catholicism! :confused:
 
I too am in RCIA, and was told (or got the impression…don’t actually know where this came from) that after our Rite of Acceptance we could call ourselves Catholic just as much as any child who was born into a Catholic home, was baptised, but had not yet recieved the final Sacraments of Initiation, could call themselves Catholic. How this works out for the unbaptised I’m not sure, maybe they though of them as having the baptism of desire for now…different thread I suppose.
 
Being validly baptized and confessing that you are Catholic is enough to claim you are Catholic, technically, as the good thief confessed Christ, then witnessed the truth of Christ before he died.

To officially make it public as adults and to honestly make a profession of faith that has been explained, Catholics need to go through the RCIA process as people need to know what Catholicism really is to claim they are Catholic.
Especially in this day and age when so many mis-understandings are around of what it is.

Even dying as a Catechuminate you would be considered Catholic and can have a Catholic funeral.

The Catholic Church takes it time, and moves very slowly. Unless you are in danger of dying I wouldn’t worry to much and just use the time it takes to go through RCIA as a spiritual growth time. It does takes some getting used to, the waiting process can be frustrating, but prudence is much better than rushing anything and that is the tried and true method as it allows for an honest portrayal of Catholicism.
I would call yourself Catholic depending on the situation as others have said or say “you are entering the Catholic Church in XX-XX-07” Whatever best suits the situation.

God Bless
Scylla
 
Rawb said:
I too am in RCIA, and was told (or got the impression…don’t actually know where this came from) that after our Rite of Acceptance we could call ourselves Catholic just as much as any child who was born into a Catholic home, was baptised, but had not yet recieved the final Sacraments of Initiation, could call themselves Catholic. How this works out for the unbaptised I’m not sure, maybe they though of them as having the baptism of desire for now…different thread I suppose.
Click to expand...
One who is unbaptized becomes a Catholic in the Order of Catechumens upon completion of the rite of Acceptance. that is the purpose of the Rite - To Accept them into the Church.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top