When something in RCIA is taught wrong

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Truthstalker said:
This was no accident. “The difference between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are how we approach God - there is no real difference. For example, this woman is a daughter and a sister and a mother - right? The Trinity is like that. You can think of God as Mother. We need to break out of our preconceptions of what God is like. There are no separate persons in God.” That’s not quite a direct quote, but close.
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I’m sorry for your experience, Truthstalker. In general, Catholics do believe in the Trinity, but it is my experience that they can be poorly catechized. RCIA programs vary substantially by parish. We’ve had people come to ours from a fair distance, based on being recommended by the right people. Perhaps you need to find a good one based on a recommend you trust. You’d at least be able to find an orthodox one.

Are you a baptized, practicing Protestant, with a solid understanding of Catholic doctrine? If so, not all parishes would send you through a full RCIA program.
 
Pug said:
I’m sorry for your experience, Truthstalker. In general, Catholics do believe in the Trinity, but it is my experience that they can be poorly catechized. RCIA programs vary substantially by parish. We’ve had people come to ours from a fair distance, based on being recommended by the right people. Perhaps you need to find a good one based on a recommend you trust. You’d at least be able to find an orthodox one.

Are you a baptized, practicing Protestant, with a solid understanding of Catholic doctrine? If so, not all parishes would send you through a full RCIA program.
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If Aquinas had been raised Protestant and had his full understanding of Catholicism as he had when he died, I think they would still send him through RCIA to be integrated into the community. He would still have to sit through blasphemy and heresy being taught by irresponsible wolves - so that he too could be a wolf.

Let’s see: of the Catholic churches around me I’ve visited, one priest was doing a homily series on the symbolism of different things in the sanctuary (contrary to the intent and purpose of the homily, a litugical abuse), one maintains the book of Job is an utter fabrication, a fiction, and one priest seemed to be saying we need to say some Hail Marys and Our Fathers to help those in Purgatory. It struck me as backwards superstition. I should not have to drive 20 miles to find an orthodox Catholic church when there is a church in every direction.

And I would say I have some understanding of Catholic theology, better than most Catholics, but not a solid understanding.
 
Truthstalker said:
If Aquinas had been raised Protestant and had his full understanding of Catholicism as he had when he died, I think they would still send him through RCIA to be integrated into the community.
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I’d have to bury my head in the sand not to concede this point for some parishes. But I’m sure someone has told you that officially, this is not supposed to happen. :crying: If you’d like, I’ll cough up some documentation. Okay, from #31 National Statutes for the Catechumenate
Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate.
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I should not have to drive 20 miles to find an orthodox Catholic church when there is a church in every direction.
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Absolutely not.
And I would say I have some understanding of Catholic theology, better than most Catholics, but not a solid understanding.
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Hang around here long enough, and this will change.😃
 
Truthstalker said:
And when the instructor proclaims clear heresy in front of the class (there is no Trinity, Islam is as good as Catholicism), and you call him on it in front of the priest, and the priest does nothing, and you complain to both, and then to the diocese, and the diocese does NOTHING, you conclude the wolves are eating the sheep, not that they are taking over the church, but that it is a done deal, and that the mindset of protecting the clergy over and against the laity is still there, as shown in the child abuse scandals, it is clear the Church still hasn’t learned, and is not a safe place, and makes a mockery of its own beliefs and teachings.

You have to go through RCIA to become Catholic (so I’ve been told). You have to submit to those over you - meaning, it seems, to consent to heresy and bad teaching and bad pastoring.

I entered RCIA in good faith, hoping to determine whether Catholicism is Truth. I encountered lies and rubbish and indifference to what the wolves are doing to the sheep. The strongest argument against the Catholic Church is Catholics. If I ever become Catholic it will be in spite of both Catholics and the Church.
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:eek: :bigyikes:
I believe you. There are some diocese that just don’t get it. In other threads we have been discussing a certain diocese in a state southwest of my state whose current bishop is the former bishop of my diocese. (There, was I vague enough not to implicate a certain diocese?) Anyway this diocese and bishop are doing so many things that are contradictory to Catholic teaching, that I have lost count.

I wonder if you could do a distance RCIA program as if you lived in a place that was without a parish? Very small towns have missions not parishes. I wonder if there is some sort of distance learning for those who do not live near a Catholic Church? Or in your case for those who do not live near an authentic Catholic Church.
 
puzzleannie said:
well speaking from the perspective of the RCIA director and catechist, if I said something openly heretical like denying a foundational Truth such as the Trinity and the nature of God I would expect an immediate challenge from anyone one in the room–candidate, sponsor, guest–who knows better. This cannot be allowed to stand. This person is leading people astray in the most pernicious way, which Jesus himself warns against, when he says that those who mislead little ones (meaning not only children but those ignorant of the faith) astray would be better off had they never been born, and should be cast into the pit. Please let your pastor know immediately. Record exactly what she said, in what context, so he knows what is going on. If he does not change the situation it is your duty to go to the diocese.
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Absolutely agree - dead on response! 👍

~Liza
 
Thank you so much for all your replies!

From now on, my husband and I will speak up right away instead of mull over it and then never let it be said…of course, in a non-conflicting loving way :).

I guess my main problem with speaking up has been that the leader of the RCIA program is quite liberal and openly admits it. We, along with one other young woman, appear to be the only ones who are conservative on the team (consisting of about 8 team members). We have a very loose cirriculum, which was actually addressed by one of the catechumens (asking, “Was there more instruction before I came, because I feel like there isn’t?” - she came in a month after the program began). However, I am praying that teachings won’t be “reinterpreted” or taught falsely again. Thanks so much again! 🙂
 
lotusblossom said:
…the leader of the RCIA program is quite liberal and openly admits it.
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Too bad. The Holy Roman Catholic Church is NOT liberal. And so by speaking out you are in keeping with what the Church truly is and truly believes.

Be brave as the saints were brave! Stick up for what you know to be right and true, and you can never go wrong. 🙂

~Liza
 
Truthstalker

The catechist may be in error, but that does not entrap you. Any false teaching are similar to stones in a journey (or boulders) either you step over, climb over, or go around. You do not have to crush each and every obstacle in your way. Ultimately your relationship with god and his church are life long. The time you spend as an RCIA candidate is miniscule. I would bet if Thomas Aquinas was told he would have to attend 40 hours of class to be Catholic; he would frown and say you can never understand this in 40 hours.
 
Just wanted to let you all know that last night we had a WONDERFUL RCIA session! No heresy, no misuse of meanings, and lots of talk about the Rosary, apparitions, and Mary :). Finally! Praise God! 🙂
 
Truthstalker said:
And when the instructor proclaims clear heresy in front of the class (there is no Trinity, Islam is as good as Catholicism), and you call him on it in front of the priest, and the priest does nothing, and you complain to both, and then to the diocese, and the diocese does NOTHING, you conclude the wolves are eating the sheep, not that they are taking over the church, but that it is a done deal, and that the mindset of protecting the clergy over and against the laity is still there, as shown in the child abuse scandals, it is clear the Church still hasn’t learned, and is not a safe place, and makes a mockery of its own beliefs and teachings.

You have to go through RCIA to become Catholic (so I’ve been told). You have to submit to those over you - meaning, it seems, to consent to heresy and bad teaching and bad pastoring.

I entered RCIA in good faith, hoping to determine whether Catholicism is Truth. I encountered lies and rubbish and indifference to what the wolves are doing to the sheep. The strongest argument against the Catholic Church is Catholics. If I ever become Catholic it will be in spite of both Catholics and the Church.
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You seem to be in search of honest instruction, and I can admire you for that. However, I think you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I’m not sure what religion you grew up with, but I’m sure there are examples of that faith practiced badly that abound. Keep searching - the good is there, too. If you can, pick up a copy of St. Luis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. The Catholic Church has its share of problems, and problem parishes, there’s no doubt about that, but there are plenty of good ones worth joining.
 
My husband and I started RCIA last year and the woman leading it was more focused on her opinions and how things related to her life that we simply couldn’t take it and quit. We learned more about her than anything to do with the Catholic Church.
We have since joined a new RCIA group at another church and love it. I honestly learned more in one night at the new class than in three months at the last one.
 
CalifMomma said:
My husband and I started RCIA last year and the woman leading it was more focused on her opinions and how things related to her life that we simply couldn’t take it and quit. We learned more about her than anything to do with the Catholic Church.
We have since joined a new RCIA group at another church and love it. I honestly learned more in one night at the new class than in three months at the last one.
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I left an RCIA class where we were being taught the instructor’s personal opinions and we were also being given wrong information. I answered a question about the Paschal Mystery and I was told I was wrong. I looked it up on the Internet and also asked in a thread here. I was right. I left that class and I am sorry that this seems to be what a lot of people are experiencing. (I know there are good classes out there with competent instructors).

I was put in one when I didn’t even need to be, but I wanted to be Catholic. All this was resolved by a priest at another parish. :coffeeread:
 
It seems as if this should be a question that is raised with the RCIA team before the class even starts. The whole team should know the agreed-upon protocol for raising a question such as this before the situtation (Heaven forbid) ever comes up. By that, I mean a protocol that meets the approval of both the pastor and the DRE, and in which someone with substantial teaching credentials and authority is “dragged in” if a serious question comes up. No “you guys deal with it” rule, in other words.

The whole class should also be clearly told how to raise a question if they think something incorrect or misleading is being taught. In this way, the objection can be raised in a way that will be as charitable as possible and as undisruptive as possible, yet without leaving the teaching of the faith to chance or whim.
 
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