Why RCIA to Convert?

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CurtisHouse

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As some may know that have come across my posts from time to time, I am converting to the Catholic Church. Won’t be official until 2020 though since I still do need to go through RCIA. At the TLM parish I attend, my Priest says he likes to do an extensive version and it takes roughly a year to complete. I’m just wondering about RCIA. Why is it necessary? If you look in the Scriptures, people were brought in the Church simply by believing, repenting and being baptized for the remission of sins such as Acts 2:38. Is it because at the time of Pentecost there was a lot less to learn and need to learn all the Church beliefs and customs that have been revealed (or added) in the last 2,000 years or so? Thanks in advance for your responses.

Curtis
 
Curtis,
Congratulations! Welcome! Converts end up being some of our best Catholics because of preparation like RCIA. The Catholic religion is rich, beautiful and complex. When you become Catholic you are accepting all the church teaching. It is only fair to know as much as you can before you commit.
Yes the church is more complicated than when the church was young. Most dogma were studied and debated for hundreds of years before they were declared dogma - something every Catholic must believe.
Let me know if I can help you along the way.
Signed,
Old Man
Ps Blessed Easter
 
Thank you, Pat. It seems that God gives us only as much as our hearts, minds, bodies and souls can handle at a time. Just slowly building over the years, decades, centuries, etc. Also Father recommended this one book called This Is The Faith: A Complete Explanation of the Catholic Faith by Canon Francis Ripley. Paid 20 dollars for it. Definitely is wonderful to read and have so much Catholic literature now. Also reading the Bible, of course, the CCC, Baltimore Catechism (I find that a lot more helpful than the CCC btw), The Life of Christ by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I won’t list everything but you get the idea. I come, mostly, from the church of Christ which do believe quite a few of the same things superficially as the Catholic Church. They have an incomplete understanding though. I think it makes the transition a little easier having some common ground. I miss the familiarity sometimes but I know the Catholic Church has the full Truth. Thanks for the offer as well. Definitely need prayers always. I hope you and yours have a blessed Easter as well.

Curtis
 
Also look into The How-To Book Of the Mass, available from Amazon subsidiaries for about $10. Tells you from entering the church to leaving it what we are doing, what we are doing next, why we are doing it and what it all means. I found it invaluable for that first year.
 
I had some similar feelings when I first decided I wanted to become a Catholic and started attending Mass and RCIA last September. Last night when I was confirmed and received first communion- it was most definitely worth the wait. All good things come with patience. You should think about joining the Church as something much like marriage - Just like you wouldn’t marry someone the next day after you meet them, you shouldn’t rush in becoming Catholic and fully joining the Church.
 
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If nothing else, it will eliminate people who aren’t truly committed to joining the Church.
 
Converting the Jewish people steeped in the scriptures and witness to the life of Jesus is one thing and people of today steeped in secularism and exposed to every possible twisting of scripture and world religion is another. The early church spent many months catechizing pagan people before baptising them.
 
In general, I agree with you that it’s only fair to know as much as you can before you commit. But I question if the RCIA process is effective. I have heard that fewer than 50% of people who go through RCIA are still practicing Catholics a year later. Of people I know personally, this number would seem accurate. My good friend went through RCIA, he is still a faithful Catholic. Several years after he came into the faith, he happened to meet again the priest who baptized and confirmed him, the priest expressed surprise he was still practicing. This surprise was not due to knowing him personally during RCIA.

I think we, as a Church, in the US have become so caught up in the RCIA rituals as part of our parish life, we are not willing to evaluate it’s effectiveness.
 
Back in those days being Christian was extremely hard and dangerous. Only people truly attracted to it would come to the Church. Today it is not so much in some parts of the world. I doubt any priests has a book list for someone searching Christ under bombs or direct threat of death. In those circumstance people receive baptism upon request.
The Church requires preparation to make sure Christianity is not just a badge, a hashtag, a fashion. It’s actually not in the advantage of the Church to require RCIA, she would grow bigger faster just upon request. So her motives must be honest, because faith must be understood.
Many early saints received preparation before baptism as well. Saint John Chrysosthom came from Christian parents. However he received baptism at age 22 after preparation when he felt ready. And look who he turned out to be.
 
I have to agree with you. I know the program at my parish is seriously lacking, mainly due to the deacon and his wife who are in charge. They are of the everyone gets a trophy school of thought. They teach very little theology, talking mostly about “feelings”.

We end up with many new Catholics who have little knowledge of why we do what we do, but do know they are supposed to “feeeeellllll soooooo goooood” doing it.
 
I think people are put through RCIA simply for the convenience of the parish. I am not saying that is wrong because people who want to come home to the Catholic Church are at different points on their faith journey and it would be impossible for a parish to deliver tailor made instruction for each person.

I do not know if you are coming from another Christian community, another faith or from non-belief. Certainly, in the latter two cases RCIA is very appropriate. Strictly, RCIA is for converts from non-Christian backgrounds not candidates from other Christian communities but as I said above putting everyone in the RCIA class is convenient.

I think some Christians would most certainly benefit from RCIA, say those who had come from an Evangelical background or from one of the more esoteric groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses. On the other hand someone coming from an Anglo-Catholic background may be better informed and more firmly believe in the teachings of Catholicism than some who are Catholic.

Times are obviously different from Apostolic Times. It is also necessary to ensure that you understand and believe what the Catholic Church believes and that there are no potential problems to your reception into the Catholic Church, e.g. an irregular marriage.

Perhaps it would be helpful to see RCIA as a faith journey rather than a series of hoops through which you must jump to become a Catholic.

Welcome home and may you find joy in the truth of the Catholic Church. A very happy and blessed Easter!
 
Hi

I became a Catholic last night at an Easter Vigil service. 🙂

I have been a Christian for the past 20+ years. As well as attending church regularly I have been to various home groups, bible study courses etc. So I kind of felt that I knew more than lots of people about Christianity.

Three years ago after being told repeatedly that the Roman Catholic church was wrong I started to learn about the Catholic faith. I read some books, watched lots of RCIA videos on youtube etc. The more I watched or read the more I realised that this is where I wanted to be. I made an appointment with a local priest and after a meeting of about an hour he said that he would be happy to confirm me into the church. However I would have to attend RCIA classes. I had to wait a few months for the classes to start and then when they did I was away a lot. So I only managed to get to one and gave up.

I stayed in contact with the priest, then in September last year I started RCIA classes and just made sure that I was there every week. This became really important to me.

The classes themselves were aimed more at people who knew little about Christianity rather than particular Roman Catholic believes. At the classes I would answer and ask more questions than the others and from time to time had to remember to keep quiet 🤐 I think I was the three leaders worst nightmare. I did however really enjoy the classes and don’t for a second think they were a waste of time.

What I got from the classes was a refresher in Christianity (always a good idea no matter how long you have been a Christian). And the great privilege of helping others.

Speaking with others from my class. One said that it was a little basic and another that it was way too complicated. And I think that’s the problem with RCIA. It kind of needs to be all things to all people. Some people who come to RCIA might have rarely picked up a bible. So there is little point in teaching them anything anyway advised until they understand some basics.

Alex
 
Our parish priest was concerned about this when he arrived so he traced everyone who had gone through RCIA for 5 years. He found over 80% (who hadn’t moved away and he could trace) were active in the parish. I do agree that new Catholics do need more help and support after RCIA. That is something that our parish are working on.
 
I had never heard that. I have to ask in my parish. Of course, it is run by different people at each parish.
On the other hand, with only 25% of those baptized as infants remaining active, maybe 50% is good. 🤔
 
I was baptized as a baby, but my family stopped attending regularly before my first communion. Pretty much lived as a pagan until my first conversion experience.

I did a lot of praying & a lot of reading. When I decided to become Catholic I knew why. RCIA felt like a formality.

But because it was a process, I knew it wasn’t going to be by accident that I end up in the Catholic Church. So I started to look at it as a right of passage. How important was it to me to enter the church?

I resolved to make the most of it. Read my assignments, participate in discussions & keep that know it all attitude at the door
 
I hope the 80% number is right, and I am sure that there are good RCIA programs at some parishes. But off the top of my head, I think maybe 50% are practicing. But how many “moved away”, and does move away include they never moved, just never show up at the parish anymore?
But likely, your parish is one of the better ones, and the fact that your pastor wanted to check up on it means he actually cares about outcomes. Which is why it has a good RCIA program. Good for him
 
RCIA is necessary because you need to understand the dogma’s of the church and it is a time of preparation and spiritual formation…
 
CurtisHouse said:
At the TLM parish I attend, my Priest says he likes to do an extensive version and it takes roughly a year to complete. I’m just wondering about RCIA. Why is it necessary?
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It doesn’t always take as long as that. When I converted in the nineties, I was a baptized Christian and I was reasonably well informed. I’d read one or two classics such as Augustine’s Confessions. I never went to RCIA. I had three, I think, face-to-face sessions with the priest, each lasting about half an hour to an hour. He appointed my wife as my sponsor and within about three months, as I recall, I had my First Communion.
 
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