Why RCIA??

[loveskittens]

I was raised Catholic. Baptized at age 2. Attended Catholic school until I finished 7th grade. Until I quit attending Catholic schools, I did everything that was required of me by the church (all the sacraments). I stopped attending Mass for reasons I would rather not discuss right now just before I was eligable for confirmation at the parish I was attending. I have since been attending another Church (and was baptized into this Church), but now I feel drawn to Mass. I have tried to find someone at the nearest parish who will take the time to sit down with me and discuss things, but as of yet, the only help I am getting is that I need to attend RCIA. I have not expressed the desire to be confirmed, I want my questions answered first. I don’t understand why no one will sit and talk unless it’s at RCIA. I haven’t been to mass in almost 10 years, I do not want to sit through RCIA right now, right now I want someone to listen and answer questions in a real conversation. How do I make that clear without sounding rude? I want to respect the fact that Sister Jean thinks I should attend RCIA, but I need to have things done my way before I feel comfortable doing them another way.

 

[Marquette]

I’m not Catholic yet, but I am attending RCIA. I just got home from my third session and I can tell you there are LOTS of questions coming from the people there. I think you should give it a chance and I think you will be surprised to find many other Catholics coming back to the church full of questions, just like yourself. May God bless you.

Marquette

“Thanks to God for my Redeemer”

 

[Lorrie]

I would call a priest in the parish closest to you and set up an appointment. This is the norm and part of their “job” so there shouldn’t be a problem with it. Re: RCIA, maybe they’re misunderstanding you (since you mentioned you aren’t wanting to be confirmed just yet). I must say that going through the RCIA process once you’re ready is absolutely wonderful. Its a great way to learn the basics about the Church. One can forget a lot when they haven’t been to Mass in 10 years. They also allow people to sit in on the classes just to find out more about the Church’s teachings, etc. Catholics and non-Catholics alike can attend.

Like I said though, I would definitely call and set up an appt. with a priest, he should be able to answer all your questions with ease.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

loveskittens:

I was raised Catholic. Baptized at age 2. Attended Catholic school until I finished 7th grade. Until I quit attending Catholic schools, I did everything that was required of me by the church (all the sacraments). I stopped attending Mass for reasons I would rather not discuss right now just before I was eligable for confirmation at the parish I was attending. I have since been attending another Church (and was baptized into this Church), but now I feel drawn to Mass. I have tried to find someone at the nearest parish who will take the time to sit down with me and discuss things, but as of yet, the only help I am getting is that I need to attend RCIA. I have not expressed the desire to be confirmed, I want my questions answered first. I don’t understand why no one will sit and talk unless it’s at RCIA. I haven’t been to mass in almost 10 years, I do not want to sit through RCIA right now, right now I want someone to listen and answer questions in a real conversation. How do I make that clear without sounding rude? I want to respect the fact that Sister Jean thinks I should attend RCIA, but I need to have things done my way before I feel comfortable doing them another way.

I agree with you and the Church agrees with you. I might suggest you contact the pastor or the diocese office of education and explain that you are a Baptized Catholic, who left the Church before Confirmation, are considering returning and would like to discuss on a one to one basis certain issues. Explain what you have run into and that you at this point are only inquiring.

I would say meet me at Starbucks tomorrow! GOOOD coffee and theology go well together!

 

[asquared]

loveskittens:

I was raised Catholic. Baptized at age 2. Attended Catholic school until I finished 7th grade.
. . .

I have tried to find someone at the nearest parish who will take the time to sit down with me and discuss things, but as of yet, the only help I am getting is that I need to attend RCIA. I have not expressed the desire to be confirmed, I want my questions answered first. I don’t understand why no one will sit and talk unless it’s at RCIA. .

number one, RCIA is not appropriate for a baptized Catholic. You first said you received all the sacraments, and later said you are not confirmed, so if you did decide at some point to come back to the Church the appropriate forum for formal study would be an adult confirmation class.

number two, even for someone who may in the future decide to enter the RCIA process, the first period is the inquiry period, which is precisely for the reason you give, a time to meet informally with someone or a team who can answer your questions.
during this period, it may indeed be a good idea for uncatechized baptized Catholics, and those not Catholic who wish to learn more about the Church to join the same sessions, since there questions may be very similar.

Only when a non-Catholic definitely decides to pursue intitiation into the Catholic Church do they begin RCIA and the first rite celebrated is the Rite of Acceptance. that does not apply to you. What will help you most right now is pastoral counselling, so that when you are ready you may consider making a general confession and returning to the sacraments, and later, consider asking for confirmation to complete your Christian initiation. Try to get past Sr. Jean and speak to the pastor. Since many parishes have only a handful of people either for adult Confirmation or for RCIA at any one time, they may put them all in one class for the sake of convenient, but it is inaccurate to refer to that as RCIA for those who are baptized.

 

[slewi]

Is adult confirmation supposed to be someting different than RCIA? I only need confirmation, but my parish has me going through RCIA.

Steve

 

[Traditional_Ang]

slewi:

Is adult confirmation supposed to be someting different than RCIA? I only need confirmation, but my parish has me going through RCIA.

Steve

Steve:

RCIA is, as they said here, for non-Catholics who are in the process of learning about the Catholic Faith.

If you’ve been a Catholic and are looking to be confirmed, it’s probably not appropriate for you.

What’s probably happening is that, an overworked priest who should be giving you private instruction has dumpedyou in the RCIA program.

Does you parish have a knowledgeable Deacon you could talk to?

In Christ, Michael

PS:

I’ve taught CCD, and I’m one of the ones Archbishop Hepworth and His Holiness will be relying on to instruct Anglican Catholics in the Catholic fatih. If I left the TAC because of slow progeress to Rome or problems with my parish, I’d just go nuts having to go through a class I could probably teach!

 

[Lorrie]

I was baptized Catholic, but was never confirmed. Going through the RCIA was so beneficial for me, even if it wasn’t neccessary.

 

[Didi]

I think it depends upon the parish and the type of information that is covered in RCIA. Our parish has both non-Catholics who have or have not yet been baptized together with confirmation candidates in the same class. It’s very beneficial for all as many questions do get answered in the course of the program, and we can all always learn more about our faith along with sharing our faith journeys with others.

You should also be able to get an appointment with a priest to answer some of your specific questions; then he may still recommend RCIA classes for you.

 

[Psalm45_9]

I sympathize with you guys. I also did not get confirmed so two years ago I went through RCIA. Beforehand, thanks to Catholic Answers, I went in already having a good understanding of Church Doctrines and history. I actually was kind of board, because the people who were teaching it were able to teach us the piety, but when it came to the doctrines, they didn’t have a clear understanding. I taught them few things, now I am also teaching RCIA at my parish (I LOVE IT!) I like to bring in audios and visuals just to help keep the students’ attention.

 

[Scotty_PGH]

Unfortunately, modern churches lump un-confirmed Catholics in with the non-baptized (for whom RCIA is intended). I would suggest searching for a traditional parish in your area and contacting the priest there:

ecclesiadei.org/direct00.htm

 

[asquared]

slewi:

Is adult confirmation supposed to be someting different than RCIA? I only need confirmation, but my parish has me going through RCIA.

Steve

yes, for baptized Catholics, who do not belong in RCIA. The trouble is, in most parishes there are only a few adults coming for instruction at any one time, most (but not all, particularly devout practising Christians of other denominations who are very bible literate) require the same catechesis in the basics, creed and sacraments and Catholic practice. So for practical purposes all are placed in the same class. Everybody calls it RCIA for shorthand, but it is not accurate. This raises problems when the actual Rites are celebrated, because either everybody receives rites reserved for the unbaptized, or the confusion is never explained.

The other problem is that the inquiry period mandated for all these persons is ignored and the person who walks in off the street with legitimate questions never gets to ask them, to get good answers.

That is why Journey of Faith, a program many parishes use, is laid out the way it is. The first part is designed to answer those basic questions, on a very basic level, but it is presented as if it were the beginning and end of instruction on those topics–Mary, confession to a priest, the Mass etc.

What is also ignored, because a pastoral person such as the priest or deacon is seldom involved in the process, is that there is a pastoral dimension that far outweighs the doctrinal dimension. People must have a chance early on to speak with the priest about areas of life that may be matter for confession. At the same time, sound instruction on morality and such issues must be presented, but is lacking in most RCIA catechetical programs.

The rites and ritual book for RCIA do differentiate between the unbaptized, and those of other Christian denominations seeking confirmation and full communion with the Catholic Church. But if those helping them prepare do not recognized their status as baptized Christians, and do not acknowledge their current state of knowledge (including misapprehensions about Catholicism) in their preparation, they will be left feeling abandoned, ridiculed or patronized–not a very good basis for preparation for these great sacraments.

 

[loveskittens]

Lorrie:

I would call a priest in the parish closest to you and set up an appointment. This is the norm and part of their “job” so there shouldn’t be a problem with it. Re: RCIA, maybe they’re misunderstanding you (since you mentioned you aren’t wanting to be confirmed just yet). I must say that going through the RCIA process once you’re ready is absolutely wonderful. Its a great way to learn the basics about the Church. One can forget a lot when they haven’t been to Mass in 10 years. They also allow people to sit in on the classes just to find out more about the Church’s teachings, etc. Catholics and non-Catholics alike can attend.

Like I said though, I would definitely call and set up an appt. with a priest, he should be able to answer all your questions with ease.

I live in a city that is large enough that most of the parishes don’t have a resident priest, there is a sister there instead. I work 10-6 and she hasn’t been able to work arround that yet.

 

[loveskittens]

Br. Rich SFO:

I agree with you and the Church agrees with you. I might suggest you contact the pastor or the diocese office of education and explain that you are a Baptized Catholic, who left the Church before Confirmation, are considering returning and would like to discuss on a one to one basis certain issues. Explain what you have run into and that you at this point are only inquiring.

I would say meet me at Starbucks tomorrow! GOOOD coffee and theology go well together!

The only thing is that I don’t drink coffee because of where I’m attending Church now.