Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults

v Have you thought about becoming a Catholic?

v Have you wondered how to go about it and what might be required?

v Are you curious about how simple or difficult it might be?

In some ways the path to becoming Catholic is short and easily accessible. It is as simple as calling the parish office and expressing your interest in knowing more about the process. Whoever takes your call will have the appropriate person contact you with more information.

In other ways the path to becoming Catholic can take many months. It’s not, after all, the same as joining a workout facility where you can come and go according to your whim. Becoming Catholic is rather like adoption into a family, where values and traditions, perceptions and customs create an environment for living. Individuals recognize what the family considers important, and they share in the commitment to what the family believes. Connection to a family requires absorbing its beliefs and its commitment, and that may not be accomplished in the blink of an eye.

Becoming Catholic is like committing to a diet for life—it’s a change in lifestyle. The Church may seem hesitant to whisk you to the front of the assembly and hand you a membership card. It wishes to encourage you to examine the quality of your commitment, to test the strength of your desire to live differently, to determine whether you are being swept away by a temporary infatuation—this week low-fat, next week low-carb. This, too, may not be achieved overnight. Why should it be? Would you respect the Church if it allowed you to rush headlong today into a way of life that you abandon with regret tomorrow?

This period of connection, alteration and adjustment is an unhurried journey on the path to becoming Catholic. The name given this process by the Church is the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA, for short). Plainly, this RCIA process is not a case of one size fits all. There is considerable diversity in the people who arrive at the point of wanting to become Catholic. Whatever story you have lived, whatever faith you professed, whatever led you to this crucial moment, RCIA is intended to help you explore the implications of choosing to walk the path of becoming Catholic.