THE RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS (R.C.I.A.)
A Journey in Faith 

In apostolic times and the early years of Christianity most people who joined the Church were adults, because the Christian gospel was something new and people, whether Jews or gentiles, were still finding out what it was all about.   It was only gradually that infant baptism became common.   It arose because Christian parents wanted to ensure that their children would be brought up in the faith that they themselves professed. As the numbers of Christians grew and the Church became firmly established, so infant baptism became more common than adult baptism.  For a time the three sacraments of initiation - baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist - continued to be administered simultaneously, even in the case of infants.  They still are to this day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, but in the Western Church the administration of the sacraments became separated for a variety of practical reasons.  Because the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist were thought to need some understanding of the faith, they were not given in infancy, but delayed until those in charge of a child's upbringing (parents, teachers and parish priest) judged that the child was sufficiently mature; had reached what used to be called the 'age of reason'.

The Rite of Christian Initiation was one of the matters discussed at the Second Vatican Council. The Council fathers decided that, while it might no longer be appropriate in the case of infants to administer the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist at the same time as baptism, nevertheless the instinct of the early Church was correct in seeing all three sacraments as intimately connected and part of the one process of initiation.  They therefore decreed that adult baptism should be considered the norm and that in the case of adults applying for full membership of the Church the sacraments should be administered at the same ceremony.  A decree to this effect was issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome in January 1972. In April 1987 the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, and the Episcopal Conference of Scotland issued an instruction that the R.C.I.A. should, under normal circumstances, be mandatory from the First Sunday of Advent 1988. Until that date the rite was optional.

In Britain today the majority of adults (though not all) who apply to join the Catholic Church come from non-Catholic Christian communities and have already received a baptism that the Catholic Church accepts as valid. Baptism cannot be repeated, so these applicants can only receive the other two sacraments of initiation at their reception.   On the other hand, in some cases they may have taken little interest in religion, although they were baptised as infants, and therefore need as much instruction as people who have never been baptised.  This situation can also be true of people who were baptised into the Catholic Church as infants but who, for one reason or another, have never practised and have not received either of the other two sacraments.   So in practice all three groups may benefit from a common course of instruction and go forward together to receive for the first time the sacraments of initiation appropriate to each person.   It is, however, important to keep the distinction between the baptised and the non-baptised.  The term 'catechumen' apples only to the non-baptised; the term 'candidate' to those who have been baptised.

In accordance with the Rite of Initiation given in the decree, there are precise stages of preparation which, under normal circumstances, culminate in the reception of the sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday night.

Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens

This is the first step on the road to initiation and takes place on the First Sunday of Advent or thereabouts. In this liturgical rite the Church, in the person of the parish priest or his deputy, asks for a formal declaration by the inquirers of their wish to become catechumens or candidates, as the case may be, and proceed with more concentrated instruction with a view to reception the following Easter. This rite does not mark an irrevocable step, but is an important one, because the Church embraces the catechumens and candidates and from this point on counts them as members of the Catholic family, though not yet as full members. If, for instance, a catechumen should die before Easter, he or she would be entitled to the full liturgy of a Catholic burial. On their side the catechumens and candidates, in preparation for full membership, undertake to lead their lives according to the doctrine and customs of the Catholic Church as far as they understand them at this stage.

Because the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the most sacred part of the mass only Christians in full communion with the Church can take part in it. Because of the persecution in the first three centuries after Christ the early Christians were very sensitive about state informers and other enemies infiltrating the sacred mysteries, so they would allow only full members to attend. Catechumens had to leave the church before the canon of the mass began. To impress on catechumens and candidates the importance Catholics attach to the Eucharist, and the reverence in which they hold it, the R.C.I.A. retains this symbolism and catechumens and candidates are sometimes asked to leave before the offertory begins.

The official documents concerning the R.C.I.A. stress the importance of the community in the Rites of Initiation. While conversion is a personal matter between God and the individual soul, the effect of conversion is to bring a new member into the Christian community, which is the Church. St. Paul's teaching about the mystical body of Christ teaches us that all the members of the Church are linked spiritually in an intimate way. We all depend on each other and are essential components of the one body of believers. Consequently the rites of initiation are to take place in the presence of God's people when they are assembled at one of the principal weekly masses. This prescription provides the members of the local church with a series of opportunities to welcome those who wish to join their number, to pray for them, to affirm their faith, to congratulate them when they are received and in general to take them to their hearts and make them feel an integral part of the parish family

The Election & Enrolment of Names

This is the second step in the process of preparation for initiation and takes place on the First Sunday of Lent. In this liturgical rite the Church formally ratifies the readiness of those participating in the R.C.I.A. for the reception of the sacraments of initiation. The catechumens are now known as 'The Elect' and their names are written in the Book of Enrolment.

Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation

This is the third and most important step in the process of initiation and, as already mentioned, takes place at the Easter Vigil mass.

Post-reception Catechises

This final period, which usually coincides with Eastertide, is to confirm in their faith the new members of Christ's church and to see them safely on their way. It provides an opportunity for the catechists to explain anything about which the new Catholics may still feel unsure, and to deal in greater depth with topics for which perhaps there had not been enough time before Easter.