Becoming a Catholic

Many of us will remember the days when if you wished to become a Catholic, you went to one of the priests in the parish for ‘instructions’. These involved a series of talks or readings or conversations concerning what being a Catholic meant. 

Following the Second Vatican Council, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults was published in Rome in 1972 and in 1987 there was published the English version of this document for use in Australia.

In the years following that publication, many parishes in the Archdiocese – and elsewhere of course – set about putting this new form of becoming a Catholic into effect. Such a group has been at work over many years in the Deepdene Parish. There are members within our communities who have become Catholics through this process. In continuity with what has happened before, one of the projects in the pipeline in our group of five local communities is the setting up of one such a group to involve people from each of those five communities. 

Even though the whole process is formally called the “Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults”, it is commonly referred to as the Catechumenate. You have probably heard of it under that name.

It is about ‘Christian Initiation’. This term is used deliberately to make the point that it is about more than instruction; it is about becoming part of the community of faith, the Church, and so a follower of Jesus within that community. It is about coming into the community, about listening to the scriptures, about aligning one’s life with the gospel, about appreciating the sacraments especially the Eucharist, about coming to know something of the long Catholic tradition. It also involves members of the community acting as companions on the way for those becoming Catholics.

Those entering the Catechumenate may be moving towards baptism, or they may have already been baptised in another Christian Church but desire to move into the Catholic Church, or they may be Catholics who wish to return to the Church. It is also used at times by people who simply wish to renew their faith.

The other significant word in the title of this process is “Adults”. The whole process takes account of the experience of life and questions which grow within people as they live out their lives as adults. 

Over the next few weeks in Understanding our Faith, there will be more explanation and discussion of what the Catechumenate involves.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin