By Mary Alyce Fields

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is the process by which people become members of the Roman Catholic Church. It is frequently referred to as the Catechumenate or Christian Initiation or simply RCIA.

In 1973, in response to the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, the Rite was published in Rome. It restored and updated the Catechumenate which was the ancient method of receiving adults into the Christian Family, the Body of Christ.

In the early Christian centuries, those individuals who were led by the Spirit to seek life in Christ went through a period of formation – sometimes extending over a span of years – during which they were trained in faith and prayer, drawn into the life of the local Christian community and prepared for the reception of the Sacraments. Once fully initiated as members of the community, they moved into their particular role of apostolic service in obedience to Jesus’ instruction: “As the Father Sent Me, So I Send You.” During the time of formation these individuals were known as catechumens. The Catechumenate was the process through which they were initiated into their new Christian life.

Today, restored and revised to meet the needs of the Church in the modern world, the process of Christian Initiation of Adults involves a gradual development, a formation, effected over a span of time during which the person who seeks to join the Church learns to believe, to pray, to serve and to live with the Catholic community. The process culminates in full initiation with the celebration of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at Easter.

There are four distinct periods in this journey of conversion which are linked together by liturgical rites. They are known as: 1. The Period of Inquiry or the Pre-Catechumenate, 2. The Period of the Catechumenate, 3. The Period of Enlightenment or Purification and 4. The Period of Post Baptismal Catechesis, the Mystagogia. Election and Initiation, peak occasions in the conversion journey which celebrate the decisions made at each stage by the participants.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta began to implement the Rite in the mid 1970’s. Last year, 700 new members who have made the journey of conversion in local parishes were received into the Church at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

Father Michael Panter, RCIA Director at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, describes the Rite as one of the most important developments issuing from the Second Vatican Council. It works in conjunction with parish renewal movements “as members of the parish reach out to help out to help newcomers experience the God who calls them,” he notes. “It is a very complete kind of thing…on the cutting edge of what is happening in the Church.”

The purpose of RCIA – full initiation of new members into the Church – is worked out and experienced in the local parish, the basic unit of the Catholic community. A fundamental conviction behind the new Rite is that the formation of new members is properly the work of the whole parish family which is inspired by what is occurring in its midst. Conversion is a gift from God; it is both a sign of and a response of His presence. We treasure this gift when it is brought to our communities. We learn to recognize its beginnings in neighbors, relatives and friends. We know that Christian life is an on-going conversion, that faith requires adult consent, that worship is an adult response. This is the emphasis in the Church today, that the full experience of being Catholic takes place in adulthood.

Each parish, as it reaches out, accepts, teaches and helps others experience the life of faith, develops its won method for implementing RCIA and for drawing aspiring members into a caring community. Father Panter observes that “What really needs to happen is that parishioners be informed about the process. Then they will be open and hospitable, kindly and generous.” He emphasizes that the personal prayer life of each parishioner is very, very important.

“Faith is caught, not taught” says Father Panter as he points out the large role that hospitality plays in Christian life and formation. It is essential for the growth of the spirit. Catholicism is a communal experience.

People do not become members of the community by learning its history or by-laws. Each individual is a whole person of mind, body and spirit; thus RCIA’s emphasis is on living the faith, on formation rather than in-formation. In the past, great importance was placed on knowledge for the mind. But Christianity is much more than mere intellectual assent. It is a way of life. RCIA gives affirmation to this truth by calling on Catholics to provide the human experiences of our faith family as we reach out with invitation, prayer and companionship and in sharing our common worship with the warmth of a Christlike welcome.

RCIA, in general, is ideally implemented in the parish by a Spiritual Director, usually a priest, focuses attention on the prayer life and spiritual growth of each catechumen, meeting with each several times. Sponsors are members of the parish who are willing to be friends, witnesses and guides to the newcomer. Father Panter compares sponsors to tour guides who introduce the newcomer to the family of faith, helping them on the journey of conversion to become familiar with the new experiences. Sponsors accompany the participants to the weekly sessions; they pray with them and for them; they help them to distinguish what is important from what is merely popular and to understand the “extras” that many find interesting in the Catholic Church. “The best sponsor is a person who is part of the catechumen’s everyday life as well as a partner in faith.”

Catechists are those parish members, mature in faith, with solid religious training and the ability to teach adults. They are good resource people, persons of warmth and sensitivity who hold deep respect for another and his life experience. Other parishioners serve in areas of communication and hospitality, planning special events; they are community builders, flexible, dependable and enthusiastically committed to sharing the joy of faith.

Ideally, the process of formation begins in the fall and is built around the seasons of the liturgical year, culminating in the beautiful rites of initiation during the Easter vigil. At IHM, the process is nine months in duration with weekly sessions scheduled from September through May.

The first phase of the journey of conversion is known as The Period of Inquiry, the Pre-Catechumenate. During these weeks – at All Saints Parish in Dunwoody, a total of 11 weeks – the Catechist presents the basic tenets of Christian belief. Here, the participants, who are called “inquirers,” learn about God. This time has been likened to an extended retreat. In early December, on the First Sunday of Advent, those who think they wish to continue on to become adjunct members of the community, come together to celebrate their enrollment as “catechumens” in the “Rite of Becoming a Catechumen.” This ceremony, during which all express their intention to grow in the faith and are signed with the cross on the forehead by the celebrant, begins their formal entrance into the Church. Ideally, the Rite is conducted immediately prior to Sunday Mass, the catechumens then entering the Church and assuming their places within the liturgical assembly.

The second stage of formation known as THE Catechumenate Proper extends from the First Sunday of Advent to the First Sunday of Lent. It is a time during which the new members, not yet fully initiated, deepen their understanding of the faith. It is the time of complete catechesis, of learning “the nuts and bolts” of Catholic Christianity. On the First Sunday of Lent, all the catechumens from throughout the archdiocese gather at the Cathedral for the “Rite of Election.” Their names are presented to the Archbishop requesting either Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist or all three Sacraments. This serves as a formal statement of intent. Now their names are enrolled as a sign of their wish to prepare themselves spiritually for full incorporation into the Church. The spirit of this ceremony emphasizes the choice and acceptance of these catechumens by the community – they have asked for membership; the community says “yes.”

The third phase is described as The Enlightenment or Period of Purification. It corresponds with the Lenten season and is a time of intense spiritual preparation leading toward reception of the Sacrament and full initiation. The participants are known as “the elect” during these weeks and the regular sessions concentrate on liturgical prayer, the Sacraments, morality and personal prayer. The “Rite of Initiation” which follows this third period takes place during the Easter Vigil. In the midst of the parish community gathered to celebrate the central core of the Christian faith, the Resurrection of Jesus, the newly elect members of the parish family receive Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist.

The final Period of Post Baptismal Catechesis, the Mystagogia, extends for 50 days. It is the time for reflection on what has been experienced, for prayerful discernment as to which form the apostolic service of the new Catholic, the “neophyte” should take as he/she begins the Christian life. In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, it is the time of diocesan wide recognition of new members at the Mystagogical Mass of Thanksgiving offered by Archbishop Donnellan. At the end of the 50 days, on the Feast of Pentecost, the new Catholics, now full members of the Body of Christ, are sent forth to “Go and Baptize All Nations” as they move out to share their gift of faith with others.

The Reverend William Bauman of St. Charles Parish, Kansas City, Mo. sees the restoration of the catechumenate as “an integral and essential part of a parish’s life…Wherever catechumenate co-exist with a growing sense of ministry for all God’s people, with a friendly and warm Eucharistic Community and with a re-discovery of the Good News in evangelization, a dynamic is set in motion which leads to unbelievable vitality.”