I asked to be received into the Catholic Church in 2007. Raised in the Evangelical Protestant tradition, I had for years been a devout Anglican Christian. I loved and still love the Anglican tradition, particularly its liturgy, but I had gradually come to the realization that I was theologically and spiritually Roman Catholic.
My decision to become Catholic was the culmination of years of searching and exploration. I was at the time in graduate school studying early Christian theology, but my studies extended beyond what I was formally studying to include the writings of figures like Thomas Merton, Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar, among others. I was actively involved in my Anglican parish as a lay reader, someone appointed by the bishop to lead prayer and preach on occasion.
In other words, I was not a blank slate when I asked to become Catholic, and I was fortunate that the priest at a local parish recognized this. After our discussion, he concluded that I did not need further catechesis and suggested that I be received at the Easter Vigil, which was when other candidates were to be received. I demurred and suggested Pentecost instead, to which he agreed without hesitation. A good friend who attended this parish became my sponsor, and I spent the next few months worshiping at this parish, waiting for Pentecost to arrive.
In 1986, the U.S. bishops approved and adopted the National Statutes for the Catechumenate, which provide guidelines for the catechumenate and included regulations for the reception of baptized Christians from other communities into the Catholic Church. Statutes 30 through 37 focus particularly on these, and the directives regarding reception of baptized Christians are clear and unambiguous. It is also clear that they are largely ignored.
Statute 30 declares that “[t]hose who have already been baptized in another Church or ecclesial community should not be treated as catechumens or so designated,” and then emphasizes that the degree to which they need to participate in catechesis prior to reception into the church needs to be determined on an individual level. There are some seeking reception who possess understanding of Catholic theology and spirituality and who therefore do not require a long period of catechesis and preparation.
Statute 31 unpacks this further by declaring that “baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate.” The R.C.I.A. is not a single event but a collection of rites, and Statute 31 makes clear that baptized Christians are not to take part in those rites intended for unbaptized participants in the catechumenate (like the Rite of Election and the Scrutiny rites, among others).
It has been my experience that parishes do not do nuance well. It takes time and effort to meet with each candidate for reception to discern whether or not they require formal catechesis or not, as my priest met with me. Too often priests and parish administrators take the route of putting everyone into the same program whether they require formal catechesis or not because they don’t know what else to do with them. And this has become so much the norm that most parish leaders don’t even know they could offer other options.
Nor are they aware that, according to Statutes 32 and 33, the confirmation of baptized Christians should take place at a time other than the Easter Vigil. Statute 33 reads as follows:
It is preferable that reception into full communion not take place at the Easter Vigil lest there be any confusion of such baptized Christians with the candidates for baptism, possible misunderstanding of or even reflection upon the sacrament of baptism celebrated in another Church or ecclesial community, or any perceived triumphalism in the liturgical welcome into the Catholic eucharistic community.
