Some background on RCIA
In the not-too-distant past, adults who wanted to become Catholics attended a few weeks of "convert instruction" and were quietly baptized in a private ceremony by the parish priest. It was a totally private process that involved only the priest and the inquirer.
One of the great gifts of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s was a renewed process of forming and initiating adults called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). As one leading authors on RCIA, Thomas Morris, wrote in his book “Transforming the Church, men and women involved in the RCIA today are "formed at the hands of the local community around the word of God, discerning and welcoming God’s invitation to embrace life in the Catholic Christian community, and thus serving the mission of Jesus in the world today."
The RCIA restores for all of us today the process the ancient Church used in initiating members. Early Christians realized that initiation is a process that proceeds through certain stages and that necessarily involves the entire faith community. At our parish, inquirers meet weekly with a team of lay people and clergy who teach the faith, share their own experience of Christ in their lives, and accompany inquirers on their journey of faith. They also experience Scripture reflection on Sundays (“Breaking the Word”) that opens them more fully to the powerful word of God.
RCIA is open to anyone, Christian or non-Christian, who genuinely seeks to explore the possibility of joining the Catholic Christian faith community.
Naturally, RCIA includes a substantial amount of instruction in the teachings of the Church. But first and foremost, RCIA is a process of conversion; it is about changing the heart and transforming the spirit. Along the way, inquirers participate in a number of Rites in which the Catholic community gradually affirms them for full membership. These ceremonies include the Rite of Acceptance/Welcoming, the Rite of Election, and the three Scrutinies. Initiation culminates at the Easter Vigil through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.