Catholic RCIA

[Eleusa]

I wondered whether anybody had done the RCIA? Would you be able to say anything about your experience?

I’m not baptised in any faith but have been Christian-curious for a long time and am starting to feel that the Catholic Church might be the right place for me.

english-martyrs.co.uk/adults/rcia-becoming-a-catholic/

Out of curiosity op why do you feel catholicism is for you and what do you know about it? I can't help on the RCIA aspect but I am a catholic and I know these courses take many months of regular classes/mass. We do love a good course for everything from communion, confirmation and even weddings though! I had to take so many classes for my holy communion and confirmation but I found them quite interesting and enjoyable.

I'm currently going through RCIA classes on a 121 basis with our local parish. Our priest doesn't do group classes anymore as he feels people come with very different amounts of knowledge/background on Christianity or not, so prefers to tailor it to the individual.

Other parishes will run group classes that often run Sept - April, so now is a good time to get in touch with your local parish to see what their offering is.

I've really enjoyed the classes so far. Our priest is lovely, funny and I can bring along any questions each week, no matter how daft! I'm also going to mass weekly, which obviously helps get into the rhythm of the church too.

Hello!

Sorry to hijac this thread. I have posted my own (called 'Becoming a Catholic') but just saw this one and thought I'd comment on here too.

I have been a Christian, but not Catholic, for almost my whole life, but I have been feeling drawn to catholicism for years now, since childhood. Never really explored it but now feeling an increasing desire to. Only problem being, I am working in China at the moment and there are literally no catholic churches for miles around!

I asked this question on my own thread, but thought I'd try here too.

I have only just heard about RCIA (from this board!) and looked into it. If it's done on a one to one basis, is it something that can be done via Zoom or another online method, or is this totally unrealistic? I don't really know what it involves! My current (non Catholic) church does certain courses (Alpha, different types of learning courses to do with prayer/bible study/etc) over Zoom and so was wondering if someone, somewhere, might be doing this RCIA this way too? I'm not at all able to go to a Catholic Church here but so keen to find out more asap!

We will be moving to DH's (Catholic) country at some point soon but I'm just really keen to not wait to get started. I feel like I'm on a bit of a journey and want to investigate as much as possible as it's something I've waited to do for years now and don't want to wait any longer!

Any info would be really appreciated!

Liv

Hi Liv. The only advice i can give is to contact churches directly and ask as it will be at the priests discretion if he will do classes via online zoom. :) Good luck!

I did the RCIA about 15 years ago so not sure if much has changed since then. I did weekly classes with a group of about 8 or 9 others in the evening at the church. The classes were led by the Deacon and we discussed different aspects of the Catholic Church each week like sacraments, original sin etc but also more general discussions. At the end of the course we were able to be baptised and confirmed but there was no pressure to do this. I found it really interesting and the others on the RCIA were from lots of different backgrounds with different reasons for attending. I enjoyed the discussions around religion.

@livinchina I'm not Catholic but interested and have downloaded a Catholic app called Hallow. It has lots of lovely meditations and prayers.

I did RCIA in 2005. It want what I needed as I'd been brought up Anglican and went to a catholic school. But the PP was Adamant I had to do it, so I did. Never regretted converting for one minute. There are two threads about it on here quite recently.

Wasn't*

@livinchina what I would suggest to you is The Coming Home Network, it's based online in the USA but has an online community with people from all over the world. Its for people who are "Catholic Curious" for any reason, there are also many people who converted who enjoy chatting and supporting those thinking about Catholicism. Its very friendly and encouraging and there is never any pressure. Plus they have a great group of moderators who are always helpful.

In the Catholic Church free will is very important, so there isn't pressure to convert or any kind of timeline. Its very much seen as a personal journey to God which is unique to each person. So it would give you lots of support in China. I am not sure if you can do RCIA online as the community aspect is usually very important, but since COVID I wouldn't be surprised if Zoom classes are being offered. The Catholic Church is very persecuted in China (as most faiths are) and is often underground.

Catholic's usually say Welcome Home to new converts and explains the name
chnetwork.org/

There are lots of free videos and interviews with converts from all backgrounds too.

Info on the persecution of Catholics and those of other religions in China...

aleteia.org/2022/05/20/china-crisis-beijings-crackdown-is-threatening-the-very-existence-of-the-catholic-faith/

www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/persecution/persecution-of-catholics-in-china.html

www.ncregister.com/cna/chinese-embassy-shares-anti-catholic-cartoon-amid-pelosi-visit-to-taiwan

www.persecution.org/2022/02/17/bishop-james-su-zhimin/

www.catholicleague.org/religious-persecution-in-china/

Hi @Eleusa , how're things going? Just catching up with any Catholicism threads as I'm receiving instruction and it's nice to have others to talk to about one's progress and issues.