Converting to catholicism

[Crazyhousewife23]

So my youngest child has never been christened(lockdown and other things delayed this) now I’ve never been religious until I entered into adulthood (I’m Christian and have another child who is) but I have been involved with the catholic church and volunteering and have found myself relating more to being catholic then Christian. It’s something I have debated about changing the family to the catholic religion. The youngest would start first but I didn’t know the process

Catholicism is Christian?

You’ll have to make an appointment with the priest to talk about potentially converting

Have a chat with your priest. There will probably be a course you go on, then a confirmation I expect. The fun thing about Catholic confirmation is you get to choose a confirmation name - obviously it’s about more than that but it’s quite nice.

And yes as pp said catholics are Christian’s so I’m unsure what you mean by relating to Catholicism rather than Christianity. I don’t think your youngest child could start first if the parents and rest of the family aren’t catholics. You would probably need to convert first.
What is it that’s drawing you to Catholicism?

Catholics are Christians so no rebaptism if you eg is christened in Church of England.
The Catholic churches have a course you attend over months to study Catholism before you enter the church as a member.
Talk yo the priest for advice.

I wouldn't presume to do this for the whole family. Your children deserve the opportunity to follow their own path, not have yours imposed on them.

What is it about the Catholic branch of Christianity that appeals to you, OP?

If you talk to/email your parish secretary, she/he will put you in touch with the parish or diocese RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) coordinator who can then guide you through the process of conversion.

have found myself relating more to being catholic then Christian

This is so odd. Catholics are Christian. Of course!

It’s hard to understand what you mean.

Roman Catholics have added and altered certain things as part of their doctrine and some regard their beliefs as heretical as a result.

This - in our church the course starts in September and completes at the Easter Saturday vigil mass where everyone has the sacraments of baptism, takes first holy communion and is confirmed all at the same time. Or, if they have already completed any of the three sacraments (such as baptism in a Church of England church) they just have the parts they’re missing.

I converted 20 years ago from the C of E. best thing I ever did. It took from September to Easter, with classes on a Sunday afternoon. Having been brought up c of E and went to a Catholic school. It wasn't what I needed. But it was compulsory. But it did get me into the church community.

Interesting ... I've seen lots of non-Catholic Christians who are anti-Catholic claim this on the Internet. If you are keen to get a more truthful explanation about the "altered" things, you should check out the resource Catholic Answers... then you can decide how your interpretation differs from what Catholic really believe . This opens the Interesting discussion on how the many different Christian denominations frame their beliefs and when those beliefs started in Church history, since Jesus was on earth.

You might not agree with all Catholic Christian beliefs... but at least you will understand them better than and be able to discuss from an informed position of love.

Thanks, but I'm an Orthodox Christian so I know all the ins and outs.

This. Talk to the Parish priest. I think starting in September is fairly typical. You can then be received into the church next Easter.

I don’t think the OP is interested, despite people having taken the time to reply to her.

I’d really like to know why she thinks that Catholics aren’t Christians. But we’ll probably never know.

I'm amazed to discover that I am not a Christian but also a heretic if some of these replies are to be believed, good to know. Should one begin writing "non-Christian" on forms under religion now or just plain heretic?

Do you think we need our own section for heretics?

We could ask Mumsnet if they'd awfully mind giving us a Here be Heretics section. I'll bring the bibles and communion wine, I'm hard-core like that.

Doesn't mean you're right though 🙄

That is the thing ... every Christian denomination exists because the founders did not agree with the existing denominations. The founders always justify their denomination by claiming that all other denominations are not the "real" and "complete" Christian faith. Justifying denominations often uses the language of "heretics", "unchristian", "apostasy" etc etc.

It is a long way from the "Unity" asked of us for the church 😞

@SilverViking my experience of my entire diocese is different to what you state in your post. There is a push towards extending hands in friendship to people of all denominations and words like heresy and apostasy are not used. I'm happy to say that my weekly prayer group (where the rosary is a key element for the Catholics) has people of all faiths coming together in fellowship to read the Bible, it's very successful and it's wonderful to hear the perspective of people from all faiths. Don't give up hope yet on unity, some of us are still fighting for it! 🤗

The Orthodox Church are the original church as established by the very first Christians aka the Church Fathers.

The church of Rome began to change their understanding of the Trinity and tried to assert their authority over the eastern Church so a split occurred in 1054. Their beliefs, including the nature of the Trinity were regarded by the EO as heretical from then on.

We are the original Church. It's not merely a case of us being a different denomination. We aren't a denomination. Other churches have altered their beliefs along the way. We're not responsible for those changes. We have held fast to the beliefs, traditions and doctrines laid down in the years following Christ's Ascension.

According to history both the Orthodox.and Catholic were united as one Great Church for the first one thousand years. The Church in the East used Greek in the liturgy and the Church in the West used Latin but as for doctrine, practice and dogma all communities were very unified. Even to this day Orthodox and Catholics are much more similar in belief and practice than either are to any Protestant denominations, sharing key theological concepts (such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist) that were established at the time of the Church Fathers of the very early Church (first 3/400 years). Thus neither consider themselves a denomination as both traditions can be continually traced back 2,000 years.