Becoming Catholic (RCIA)

Welcome! We are excited that you are interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith, and we pray that God will use the information below to continue to lead you into full communion with His Church.

A person becomes a Catholic in response to a call from the Lord Jesus and by receiving the Sacraments, which we believe were instituted by the Lord in order to convey His divine life to us. Through the sacraments, then, we believe that a person becomes a “partaker of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

There are three “sacraments of initiation” by which a person becomes a fully initiated Catholic: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist (Holy Communion).

As many people know, an infant becomes a Catholic simply by being baptized in the Catholic Church. Likewise, an adult also enters into full membership with the Church by receiving the Sacraments, but depending on one’s unique situation the process might look slightly different:

• If an adult wishing to become Catholic has never been baptized, he or she receives the Sacrament of Baptism. But unlike an infant, the adult also receives the Sacrament of Confirmation and receives Holy Communion at the same time.
• If an adult has been validly baptized in a Protestant Christian denomination, that person is not re-baptized. Such a person would make a Profession of Faith (affirming acceptance of the Catholic Faith) and then receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion.

Ordinarily, the way that an adult comes into full communion with the Catholic Church (whether they need to be baptized, confirmed, and receive communion or just receive confirmation and communion) is through a process called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Through RCIA one prepares to receive the appropriate sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass through classroom instruction, personal study, and prayer. Our RCIA classes meet on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. at St. Bernard Church. For more information, please contact the parish office.