Thousands to Join Catholic Church Holy Saturday

Among Them Fortune 500 CEO, Women Inspired by TV Coverage of John Paul II, Families, Collegians

WASHINGTON (April 7, 2006) -- Thousands of Americans will join the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday, April 15, through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Many of them participated in the Rite of Election with their bishops at the beginning of Lent and will be baptized, confirmed and receive Holy Eucharist for the first time on Holy Saturday. More, who already have been baptized, will embrace full membership in the Catholic Church.

Numbers vary. The Archdiocese of Denver, for example, reports that 700 people will be baptized and 1,400 will come into Full Communion there. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, reports 1,090 will be baptized and 905 will come into Full Communion. The Archdiocese for Military Services reports it will baptize 425 persons and welcome 515 persons into Full Communion.

Other men and women celebrated the Rite of Election in their parishes rather than attending the diocese-wide ceremony held at the cathedral.

The complete number of adults being baptized or coming into Full Communion in 2006 was not available by April 6. According to early figures from the 2006 Official Catholic Directory, in 2005 80,521 adults were baptized in the Catholic Church and 73,296 came into Full Communion. In addition, there were 940,194 infant baptisms.

Backgrounds of the people seeking to be baptized or to enter into Full Communion by receiving First Communion and/or confirmation vary.

Martin White, CEO of MDU Resources, a Fortune 500 company with earnings over one billion dollars last year, will enter the church through the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota. He attends St. Joseph Church in Mandan. White and his wife Sheila prepared for entering the church with the Benedictine Sisters at the University of Mary, Bismarck, where he will soon become dean of the college’s newly established school of business. White has served on the St. Joseph parish council.

Three generations of women will come into Full Communion in the Catholic Church at the Easer Vigil liturgy in Our lady of Grace Church in Minot, North Dakota. There Mary Lund, her daughter-in-law Lory Lund, and her granddaughter Tami Voeller will be confirmed. Barb Voeller will be Confirmation sponsor for her sister-in-law Lory Lund.

In rural Richfield, Utah, St. Elizabeth Parish, which has three missions and draws parishioners from a 6,700 square mile area, has eight elect preparing to enter the church. One is an 87-year-old man whose daughter and family joined the church a few years ago; another is a young woman who was deeply touched by what she saw on television at the time of Pope John Paul II’s death, and another is a 19-year-old man who graduated from high school last year.

The response to Pope John Paul’s death also touched Diannah Hedgebeth, who will be make a profession of faith, confirmed and receive First Eucharist at St. Michael’s Church in Newark, New Jersey. She had been on a religious quest for a couple years, she said, and recognized her call to the Catholic Church as she watched events surrounding the dying of Pope John Paul.

“The moment his death was announced God spoke to me and told me that’s where I belonged,” she said.

Another searcher, Stacey Karpp, who attended the RCIA program at San Felipe de Neri Parish near Albuquerque, also spoke of feeling at home in the Catholic Church. She was adopted and raised Jewish but did not feel comfortable in the Jewish religion and later learned that her birth mother was Catholic. While praying for guidance during a quest to find the religion where she belonged, she said the answer exploded in her mind: “Be who you are.” She will be baptized Holy Saturday.

In the Archdiocese of Washington, at the University of Maryland, six students will be baptized and 17 will come into Full Communion. In nearby Olney, Maryland, Bob Handler, 59, a retired public school teacher, will join the church at St. Peter’s Parish. He credits Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, where he now teaches history, for drawing him to Catholicism.

“Students are nice to each other and nice to us; teachers are supportive of one another,” he said in an interview with the Catholic Standard, the archdiocesan weekly.

“The Rite of Election is always a moving experience as new life comes into the Church,” said Bishop Sam Jacobs of Houma-Thibodeaux, Louisiana, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization. “It is a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit and of the witness of faith that Catholic men and women give every day. Virtually all who come into the Church note that they were drawn to the Catholic Church by a friend, relative or acquaintance who quietly lives out the Christian life.”

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is an ancient rite that was reinstituted in the church following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). It is the usual means for adults to come into the Church. Infant baptisms take place in parishes throughout the year. It is estimated there will be about one million for 2006.

Adults will enter the church in every diocese of the country and in virtually every one of the nation’s nearly 19,000 parishes.

Men and women who come into the church cite many reasons. Some are inspired by other family members, including spouses, who already are Catholic. Others find the Catholic Church during a spiritual search as they explore faith groups until they feel at home. Others seek to become active in the church in which they were baptized but had not practiced the faith.

“People’s stories touch the heart,” said Deacon William Ditewig, acting executive director of the Evangelization Secretariat. “The Rite of Initiation during the Holy Saturday service inspires everyone in the church. Congregants, who observe newcomers being baptized, confirmed and receiving the Eucharist for the first time, recall the precious gift of faith and the union with Jesus to which people are called. This indeed is good news in challenging times.”

“Catholics lucky enough to accompany newcomers on their spiritual journey, for example, by serving as sponsors at baptism or confirmation are especially privileged,” he said.

Editors: Numbers of dioceses responding to a march-April survey are available at www.usccb.org/comm/RCIA.

I had seen where last year something like 80,000 people were baptised an 100,000 or so came into full communion. (I'm much fuzzier on the 2nd number) The fact that the 2nd number was larger than the first had me thinking that 80,000 were baptized and another 20,000 weren't baptized but came into full commmunion.

Now I see these diocesan stats: In some places the number for coming into full communion is smaller than the number baptized. Since every adult who is baptized enters full communion at once, I'm pretty sure that that what they mean is such-and-such a number were baptized AND came into full communion, and such-and-such more came into full communion without needing to be baptized. And now that I think of it, of course the second number should still be larger if that is so, since the Catholic church accepts as valid the baptisms of Protestants, Orthodox, Anglican and most non-denominationals (if not just about all of them). The largest group whose baptism is not accepted as valid is the Mormons, because they don't baptize in the Father, Son AND Holy Spirit.

That means we are getting some pretty impressive numbers!

With 940,000 infant baptisms, that's about 1.1 million new Catholics in a year.

Or to put it another way: If the newly baptized Catholics were counted as a separate denomination, they'd be one of the top 25 denominations in the nation, just on their own. If we counted just those baptized in three years at that pace, they'd be the 8th largest denomination, and may outnumber nondenominationalists as a whole.

Lastly, consider this:

There is one adult baptism for about every six infant baptisms. That means that if one out of six Catholics leave the Church, we'd still be gaining net converts.

I'm pretty sure that that what they mean is such-and-such a number were baptized AND came into full communion, and such-and-such more came into full communion without needing to be baptized.

Correct. Those who are Baptized receive all three sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist) on the Easter Vigil. They enter into full communion that night, having not been previously Christian. The latter are those who have not received all three sacraments - either Baptized Catholics who went no further in their walk, or Protestants who have only received valid Baptism. Orthodox do not need to receive any sacrament to come into full communion with the Church, as all of their sacraments are valid. They don't go through the RCIA process - I think they would only recite some sort of words that indicated their desire to become Catholic.

You are correct, Mormons are not considered Christian, so their baptism is not valid - they would require all three sacraments to enter into full communion of the Church.

I find the number of people coming into the Church as those never baptized as quite large, and apparently growing all the time. Indicative of our society, I guess.

Hope this helps.

Regards

"They don't go through the RCIA process - I think they would only recite some sort of words that indicated their desire to become Catholic."

That's the way it "used to be". Currently, "candidates for full communion" enter into the same overall process. There are slight variations for baptized versus non-baptized in the actual rites performed, but both groups sit through the same class (at least in my church, that's the way it was done). Also, for "candidates" the required class time can be shortened, depending on the judgement of the RCIA group.

Conversions have been running at a rate of about 150,000 to 180,000 per year for many years now in the US. This is an all-time high, despite what the negative naysayers wish you to believe about the health of the Church in America.

There is one adult baptism for about every six infant baptisms. That means that if one out of six Catholics leave the Church, we'd still be gaining net converts.

Fortunately, it is far less than that. The number of apostacies can be counted through imputation of the numbers published by the Church annually (take the total population, add Baptisms and conversion and estimated immigration, and subtract deaths, the net result is apostacies). Over many years, stretching back to WWII, there have been several million apostacies, but this should be viewed in the context of around 100,000,000 Catholics living during that time period.

You only sit through the classes if you are too timid to request another option. When I converted in 1993 (and I was a Baptized Episcopalian), I never went through RCIA because I had no need of "initiation into Christianity". I needed instruction in distinct doctrines of Catholicism. My Priest did that in about 8 weeks. He then arranged for me to show up at the Cathedral for confirmation on Holy Saturday, and I was a Catholic.

"You only sit through the classes if you are too timid to request another option. When I converted in 1993 (and I was a Baptized Episcopalian), I never went through RCIA because I had no need of "initiation into Christianity". I needed instruction in distinct doctrines of Catholicism. My Priest did that in about 8 weeks. He then arranged for me to show up at the Cathedral for confirmation on Holy Saturday, and I was a Catholic."

1993 was a LONG time ago. I am (or was) also a baptized and confirmed Episcopalian. But the RCIA process was/is the only option offered. Things may have changed since you went through the process. What I described is the way it is today. I actually would have preferred the "old-fashioned way".

I wrote : "They don't go through the RCIA process - I think they would only recite some sort of words that indicated their desire to become Catholic."

You responded : That's the way it "used to be". Currently, "candidates for full communion" enter into the same overall process. There are slight variations for baptized versus non-baptized in the actual rites performed, but both groups sit through the same class (at least in my church, that's the way it was done). Also, for "candidates" the required class time can be shortened, depending on the judgement of the RCIA group.

I meant a converting Greek or Russian Orthodox does not have to go through ANY RCIA ritual or process.

I have five years experience in RCIA and I agree with your take on candidates and how they fit into the process. In our parish, they attend the same classes, although they undergo different rituals. I have not found a candidate yet who didn't appreciate learning more about the faith and being "lumped" with the catechumens. They all clearly appreciate the experience, although the actual Rite doesn't REQUIRE that they go through the same steps. I have found that most people DESIRE the experience offered by RCIA (unless, I guess, the class is boring or taught by someone who doesn't know the faith). It is quite inspiring to me to see adults seeking closer union with God, often times undergoing persecution from non-Catholic family members, while most Catholics don't realize what they got.

Regards

Calabash is correct, the RCIA continues to allow "converts" to choose to take the route of "just learning the doctrines", and then undergo a ritual, preferably, on Easter Vigil, but can be done anytime. All depends on what process the local church has available. At our parish, we don't normally offer Calabash's process because it requires another curriculum and instructor. But if someone asked me, I probably would try to make provisions, and I am sure that our parish priest would comply. As I mentioned before, the candidates (who many could have potentially chosen Calabash's option) enjoyed the togetherness of the group, learning more about THEIR faith (which, of course, covers ALL Christianity, not just particular doctrines of Catholicism), and such. The small faith group and sharing with each other seemed to have a greater impact on these candidates then just a private meeting with the priest to learn about Catholic doctrines. They saw the faith of the group coming out, the work of Christ being made present. If a person was already quite active in their Protestant faith - but decided to convert, then I could see that RCIA wouldn't be necessary, as perhaps in your case. But many "converts" that come to us are not active in their church of origin, either.

In the end, it depends on the individual. Most Protestants who come to us were not overly active in their communities, anyway (otherwise, they probably wouldn't have come to us, they'd be happy where they were at). For them, the RCIA process is a good thing - I have seen how THEY have changed through the 9 months, just as the catechumens. But for someone already very active in Christ, I could see foregoing this process.

Regards

I often get told by Protestants on this thread, "almost half of our new churchmembers are former Catholics."

Well, guess what? Just about half of all people who belong to a church are Catholics. So if a given church goes after "bringing people BACK to Jesus," well, half of those people will be Catholics. Which brings up two points:

1. I don't get why someone would brag that their church relies on "low-hanging fruits" (i.e., those who already have somewhat of a faith, but are merely disaffected from their church) for conversions.

2. They better look elsewhere for their future... SO many Catholics I know, when going through the maturation process of exploring their own faith, dabbled in a Protestant or non-denominational church for a while before coming back to Catholicism.

"The small faith group and sharing with each other seemed to have a greater impact on these candidates then just a private meeting with the priest to learn about Catholic doctrines. They saw the faith of the group coming out, the work of Christ being made present. If a person was already quite active in their Protestant faith - but decided to convert, then I could see that RCIA wouldn't be necessary, as perhaps in your case. But many "converts" that come to us are not active in their church of origin, either."

Part of the problem is that apparently that in my parish, the RCIA class was not well founded, and part is probably due to the fact that by the time I actually entered inquiry, I had done enough background study on my own that I didn't need the class. VERY LITTLE was taught on real Catholic doctrine. It was all very nebulous, "hand-wavy", and "touchy-feely" with some not-very-deep study of the scriptures.

Thanks for the confirmation.
I mean -- o, nevermind!! :^D

By the way, isn't it remarkable that a church which seems to do so little obvious evangelization gets so many converts? I think the reason is actually fairly simple: Catholics don't try to convert strangers; they try to convert people they have grown to deeply love... often deeply enough they end up getting married. Some outsiders may think that this means the conversion isn't sincere; that people do it just to marry a stubborn Catholic. And yet, as you probably know, as well as anyone who has ever been active in a parish, these "marital conversions" usually create the strongest converts!

2,400 people converting at once!

Just think: Add a sponsor and parents (I presume most parents would come for their grown child's confirmation, no?) and that'd be 9,600 people standing in the front of the church.

I'm thinking they must've used a baseball stadium, instead of a cathedral?

And by the way, 2,400 would add about 1% to the size of the diocese's congregation in one year.

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