Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

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Interested in becoming a Catholic?

      Eleven people were last year and became Catholics at Easter 2007. The previous September they began a process, rather like a journey, in which people drawn from a wide range of different backgrounds and experience met together and grew in their understanding of the Catholic Faith and in their own particular experience of a faith in God. They are in the group below pictured on a Sunday near the end of March Aylesford Priory in Kent with Catholic friends who accompanied them on the journey.

      The priests and people of the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St George in Enfield will be very pleased that you have shown an interest in this site and would be delighted to help you if you want to develop contacts in the Parish. Our hope is that all non-Catholics will feel welcome and at ease in the Parish community.

They will be particularly pleased to help if you are:

interested in finding out what Catholics believe;

or want to be baptised and to become a Catholic;

or are a Christian already and want to become Roman Catholic;

or are Catholic already and want to know more about the faith;

or want to be confirmed.

Please tell one of the priests of your interest as a first step.

The telephone number is 0208 363 2569.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

      The term - Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults - may be a little off-putting but it really describes the journey in which tens of thousands of people in Britain have joined since the Second Vatican Council in the mid - 1960s introduced it as the model or normal way by which people may become part of a local Catholic community. It replaced in most parishes arrangements by which individuals would have one - to - one meetings with a priest to be instructed in the Catholic Faith.

      This is no longer regarded as the best way of helping people to grow in faith. Nowadays, the Catholic Church tries to acknowledge that the Church is made up of individuals who are unique in themselves and that the Church grows stronger as each of its members develops in faith and feels able to put their faith to work in the circumstances of their own lives.

      The sharing of experiences within the Enfield RCIA group has proved to be a great help to individuals in their journeys to a deeper understanding and development of their faith. Adults who would like to be received into the Church are encouraged to develop their own faith with Catholic lay people through learning about the teaching of the Church which is constantly being applied to new circumstances and understandings.

      They are invited and encouraged to try like all other Catholics and with their support to become more like Jesus Christ - the model for all of us in the way we treat other people and the way we live our lives. Over the years, the RCIA approach has proved to be welcoming and reassuring for scores of people, many of whom started most uncertainly. They are now parishioners.

      People starting on the RCIA journey are making a commitment only to listen and learn. They may ask as many questions as they wish. There is no obligation on people who come forward. If you decide at any time that you want to withdraw you can simply cease to attend. Most people who come to meetings of the RCIA group, however, find that they want to continue in the RCIA sessions and take up the invitation which is extended to us all to search for God.

Members of the group usually enjoy the search too - like Jo-Anne pictured above with Bishop John Arnold, formerly parish priest in Enfield. She was baptised at the Easter Vigil Mass on April 6.

Practical Arrangements

      The RCIA group meets every Wednesday, usually between 8.00 pm and 9.30 pm during the school year and gives participants an opportunity to learn about the Faith, the Church, the Sacraments, and the teaching of the Church. The participants in the weekly meetings usually read and discuss the scripture readings for the following Sunday and then consider some aspect of the faith. For example, the topics of prayer, faith, who is Jesus? and the Old and New Testaments usually feature in the September and October group meetings.

      Meetings may be arranged on Saturday or Sunday mornings for people who seek preparation before participating in the RCIA group. Most people who feel themselves ready to become Catholics are received into the Church after taking part in meetings of the group through the period from September through Lent the following year. They are baptised and receive the other sacraments of initiation - Confirmation and Holy Communion - at the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night, the eve of Easter Sunday. The group meets once a week during the Easter season to enable new Catholics to deepen their understanding of the faith and relations with other Christians.

Version: 3rd August 2007

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