We enter the Catholic Church in a number of different ways. We were taken by our parents for baptism as babies, and we may (or may not) have followed this up by First Communion and Confirmation, becoming (or not becoming) members of our local parish and going to Mass on Sunday.
We may have been members (nominal or committed) of a Christian denomination, baptised certainly. But at a certain point in our lives we feel the claims of the Catholic Church upon us and seek to enter it.
We may have grown up un- or anti- religious, unbaptised because not from a Christian family. A moment or period of conversion convinces us of the truth of the Christian claim and we approach the Church for instruction in the Faith and for baptism.
Though different from each other, yet each manner of entry into the family of faith is intimately related. Yet in practice there is too often an incoherence which blunts our missionary outreach.
My experience in a rural diocese in France leads me to believe that infant baptism is still part of a social norm, though by no means as strong as it once was. Indeed, I doubt that it will survive this generation. It may be grand-parental pressure, or the chance of a family party, which is the motivating force, and in many cases the baptism is deferred until the baby is a toddler or young child. The baptism preparation team seeks to engage with the family but a couple of sessions of teaching are seen as necessary hoops to be jumped through. It may be hinted that the family should continue in the life of the parish once the baptism has been celebrated: such hints are usually ignored. Interestingly, it is often practising Catholics who resist any restriction on the grounds that “you never know” what may happen; restricting infant baptism is to deny God’s grace in the life of the child; and to “turn away” baptism requests will upset people who just might start coming to Mass. All the evidence over the last 50 years suggests otherwise.
According to research the large majority of those who enter the Church, having already been baptised, have been living committed Christian lives for a number of years. At a certain point they have been attracted by Catholic liturgy, devotion, teaching or discipline. If they have come from the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England, love of the Eucharist and regular confession will have been part of their life. It is not so much negative feelings about their former denomination, but rather that they have seen the Catholic and Universal Church, centred on Peter, as the full expression of what it means to be a Christian. The preparation and integration of such people (whom we no longer call ‘converts’) has improved greatly in recent years. The ignorance and misunderstanding of this group by cradle Catholics (and even some priests), has largely gone. But the RCIA group is not really appropriate for this group – who nonetheless need something which recognises the important step they are taking. The Ordinariate has provided wonderful support for many in this category: it can be a lonely matter if you are on your own.
The last group, the Catechumens, normally prepare for 2 years. During this time liturgical rites, centring around the Bishop and the Cathedral, mark the progress towards Baptism. The three Sacraments of Initiation are administered together and in the traditional order – Baptism, chrismation for Confirmation, and the receiving of the Eucharist. We are transported into the experience of the first centuries of Christianity, in a way which the two other groups cannot experience.
And yet … so much depends on the clergy and Catholic laity who accompany the people of these three groups, both before and after Initiation. Cultural Catholicism is almost dead – Europe is a missionary area. The way we think about, prepare and celebrate the sacraments with those who are on the way to salvation, is vital.
Ordinariate Pilgrim 