Christian Initiation

One of the important and far reaching actions of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council was their decision in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy directing that the ancient practice of Christian Initiation be restored:

The catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps, is to be restored and to be taken into use at the discretion of the local ordinary. By this, means the time of the catechumenate, which is intended as a period of suitable instruction, may be sanctified by sacred rites to be celebrated at successive intervals of time. (#64)

In January of 1972, the Congregation for Divine Worship published the “typical edition” of the rite for the Christian initiation of adults. An English translation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was then prepared by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy and, as of September 1, 1988, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults became the mandatory rite for use in the United States.

In the United States, many “converts” are Christians, that is, they have already been baptized and are seeking admission to the Catholic Church.  There are also those who have been baptized and infants but never catechized. A catechumen however is a person who has never been baptized.

Pastoral practice in the United States often brings these three groups together. While there are benefits to this practice, it also runs the risk of minimizing the unique place of baptism in the life of a Christian.
Whereas earlier pastoral practice tended to focus on membership in the Catholic Church, the restoration of the catechumenate focuses attention on the process of conversion by which an individual seeks to be united to Christ as a disciple. We are called to discipleship not simply to membership.

The implications of this change in focus have yet to permeate our thinking. (Not long ago, I was present for the celebration of a baptism in which the priest spoke of membership in the local community and in the larger Church community but never mentioned Jesus or the Holy Spirit!)