What Is RCIA?
This is what we tell people when asked: “What is RCIA?” The letters stand for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is not the best kept secret at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church but rather a well-known process through which the unbaptized, the uncatechized, or persons baptized in another religion may be brought into full communion with the Catholic Church . The sacraments of initiation are Baptism, Reconciliation, Confirmation, and Holy Communion.
The Christian initiation process is not a program. Programs have a fixed length of time and a determined course of studies. No one can “program” the Holy Spirit as he moves individuals to conversion; each person’s conversion journey is unique. While a parish may do things systematically and make a calendar of events each year, it must also pay close attention to the fact that for each inquirer, the conversion journey is unique to him or her.