Am considering becoming Catholic. Where for RCIA? SSPX or diocesan parish?

[jovan66102]

Get converted by a good traditional priest, preferably a diocesan (be it ICKSP, FSSP) or SSPX.  The RCIA program is just bad.

I agree, but POI, ICKSP and FSSP are not Diocesan priests anymore than Benedictines, Franciscans, etc. who staff parishes at a Bishop's request. They are Regulars.

Would've expected ol' Rosarium to say that.   ;)

I'm just as much a nitpicker as he is. It's just that I tend to pick on different subjects!

[mamalove]

my husband just was baptized on Sunday and recieved into the Church.  He had WONDERFUL instruction from an Institute of Christ the King priest.   SOOOOOO much better than I had for my RCIA at my NO Catholic parish.  I think my husband learned more in 10 minutes with father, than I learned the whole 6 months of RCIA. 
God Bless you!  Spend some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament and pray.  God will show you the way.

[NonSumDignus]

If your local diocesan church offers the TLM, then it should be orthodox there. I would speak to the priest who says the TLM there and voice your concerns to him after Mass. He'll lead you in the right direction.

Best of luck, and I second Credo's advice to an extent; in the meantime play it safe and stay with Rome.

[The_Harlequin_King]

RCIA stands for "Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults". It's an entire ritualized process that ideally lasts from the beginning of fall to the Easter Vigil. It was instituted in 1972 as a restoration of a process for converts which in the ancient Church was called the "catechumenate". It looks very interesting and good on paper (I'm not referring to the classes but the ritualized steps such as the Enrollment of Names in the cathedral church with the bishop), but I've never ever EVER heard anything good about it in practice.

I am not sure if any traditional community uses the RCIA structure. I believe most traditional communities are small enough so that the pastor or vicar has time to give one-on-one instruction. The parish I was received in isn't strictly traditionalist, but they're sceptical enough of the RCIA process to simply use a casual classroom setting instead. Perhaps a little TOO sceptical, as we never even have baptisms on the Easter Vigil!


In other words, I would stick with the traditional community nearest you.

[calicatholic]

I was catechized from an SSPX Priest.  I have no experience with RCIA but I can say I fully appreciate the solid foundation of the Faith I received from our local Father.  If you choose SSPX, just be wary of teachings admonishing the new Code of Canon Law and over criticism of the mainstream Church.  I don't agree with their position, but you will get a solid foundation in the Faith if that is your only reasonable option, though I recommend ICK or FSSP.  Do not go to an SSPV Priest.

I'm also a converted Protestant.  PM me if you like.  I was meticulous in apologetics before accepting Catholicism.  I recommend a book called "How Can I Get to Heaven" which covers well the issue of Faith vs. Works.

As for being shy about talking to a Priest -  remember the parable of the lost sheep -  the Shepherd was overjoyed to find the one lost sheep even though he had 100 safe in the field (not getting story correct word for word).  The point is, a Priest, especially a traditional one, will be humbly overjoyed to discuss the Faith with you.  This is their life's work - to spread the Word. 

You have a Guardian Angel that has been waiting for you to be born ever since God created the Angels, so they may help protect you in this world and help you get to Heaven.  Pray to them for their help and intercession and they will help lead you on the correct path.

Calicatholic

[Lietrum]

Avoid any and all considerations of the New Mass, the Latin Mass, the SSPX, etc, and all it's attendant headaches. Delving into such waters off the bat will result in nothing but a loss of faith following what will be a short and bewildering trek in Christianity. When you are a Catholic for ten or twenty years you may wish to revisit the subject. Until then just focus on your Bible and catechism.

Nonsense.  If the instruction is flawed and the catechism flawed, explain how one can revisit it in ten or twenty years?  Truth is truth.  Tradition is the key and the real consideration as you "trek" out it into Christianity.  That is the very problem, to not take a stand and to help others avoid the pitfalls of those who came before.  I am a cradle Catholic who sang  Kumbaya and became lost.  Attendant headaches are the cost for truth.  Focusing on the bible and  catechism are valid points, but which catechism, which translation of the Bible.  As a product of post modernist graduate education, this indeed makes a difference.  Embrace tradition and Holy Mother Church whether it be from the FSSP, ICKSP, or preferably (my opinion) the SSPX, this will help to prevent later confusion over the very reason for conversion in the first place.   

[anonymousseeker]

Thank you everyone so much for your insights and prayers.  I can't believe how active this forum truly is, and to get such a response so quickly... well, I'm slightly overwhelmed and moved.  Thank you very much.

I have been in prayer and contemplation regarding this for many years, and it has not been a straight road for me.  I have fallen away, returned humbled, and suddenly things are starting to make sense, not just in the mind, but in the heart.  I don't think I'm expressing myself very well.  But life makes more sense with God.  In a world that seems to think atheism makes more sense; well, perhaps we've (that is, I and people like myself) believed this lie because we are blessed to live in a world that still, for the most part, believes in God.  We've (that is, I've) taken for granted the order and the humane-ness that Christendom has given to the world, forgetting how even more barbaric, cruel, and violent the world was without Christ, and how it is becoming that way again. If there is a God, then I must be Catholic (the only religion that could possibly be true), and if I must be Catholic, I must be a traditional Catholic.  I think I was in rebellion (disguised as doubt) for a long time because of personal beliefs, my personal lifestyle, my fears of what my friends would think (I am young and none of my friends are religious, let alone Catholic, except for my best friend who converted to Judaism--funny, but that's the one religion okay to practice in my coterie of friends...), and my political leanings.  But none of that matters.  I'm not exactly sure what changed, but it (my heart?) has changed, and I know what my life is about.  It's not about being successful in what the world considers successful.  It's not even about being a good person and helping other people and making this world a better place, although that's important.  It's about loving God and being close to Him.  Everything else comes from this, like the trunk of a tree...

I can't believe I've changed so much...  Very strange!  And I'm not afraid anymore.  Well, at least, not this week.  I'm sure I will be afraid again at some point, but hopefully my faith will be stronger when that fear comes. 

After reading what all of you have written, I know I will be avoiding an NO parish and the RCIA.  Yes, I've been to several NO parishes, and the only place where I felt the reverence was at St. Patrick's in New York (my first introduction to Catholicism), but this did not compare to my first TLM years later.  The NO mass feels like a Protestant service to me.  I know that the NO is valid because that is what the Church says, but I long for the tradition, the beauty, and the reverence of the TLM.  I think this is a natural desire.  It must be; if there is a God and He wants us to worship Him, then shouldn't it be as reverent as possible and wouldn't we be drawn to that which is most reverent? 

I wish that there was an FSSP parish near me, but there isn't.  Same with the ICK.  I suppose that means the SSPX, but I am slightly concerned with the issue of future documents that someone brought up.  I wouldn't want to encounter any difficulties one day if I get married.  At the same time, I know how important it is to be catechized correctly the first time, to lay the foundation. 

I will go to the SSPX mass this Sunday and pray about it. 

Thank you... I'm very humbled by all your kind responses.

[anonymousseeker]

There is also the option of being catechized in an Eastern Catholic church.  I know there are several near me.  I really would like to avoid the NO if at all possible. 

[ggreg]

Thank you for your responses.  Brevis, yes, that experience is what I fear. 

How does one find a Traditionalist priest?  Would the best way be to go to the SSPX?  And I would not be in schism?  (This seems like a gray area, and I've read so much on either side...)

Thank you again!

I don't think you can be in schism from something until you've actually joined it.

I'd start with the SSPX and then find a TLM your comfortable with if you don't like or cannot practically reach your local SSPX Sunday mass.  The SSPX has great parishes as well as a few that are overbearing.  Much depends on the district superior.  That said you WILL get the best and most Orthodox instruction with the SSPX.  They'll lay it on the line without pulling any punches and what they teach you will be uniform and completely in line with any Cathecism of the 1950s.  Anywhere else you're liable to have the priest integrate a lot of his opinion or the hetrodox views of his favourite writer/theologian in with 90% sound Catholic doctrine.  At one of my local Latin Mass Society TLMs the priest who says it believes in Polygenism, though on most other stuff he is sound enough.

Trouble is as a convert you won't know which 10% is suspect.  The vast majority of SSPX priests never entered the NO seminaries and therefore haven't been tainted with nonsense.  The few that have come from the NO establishment have left behind a comfortable life and decent pension to follow what their gut tells them.  Besides, they live closely by other priests and I am sure any hetrodox views would be stamped on pretty quickly.

The SSPX has problems, as you'll find out within a few years.  But hetrodoxy is not one of them.  They are by FAR the less risky place to get instucted.  As for your paperwork, drive to a FSSP parish to get baptised and married and you're safe as houses.  The SSPX won't mind if you don't shout about it.

And I say that as a non-SSPX regular.  Most of the Masses I go to are non-SSPX TLMs.

[anonymousseeker]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5585738.ece

I don't know if I feel comfortable about the SSPX after this...

Is this view prevalent?