THE CATECHUMENATE IS RESTORED! (32)

Introduction

The Second Vatican Council was a major event in the history of the Catholic Church. It was convened by Pope John XXIII on October 11, 1962 and had as its aim the updating of the Church's practices and teachings to better relate to the modern world while remaining faithful to its core principles and traditions.

The Council calls for the restoration of the adult catechumenate

At the Council, the bishops instructed that, “the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps, is to be restored and to be put into use at the discretion of the local Ordinary. By this, the period of the catechumenate, which is intended as a time of suitable instruction, and sanctified by sacred rites to be celebrated at successive intervals was to be reestablished (Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 64). This was further emphasised in the Vatican decree on the pastoral office of the bishops which stated that bishops should strive to re-establish or better adapt the institution of the adult catechumenate (Christus domini, n. 14).

The Second Vatican Council was formally concluded by Pope Paul VI on December 8, 1965. The directive by the Council for the restoration of the catechumenate meant that there was now the urgent need to produce a suitable liturgical rite that would accompany it. It has to be one that not only would take into consideration the insights and recommendations of the Second Vatican Council but also the present situation with regards to the initiation of adults in the Church.

The establishment of the study group

In order to implement the numerous directives of the Council, a number of study groups were set up. For the reestablishment of the adult catechumenate, a special group, known as Study Group 22, was formed under the chairmanship of Balthazar Fischer, an expert on the liturgy and ancient catechumenate. Besides Fischer, other members included experts in Canon Law, Sacraments, Systematic and Pastoral Theology and others. There were also those who were already involved in some form of catechumenate in their respective dioceses or regions.

The group started work in 1962 and developed a revised order for the adult catechumenate in a series of drafts. In this task, it was Fischer who played an instrumental role. He crafted a series of changes that dramatically altered the way adults would be baptised in the Catholic Church. In 1966, the provisional text had been completed. It was sent to Rome with a request that the text be used on an experimental basis in a number of pastoral centres around the world.

Eventually, fifty centres in Japan, Indonesia, Mali, Togo, the Ivory Coast, Congo, Belgium, France, Canada, the United States and in other nations were identified for this purpose. In 1969, at the conclusion of the testing, each of the pastoral centres submitted a report to the Study Group. The group reviewed the comments in the reports and made the relevant adaptations before finalising the text in the same year. The final text was submitted to the Congregations of the Doctrine of Faith, for the Sacraments and for the Propagation of Faith.

The approval

The Congregations authorised a few revisions before the final text was sent to Pope Paul VI for his approval, which he gave in 1972. It was known as the Ordo Initiationis Christiane Adultorum (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). In time, the rite was translated into other languages and adapted by episcopal conferences around the world with the approval of the Vatican. In 1988, the standard English translation known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) was published by National Conference of Catholic Bishops United States of America.

Implications of the RCIA for the Church

The restoration of the adult catechumenate in 1972 was received with great interest and enthusiasm by many theological, liturgical, catechetical and pastoral experts, as well as, by bishops, priests and catechists. Other experts viewed the RCIA as one the most important documents to emerge after the Second Vatican Council. They described the promulgation of the RCIA as an event that is “radical”, “explosive”, “a Copernican revolution” or as “one of the best kept secrets since the Second Vatican Council”.

According to R. Duggan, an expert on the adult catechumenate, in his article, “Implementing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults”, stated that the opinions and comments of these experts reflect a “growing consensus that this document will have a lasting effect on the life of the Church for many years to come.”

One expert even viewed the promulgation of the RCIA as an admittance of failure by the Church in the manner it initiated adults in the past. In his book, D.L. Gelphi, pointed that in restoring the catechumenate, the bishops of the Second Vatican Council “passed judgement on the pastoral practice of fifteen centuries and found it wanting,” since during this period the, “Church has sacramentalized converts without evangelizing them adequately.”

Pastoral theologian, T. P. Ivory, in his article, “The Restoration of the Catechumenate as a Norm for Catechesis”, was convinced that the document can bring about renewal to the very structure of the Church as it is willing to leave “behind outdated pastoral principles and practices.” He added that with the Rite, the Church, “approaches the new era with the catechumenal process which promotes renewal for the entire Christian community.”

Liturgical expert, K.A. Keifer, observed that the RCIA has resulted, “in the promulgation of rites which are, historically and culturally speaking, a massive rejection of the presupposition both of the pastoral practice and of most church-goers regarding the true meaning of church membership.” (Made, Not Born: New Perspectives on Christian Initiation and the Catechumenate).

Catechetical expert B. Hixon, remarked that the RCIA “is not just a lovely new way to process converts. It calls for a new way of being Church, demanding a complete re-evaluation of how one is a Christian.” In her book, “The RCIA Ministry: An Adventure into Mayhem and Mystery”, Hixon writes that the Church, as represented by the Christian community, cannot genuinely carry out the RCIA if Catholics continue to hold on to old ways of thinking, acting and celebrating in the Church.

Liturgical expert, A. Kavanagh, says in his article, “Christian Initiation for the Baptised as Infants”, that the RCIA is “a far more mature document of liturgical change, and much broader in scope, than any that had preceded it.” He adds that the RCIA can be viewed, “as a whole recovered initiation policy that represents a stunningly vast view of what it means to be a Christian in the Church.” Like many others, he also recognizes the implications of the rite can have on the life of the Church.

A vision for Church Renewal

The reason for a sense of excitement that occurred when the adult catechumenate was restored is because the vision of the Church as envisaged by the RCIA. The vision is that of a Church that is actively aware of its faith as a gift received from God and desires earnestly to share this gift with those who do not know Him. Many were convinced that the RCIA can challenge the Church to renewal in almost every area of Church life – evangelisation, catechesis, liturgy, community, service and others. In addition, the RCIA was also considered as a means of renewal in that it would impact not only those being initiated but the entire Christian community as well as it calls on the Christian community to be dynamically involved in the lives of those it is initiating and in doing so, renew itself.

Conclusion

In this article, I examined briefly the call for the restoration of the adult catechumenate by the Second Vatican Council and the work that was carried out in order to prepare the order of adult initiation. In the next article, I will discuss further the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).