RCIA Rite of Welcome: Greeting the Candidates

This is the fourth in a series of articles on the places, postures, and gestures in the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates.

The first placement of the candidates in the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates is at the Greeting (RCIA no. 417; Canada no. 408). The presider invites the candidates and their sponsors to step forward. The first thing we need to ask ourselves is, where exactly is “forward”? And why are the candidates being asked to go there?

The Opening Dialogue that follows the calling forward gives us a clue (RCIA no. 418; Canada no. 469-470). The presider asks two questions of the candidates:

1. What is your name?
2. What do you ask of God’s Church?

The reason for these questions seems obvious on the surface, but let’s peel back a layer or two. Where do these questions come from? Why are we asking them? And who are we asking them of?

Stranger questions

The questions are copied directly from the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens. The reason given there for the questions is that the Rite of the Acceptance is that this is the first time the candidates for acceptance into the order of catechumens have assembled publicly (RCIA no. 41). Because this is their first public appearance, the assembly has never “met” these strangers before—at least not publicly in sacramental worship. Therefore, we need to ritually ask who they are and why they are here among us.

The reason for asking these questions of the baptized candidates is not as clear. The RCIA says, “The prayers and ritual gestures acknowledge that [the baptized] candidates are already part of the community…” (412; In Canada, see nos. 457 and 465).

Is this how we treat “family”?

If these candidates are “already part of the community,” then this cannot be their first public appearance. It might be their first public appearance in my parish, but they are already “known” by the church because of their baptism. And in many cases, the candidates are already well-known, even in my parish, because they’ve been parishioners for many years already.

The second question, “What do you ask of God’s Church,” is equally confusing. Asking that kind of question is akin to asking your college-age child, who has come home for Christmas break, “What do you want from this family?” We don’t normally ask family members questions that presume they have never been part of the family before.

The normal dialogue for those who “are already part of the community” is:

• The Lord be with you.
• And also with you. (Or, And with your spirit.)

The instructions to the presider for the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates indicate that he is supposed to remind the assembly that the candidates have already been baptized (RCIA no. 417; Canada n/a). But that in itself is telling. It is as though, before we even get started, the authors of the rite are saying , “Your assembly may be confused by what is about to happen. You had better do some explaining first.”

I can tell you from experience, even with a detailed explanation, the assembly will still be confused. If we do rituals with the baptized candidates that are the same as those we do with the unbaptized, no amount of pre-ritual explanation will undo the confusion.

What do you think?

This is only one among several of the places, postures, and gestures in the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates. We will look at some others in future posts. In the meantime, please share some of your experience.

• In what ways you think the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates makes it clear that the candidates are already part of the priestly people of God?
• In what ways do you think the Rite of Welcoming the Candidates blurs the distinction between the baptized candidates and the catechumens?
• How does the way you have adapted this rite for your parish either make clear or possibly blur the distinction between the baptized candidates and the catechumens?

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See also these related articles:

1. Places, postures, and gestures in the RCIA Rite of Welcome
2. RCIA Rite of Welcome: Greeting the Candidates
3. RCIA Rite of Welcome: Signing the Candidates
4. RCIA Rite of Welcome: Should we bypass the Bible?
5. RCIA Rite of Welcome: Make smart adaptations

Tags: Rite of Welcome