Greetings from Helsinki! Eurocat Bureau Meeting
Martin Foster and I are in Helsinki, attending the Eurocat Bureau meeting - 22 people representing 22 countries, all engaged in Christian Initiation of Adults. The task of the Bureau meeting is to review the last Eurocat Conference (Vienna 2009: 'Integration') and to consult together on the themes emerging for the next Conference (Ghent/Belgium 2011: 'Liturgy & Catechesis in RCIA').
The Bureau is being hosted this time by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
We are staying in a retreat centre in Lohja Vivavum on one of the country's 190,000 lakes (into which some of us have plunged during the Finnish 'saunas' in the evenings - putting a whole new slant on the initiation experience!) We have had a very warm welcome - in writing from the Bishop of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku, Kari Makinen, and in person, from Maria and Sennika, and a number of their Lutheran colleagues who planned & prayed liturgy for and with us, sang songs, and BBQ's sides of salmon around a campfire - first sign of Finnish summer is when the BBQ's begin - in 4 degrees celsius, but at least the snow has melted!
Joining us on the first evening was Bishop Teemu Sippo, RC Bishop of Helsinki. Bishop Teemu told us that the Bishops' Conference of the Nordic Countries had recently published a joint pastoral letter on the Adult Catechumenate (and Reception into Full Communion of the Catholic Church). The letter begins:
'Where is the entrance? If someone needs to ask this question, the architect has probably made a mistake. Entrances need to be recognisable and inviting, unless one wants to keep away uninvited guests......it is not enough that we guide them to priests or others working in pastoral tasks. Parishioners are needed... offering a kind and friendly reception, willing to share their own faith'
Further, the letter speaks of the opportunities that the restoration of the adult catechumenate offers, not only for evangelisation of those who are searching, but for those already in the church, causing them to reflect on their own Baptism, their own faith, their own sense of belonging, rediscovering the rich nourishment in the liturgy, and the very nature of the Church as 'missionary'. United as a body, the Nordic Bishops are strongly encouraging all the faithful, priests, parish councils, pastoral councils, and religious orders to discuss and ponder... and one step at a time, for parishes to engage with the different phases and rights Catechumenate (RCIA), convinced that in so doing
'the consciousness of the mission of the parish and of the whole Church would grow, and the connection between faith and life would become clearer. The parishes would gain an attractive and radiant power... beginning the Catechumenate aids the renewal of the whole parish!'
These hopes will echo with the memories and experience of all of us involved in RCIA, for however many months or years. What was particularly impressive was the Bishops writing together, united in their commitment to RCIA, leading from the front!
The rest of the weekend was engaged in bureau members sharing their experiences of the catechumenate (in Europe RCIA is referred to as 'The Catechumenate'). It was interesting to note the variations in emphases/styles between the different countries, the 'old hands' and the new (including Orthodox engaged in catechumenate in Finland) The consistency emerging, as ever, in shared passion for initiation.
Challenges? For practice of RCIA and for Eurocat
- Our diversity - in culture, experience, in approaches, interpretation of the Rite, theological views
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Increasing size of Eurocat - more member countries: how to develop structures that support/develop/sustain warm friendship as well as share experience and learn from one another - finding the best process/way of facilitating the meetings to be as inclusive as possible
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How to develop/engage with the ecumenical dimension of Eurocat - ecumenical sensitivities
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Initiation as a process of 'being' and 'becoming' - the symbiosis of community/liturgy/initiation
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Context of 'church in crisis' - community initiates, and yet there is a sense/reality that communities are 'disintegrating' rather than growing?
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Seeking and sharing best practice
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Use of Lectionary
It has been a good weekend in Helsinki, connecting with the broader European picture . Perhaps one or two European friends will join us in Manchester for our Conference 'Bridging the Gap'? (30th June - 2nd July: Book on-line at www.rcia.org.uk ) The Nordic Bishops' encouragement for (us) to be missionary and help those seeking to join us on 'the Way' offers inspiration us as we move towards our Conference together, exploring what it is to be missionary, sponsoring communities. Places at Manchester are limited, so please do Book now to avoid disappointment!
2010 Conference
The booking form for the RCIA Network's 2010 Conference has been mailed out to members.
It will be published on the website later this week.
RCIA Network Newsletter – December 09
New edition of the Newsletter now available on website
A Flavour of a Northern Network Day
Last Saturday saw the first of the R.C.I.A. Northern Network “Journey in Faith” days that I ‘blogged about’ in September. Amongst the fifty five who gathered were ‘new teams, experienced but tired catechists, parishioners who have often wondered just what it’s all about’ and a genuine Enquirer who had telephoned the office some days earlier. He had seen the poster and ‘wondered what it was all about’. We explained the purpose of the day and that although he had not yet officially taken the step of contacting a local parish regarding his growing desire to ‘become a Catholic’ he would be made welcome if he chose to come along: and he did!
He admitted later that when he first entered he had ‘cold feet’ and wanted to run away, but he came and introduced himself instead and I was able to introduce him in turn to someone I knew would be a very good ‘accompanier’ through the morning session. Nikki is in the second year of a Foundation Degree in Pastoral leadership at Hope University and is currently reflecting on the RCIA for her course so this opportunity for ‘hands-on’ experience was valuable for her too. I knew I’d made the right decision when at lunch time he came to me again and asked me how he could go about taking this forward: he had thoroughly enjoyed the morning and knew he wanted to further explore living as a Catholic Christian. I introduced him to the co-ordinator of the parish RCIA team which meets just five minutes away from his home and she accompanied him through the afternoon.
What were the main ingredients of the day that were so much appreciated in the final evaluation forms? Well we shouldn’t be surprised that in fact, they all flowed from the vision of the RCIA itself:
“warmth, we were made welcome, a variety of voices giving input, lovely spiritual atmosphere, good teaching and sharing, enlightening and encouraging, breaking and sharing the Word, friendliness and openness of people sharing, scripture study in a small group, excellent music ….”.[1]
Also greatly appreciated were the two real life story tellers who came to the day. The first told his story of his family’s journey from non-practising Anglicanism to becoming enquirers and spoke movingly of ‘the threshold’ of belonging and the freedom to choose. In the afternoon a Neophyte (he loved his new name!) described how full membership resulted in him knowing that he wanted to ‘give something in return’ and his involvement in the RCIA group in a new way. Both these ‘very brave witnesses who spoke on their journeys’[2] added a deeper dynamic to the experience of the day and kept it ‘real’.
A mixture of experience and freshness, of accompaniers and accompanied permeated the day and the inclusion of parts of the Rites themselves: in the signing of the cross during morning prayer and the dismissal … to lunch (!) brought alive the ability of the Rites to speak to our experience.
There was some serious conversation in plenary about people not wanting to be seen ‘upfront’ and therefore not celebrating Acceptance/Welcome rites except within the RCIA group, but these were countered by others who shared what it meant for them to receive the welcome which followed such a celebration.
Without doubt though what stays with me is the very rich sharing of the Gospel for the 32nd Sunday in ordinary Time Year B. The images, words/ phrases and questions posed by people as it was broken open in the large group stretched and challenged my reception of it and I am left with the images of three faces discerned within the story itself: the smug, the humble and the watching face of Jesus.
Did we achieve what we hoped for? I think we did :
It is an introduction for anyone new to RCIA or for parishes wishing to refresh their team. An opportunity to glimpse a vision of the richness the RCIA journey offers, not only to new comers to the faith, but to the whole parish community. All are Welcome!”
The programme for the day was arrived at through inter-diocesan collaboration and was delivered through local collaboration: Amen to collaboration! May Middlesbrough, Hexham & Newcastle, Leeds and Hallam all experience similarly encouraging days.
[1] From the evaluation forms completed on 7.11.09
[2] Evaluation forms
What’s happened to RCIA?
Coming back to the desk at the beginning of September is always a mixture of dread and excitement for me: excitement at all the possibilities that beckon and the opportunities for implementing the planning which took up so much time before the break but also dread at the thought of the amount of post and e-mails waiting and that sense of yet another year starting! Last September, following the last RCIA Network Conference, a group of us with a passion for RCIA in dioceses across the North of England, agreed to meet together to see whether we could address a shared feeling of ‘What’s happened to the RCIA?’. There was a general feeling that where good practice had been evident in many areas this was less so now. Fewer people seem to be in touch with the vision and whilst people are still being welcomed into the Church in Easter initiation ceremonies, the journeys they are invited to make towards these are hugely diverse. If we imagine the RCIA as a person and were to ask “Who do you say I am?” would we be prepared for the responses? And so, this group of northern RCIA practitioners decided to pool our resources, work together and have a go at enthusing a new generation with the vision and scope of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
We’ve agreed to offer a day which is visionary and introductory and is for everyone: new teams, experienced but tired catechists, parishioners who have often wondered just what it’s all about. We’re determined to keep it grounded in the ordinariness of human experience – inviting people to tell their stories and witness to “spiritual journeys that vary according to the many forms of God’s grace.” [RCIA 5] We want it to be rooted in experience with a living Word of God that somehow conveys the passion of 1 John 1:
“Something which has existed since the beginning that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word who is life - this is our subject.”
We asked ourselves questions such as: How do we convey the passion and enthusiasm? How do we do it? How simply can we do this? We identified a large target audience: people with responsibility for RCIA whom we want to be able to see that Yes – we can do this, it is possible; and also those with little or no experience but who’ve heard something! And in working our way through the questions we allowed ourselves the luxury of prayerful, gentle reflection time together during which we broke open the scripture of the day and learned from such figures as Lydia.[Acts 16:11 – 15]
The result is a one-day road show under the banner: R.C.I.A Northern Network called Journey in Faith: Exploring RCIA (The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). The poster states that:
It is an introduction for anyone new to RCIA or for parishes wishing to refresh their team. An opportunity to glimpse a vision of the richness the RCIA journey offers, not only to new comers to the faith, but to the whole parish community. All are Welcome!
We plan four venues between now and May, 2010 with local teams fronting the road show and support from other members of the planning group as required. The first will be in the Archdiocese of Liverpool in November, closely followed by Middlesbrough then Hexham and Newcastle, Hallam and Leeds. It’s an exciting initiative, not least because it is a genuine effort to take seriously the call to work collaboratively across dioceses:
Collaborative ministry begins from a fundamental desire to work together because we are called by the Lord to be a company of disciples, not isolated individuals. [The Sign We Give 1995]
One of Us
There is still time to book a place on the Network's two Study Days in Tooting Bec (13 June) and Bristol (30 June).
The days address key aspects of our practice of RCIA. In the morning Nicky Stevens in Tooting and Martin Jakubas in Bristol will look at the role of the assembly in RCIA:
The people of God, as represented by the local Church, should understand and show by their concern that the initiation of adults is the responsibility of all the baptised… the entire community must help the candidates and the catechumens throughout the process of initiation. (RCIA 9)
In the afternoon there will be a choice of workshops: Forming an RCIA team and Receiving the Baptised.
Booking for Tooting is open until Monday 8 June and for Bristol - Friday 12 June. Download the booking form.
EuroCat 09: Integration
We met in Vienna over the bank holiday weekend. As Caroline previously reported there were over 70 participants from 22 countries stretching from Moldovia on the Black Sea coast to Portugal on the Atlantic; Sweden in the north to Sicily in the south. It was the first EuroCat meeting that participants from England and Wales had participated in for a number of years and we were welcomed back prodigally.
The Conference was well run by the Austrian team in a good venue and a timetable that mixed input, reflection, visits and prayer, The liturgies were generally short and simple focusing on a symbol from the Rite. The use of the different languages was well handled.
The languages of the Conference were German, French and English and in our reflection group were Swedes, Lithuanians, Italians etc. It meant that communication had to be measured. One of my first insights into the theme of integration was to realise that to achieve common dialogue the native speakers might have to think a bit more before speaking and to give up some of the nuances of one's own languages so that others might understand.
For the main inputs there were summary papers as well as simultaneous translation. The various papers and reports can be found on the website of the Austrian Pastoral Institute under Eurocat. The theme of the meeting was Integration and this was explored from a number of angles: psychological, theological, and sociological. This may sound dry but each speaker illustrated their ideas from experience and were thought provoking. A significant insight for me was how the place of church and religion in society affected the understanding and practice of the catechumenate. Austria has been a Catholic country with the vast majority who are born there baptised. This means that the catechumenate is nascent and tiny. Only in Vienna diocese was there a Rite of Election and this involved 15 catechumens. Many of those who come for baptism would be immigrants. This meant that RCIA was outside the experience of the speakers; we had to do the work applying their insights to our experience. This did not hamper the usefulness of what they said though, for example, there was perhaps a confusion about whether integration was a matter for catechumens and neophytes. A further application of this insight was to realise that our greater experience with Receptions was a fruit of our particular demographic situation. Though in our preparation we looked at the figures given in the Tablet for the diocesan Rite of Elections and saw that in every diocese the number of upbaptised was about a third of the total.
As is often the case with such meetings it is the visits to the local church that can be the most memorable. We had two opportunities the first to parishes in the Vienna area that had experience of the catechumenate, the second to places of integration. The parish was in the suburbs of Vienna, near the airport. The parish priest had had a couple of experiences of initiation of adults. One, a young girl of 19, also came to talk the group. Hers was a most moving story. She had lost her parents when she was 12 and had gone to live with aunt — no one in her family had been interested in religion and she had never been baptised. A school friend had invited her to come with her to church and when she was 14 to join the preparation group for confirmation. When it was realised she had not been baptised it was proposed that as the confirmation preparation took 2 years she would be baptised at the intervening Easter Vigil. The pastor celebrated all the rites at the main parish liturgies and she received a lot of support from the parish - the confirmation group formed a team. One moving moment was that she sang the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil the year after her baptism. In her own words she only became interested and engaged in her faith after her baptism. It was an interesting reminder that integration into a community can precede faith and the process of initiation. This would often be our experience where spouses accompany their families to Mass over many years before deciding to take the plunge.
The second visit was to church that had been built as part of a new office and housing development. Even though the diocese was not planning a church in the area they decided it was not an offer to turn down. The design of the church was very striking — black on the outside, light beech on the inside it was based on a cube with the lower third providing meeting spaces. Like many churches situated near offices there was a different weekday and Sunday congregation. 10am Sunday Mass was the most diverse — the pastor explained that people came who were attracted by the simplicity of the architecture and the liturgy. The church also provided a gathering point for different ethnic groups in the city where they could celebrate Mass and socialise afterwards.
A recurring theme of the five days was what does it mean to integrate? Is it assimilation where we expect people to become like us or accommodation where we adapt to them. Integration was recognised to be a two way street where the community has to be open and welcoming to newcomers. Our openness may even require us to change, adjust and adapt. Like all good reflections on RCIA the content and the process worked together. Just as we were given much content to stimulate our thought; the team made sure that we were integrated into a Eurocat community. Now the rich time of mystagogy as we reflect on what we have heard and integrate the new thoughts and ideas into our lives.
EUROCAT 2009: when strangers meet
For us, it’s twenty-one years since the publication of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in English(1988),and some forty-four years since the Vatican II call for the restoration of the catechumenate (Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, Ad Gentes Dec 1965). At the end of this week there is to be European gathering of representatives involved in the catechumenate (‘Eurocat’), with delegates expected from 22 countries, east to west, north to south. Each delegation is asked to provide a ‘poster’ of statistics from their context, together with a written report, and will have the opportunity to speak about the state of the catechumenate and the challenges faced.
So what are the good things? And the challenges? Although we do not have a ‘desk’ for the catechumenate at national level, as many countries do, the RCIA Network for England and Wales does have membership in most dioceses. Together we build on the good work that many dioceses are doing, and aim to encourage and share resources, both people and materials. From Network conference and study day participants over the years, and from those working in advisory roles, we hear that although many dioceses have identified ‘mission’ as important, this model is not always connected with RCIA. Statistics are available as to the numbers attending the Rite of Election in each diocese, as well as adult baptisms and receptions. Do these provide a full picture of catechumenal activity? What proportion of parishes in each diocese see themselves as initiating communities? How are those already graced through Baptism received into full communion in our parishes? How do we begin to integrate candidates and catechumens into the life of the community from the very start?
At the moment you may be aware that the Network is engaged in producing material that will support formation of parish ‘teams’. There are Network study days this year on the Role of the Assembly, with workshops on Receiving the Baptised and Formation of Teams. Work is also being done in collaboration with the Bishops Conference Department for Christian Life & Worship on Guidelines for Christian Initiation of Children of Catechetical Age.
The Eurocat conference theme is ‘Integration’ looking at what happens when strangers meet, and the psychological aspects of integration of newcomers into existing social systems. Please remember the conference in your prayer – perhaps with echoes of today’s Gospel in mind. There will be much telling of stories of ‘what has happened on the road’ in different lands, and perhaps some ‘agitation and doubts’. But above all, hearing Christ speak ‘It is I’ in all of these.
Advent – and 1 year on
So Walking the Rite Way has clocked up its first year. Thanks to all the writers who have shared their thoughts and ideas over the last year. It has been inspiring and thought provoking.
Thanks also to everyone who has passed by, and returned, to read the weekly offerings. We average about 150 visits a week. I hope you find it useful and stimulating.
We always looking for new contributors — if you are a Network member and interested send me an email.
As well as looking for more writers we would also welcome your thoughts and comments to each week's entry. Just click on 'comment' below. For your first comment I need to ratify you are not selling insurance or offering spam; after that it will recognise your email address. Join in and share!
To begin an invitation to share either of Advent scripture that inspires you in the context of RCIA or a thought or experience that is connected into the season.
I was struck by the passage from Isaiah 30 that is read on Saturday in week 1 of Advent. I am not sure I had come across it before but it seemed to intertwine many of Isaiah's images of the God who redeems his people, who is hope. Hope seems to me be at the heart of Advent and the process of Initiation:
He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing… on the day the Lord dresses the wounds of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.
RCIA Network Newsletter
The next issue of the RCIA Network Newsletter is now available online. A copy will be posted to members next week.