The most important thing that the Church expects from those who wish to join it is a firm and conscious confession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the determination to follow the Divine Teacher, with a willingness to go under His guidance through all the vicissitudes of earthly and even heavenly existence. Without this key point - personal devotion and faith in Jesus Christ - one can only talk about joining His Church in some perspective.
The second important condition is confession, i.e. accepting as the final and undiscussable truth the contents of the Nicene Creed , which the Catholic Church recorded as a key standard of faith in the distant 4th century:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, everything visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were created.For us people and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, took flesh from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human.
Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and buried. And rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, worshiped and glorified equally with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets.
Into one, holy, universal and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Creed contains all the most important Catholic postulates, starting from which we come to recognize the authority of the Church of Christ - one, holy, universal (in the original - Catholic) and apostolic. It is the Church that the Apostle called “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), therefore faith in the Church of Jesus is as important as faith in Jesus Himself, which is what the Creed proclaims. Accordingly, having believed in Christ and trusted Him, we accept the leadership of His Church and follow its instructions in everything that concerns faith and morals. In practice, this is expressed in obedience to church reason, which teaches through ecumenical and local councils, in obedience to authorized teachers and pastors.
Transition from Orthodoxy to Catholicism
The community of local churches, conventionally called the Orthodox Church*, is the closest in religion to the Catholic Church, therefore the transition from “Orthodoxy” to Catholicism is the easiest and simplest.
All Orthodox sacraments - baptism, confirmation, wedding, priesthood - are recognized by the Catholic Church, and therefore, when converting, an Orthodox does not need to go through them again. To become a Catholic, you simply need to go to the nearest Catholic priest and ask him to accept you as a member of the Universal Church. In some cases, after a personal interview, the priest may refer you for catechesis, i.e. course in the study of Scripture and Tradition, but most often, if the result of the interview is satisfactory, you will simply be asked to read the Nicene Creed, and from that moment you will already be a full-fledged member of the Catholic community. There is no special “rite of joining” to the Catholic Church other than baptism and confirmation.
Natasha
I converted to Catholicism in my fourth year, I don’t know why. I have been baptized Orthodox since childhood. I had a very religious grandmother, who took me to church and baptized me, but no one was particularly involved in my religious upbringing. At the same time, I was a believing girl, impressionable, but I didn’t know exactly how to go to church or what to do there.
At some point, I found myself in a crowd that sympathized with Catholicism. I came to the service with them, looked, and found out that they have catechesis - courses that prepare for the adoption of Catholicism. In principle, if I had come across the same Orthodox courses, perhaps I would not have converted to Catholicism. It all meant something to me at the time, but now my motives have changed. I still go to temple every week, but the initial strong impulse has gone.
What attracts me most about Catholicism is the unity of teaching: in fact, there are not many differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, but we have the Pope, his authority unites Catholics all over the world. Whereas the Orthodox have too many diverse and completely independent movements.
| If it is possible to soften the fate of specific people, we must soften |
The fact that some Orthodox priests are now making such intolerant statements about Pussy Riot and homosexuals - they say, burn in hell - seems wrong to me. I don't hear this from Catholic priests. Perhaps in Italy some priest also speaks harshly about the dangers of the modern world. But this is poorly covered in the Russian press, and I don’t read the foreign press.
I think we can’t say that everything is fine and good and how we live is how we should live. Of course, some kind of toughness is needed, but inciting hatred is bad. I don’t know what Christ would have done with the gay pride parade and with Pussy Riot, but if you can somehow soften the fate of specific people, you need to soften it. Besides, these people are not from the church. If a churchgoer does something wrong, the priest can tell him: “What are you doing, you’re disgracing us all!” But if these are strangers, then what difference does it make?
My parents are not very churchgoers: my mother is not baptized at all, and this is all surprising to her. Dad is baptized and sometimes seems interested, he likes to go to the Easter service once a year. I don’t feel the moral right to agitate them, although, of course, it would be nice to drag them into church. When I myself get ready to get married, I will definitely get married, and I will baptize my children in Catholicism from childhood.
Conversion to Catholicism from Protestantism
Conversion to the Catholic Church from Protestant churches—such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, or any other church community historically successor to the Protestant Reformation—is a little more difficult due to a number of fundamental differences in doctrine and practice between Catholics and Protestants.
Water baptism performed in a church where the correct apostolic faith in the Triune God is professed is recognized by the Catholic Church as a true spiritual birth, regardless of by whom and at what age the believer was baptized. But all the other sacraments - marriage, confirmation, priesthood - will need to be repeated.
The fact is that these sacraments, which convey certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, are acquired only in the chain of apostolic ordination, going back to Christ Himself and His Apostles. As a result of the Reformation, the teaching and practice of church sacraments in the communities that separated from the Catholic Church were essentially distorted, which resulted in a break in the continuity of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, for a Protestant seeking the truth, it will be necessary, as it were, to go back spiritually, to return to the lost sources of Divine Truth and charismatics (gifts of the Holy Spirit).
The Catholic Church is a natural mother for Protestants; it speaks the same language with you, thinks in categories that are understandable to you, and serves humanity in the same way as the numerous Protestant missions scattered to preach the Holy Gospel throughout the globe. Here you will be able to realize all your gifts and initiatives in the service of Christ. For this purpose, the Catholic Church has developed many tools - numerous brotherhoods, congregations, orders, missions, commonwealths, unions, each with its own calling, each with its own tasks and goals, complementing the main goal of the Catholic Church: to demonstrate the presence of Christ in this world until the end of time. .
The process of becoming a member of the Mother Church will not be boring for you. You, just like the Orthodox, need to start with an interview with a Catholic priest, who will develop for you an appropriate scheme for joining the Church.
Most often, an ex-Protestant undergoes a full course of catechesis, lasting from two to three months to a year, during which he will become familiar with the basics of church teaching, the history, theology and practices of the Catholic Church. Then, if you have not previously been baptized in the Orthodox Church, you will be given the sacrament of confirmation (the transfer of the Holy Spirit carried out by the laying on of apostolic hands after baptism - see Acts, Chapter 11) and you will be able to begin confession and the Lord's Communion.
How to become a Catholic?
People are not born Catholics. Becoming a Catholic Christian is always a conscious decision, either personally or by parents who make it on behalf and for the benefit of their child. And this decision ultimately is not about becoming a member of some organization or obtaining a certain status, but about becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, and present today in His Church.
If you want to learn more about the faith and life of Catholics, do not hesitate to come to a church service, meet people, and ask about what interests you. Remember that your questions (unless, of course, they are asked during a service) are not an annoying obstacle for priests, nuns and parishioners, but an opportunity to testify to your faith. At the same time, remember that not all parishioners (especially not everyone who writes about this on the Internet) are correctly informed about what is needed in order to be baptized in the Catholic Church or enter into full communion with it. Therefore, you should ultimately contact the parish rector or someone authorized to deal with catechesis issues.
You cannot become a Catholic by simply deciding to be one, buying a “Catholic cross”, a prayer book, and sometimes, even often, visiting a Catholic church. Becoming a Catholic is always a definite and rather long path of entry into a specific community, which is passed not only by the candidate himself, but also by the community that hosts him.
There are three groups of people who need to go through this path of entering the Church community.
The first group are people who have never been baptized. For those who have reached the age of 14, the Church offers the path of adult Christian initiation, which in its full form lasts about one and a half years and includes several stages: the precatechumenate, lasting four months; catechumenate - 12 months; period of purification and enlightenment - six weeks; performing the Sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist as First Communion; mystagogy - seven weeks. Total - 65 meetings.
This rather long path of initiation dates back to the first centuries of the history of the Church and is aimed, of course, not so much at intellectual acquaintance with the teachings of the Church (which could be done by reading books), but at experiencing and deepening a personal encounter with the risen Christ, entering into the experience of the Christian community , Christian prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures and Christian life as service to one’s neighbor, liberation from illusions associated with an immature perception of the Church. This is also a time of serious and deep exploration—and change! - his life, so that it corresponds to the faith that the candidate for Baptism intends to profess. The pinnacle (but not the end) of this path is the reception of the sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist - on the holy night of Easter.
The second group are those who have already been baptized in another Christian Church or ecclesial community, and therefore, by virtue of their Baptism, are already in communion, albeit incomplete, with the Catholic Church. It is important to know that if a baptism has already taken place, it cannot be repeated, except in those rare cases where there are good reasons to doubt its validity. The Catholic Church certainly recognizes the sacraments of the Eastern Churches, and in particular the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as Baptism performed by most Protestant and Evangelical denominations. For those who have already been baptized, a program of acceptance into full communion with the Catholic Church is addressed, which lasts one pastoral year (from September to June) and includes 30 sessions. The completion of this path is the solemn confession of faith, performed during the Rite of Acceptance into full communion with the Church, after which it will be possible to begin the first Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.
It is important to understand that by inquiring about Catholicism or even beginning the process of Christian initiation into the Catholic Church, you are not making any commitment. You will have as much time as you deem necessary to make a free and informed decision, and you can say “no” or “not now” at any time. If so, we will be glad that you have had the opportunity to learn more about the faith and life of the Catholic Church.
Finally, there are those who have already been baptized in the Catholic Church, usually in early childhood, but after Baptism did not receive religious education and practice of Christian life (in particular, they did not receive the sacrament of Confirmation, and never began the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance). Thanks to Baptism, they already belong to the Church and are children of God, but often they do not realize this and do not understand the simplest truths of the faith. It takes time for the faith they received in baptism to grow, strengthen, and become more deeply rooted through appropriate preparation. The program of their churching is basically the same as that offered for catechumens or those preparing to be received into full communion, and at the discretion of the parish priest and catechists they can join one or another group.
The knowledge of faith and affirmation in it continues throughout life. All believers, from the new convert to the Pope, are called to grow in their knowledge of what it means to be a Catholic through the study of Scripture and the Tradition of the Church and the practice of what they teach.
Priesthood
In this sacrament, a Christian who has been ordained as a deacon, priest or bishop is elevated to the appropriate degree of priesthood for special church service. Only a bishop can perform the sacrament of priesthood. The consecration of a bishop is usually carried out by several bishops. Catholics today recognize the principle of celibacy of the clergy, the so-called celibacy, elevated by Pope Gregory VII . Only deacons can be non-celibate.
“There are certain differences in the sacrament of the priesthood, namely, the rites. Orthodoxy recognizes the ordination of Catholics. If a Catholic priest decides to convert to Orthodoxy, then no one will specifically ordain him, as well as vice versa. Thus, the sacrament of the priesthood is mutually recognized by both Catholics and Orthodox under certain conditions. If we talk about Orthodox priests, then they cannot participate in Catholic sacraments. We do not have Eucharistic communion and therefore priests cannot receive communion or confession, nor can they be baptized in Catholic churches. Catholics have more lenient conditions in this regard; for example, they are ready to accept Orthodox sacraments. Another question is that on our side such mutual communication does not exist,” says Posternak.
How is the Patriarch different from the Pope? More details
