About 300 people who have been taking classes on the Catholic faith for much of the past year to prepare for receiving the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil took part on Sunday, March 6, in the diocesan Rite of Election at Westerville St. Paul Church.

The diocese's annual Rite of Election took place on Sunday, March 6 at Westerville St. Paul Church.   CT photo by Ken Snow

The rite has a history that dates back to the introduction of Gentiles to Christianity as the Church expanded from its Jewish roots. Its present form is part of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) that was introduced in 1972, translated into English in 1974 and made mandatory in the United States by the nation’s bishops in 1988. 

This past November, the bishops proposed some changes in RCIA procedure that are awaiting Vatican approval. After approval comes, the process will be known as the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.

Participants in the Rite of Election are unbaptized adults known as catechumens, which derives from a Greek word for “being instructed.” 

Also taking part in RCIA classes, but not in the Rite of Election, are candidates – people who have been baptized as Catholics or in another denomination but who have not been confirmed or received the Eucharist. They will enter full communion with the Church upon being confirmed and receiving their first Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil.

The Rite of Election takes place each year on the First Sunday of Lent. Catechumens indicate their desire to join the Church by signing the Book of the Elect, giving them the title “members of the elect.” 

The word “election” in this case has nothing to do with politics; rather, it is a discernment that God is present in the life of the catechumens and is inviting them into a fuller life of the sacraments.

Celebration of the rite has two parts: a sending and a receiving. First, catechumens are sent by their parishes. This is a public pronouncement that they are ready to enter a covenant relationship through participation in the sacramental life of the Church. 

In the United States, this is done through their presentation to a bishop in a ceremony conducted at one or more parishes in a diocese. This is the first of many sendings they will experience in their faith journey.

Those who are sent can then be received. The bishop or auxiliary bishop of a diocese attends the Rite of Election, accepts the parish community’s judgment, receives the catechumens and invites them to enter their names in the Book of the Elect. 

Because the Diocese of Columbus is awaiting appointment of a bishop, Msgr. Stephan Moloney, diocesan administrator and vicar general, will perform the duties normally assigned to a bishop at this year’s Rite of Election.