A summary of a research report on the vitality of RCIA in Australian parishes (2017-2019)
By Sharon Brewer, 25 November 2020
READ THE FULL RESEARCH REPORT ON THE CIAN WEBSITE
My introduction to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) was in our local parish in the late 1980s. Years later, when I was working as the parish sacramental co-ordinator, I administered the RCIA process and accompanied many people on their journey of faith. Then, as the diocesan RCIA coordinator for Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese I saw the various ways in which parishes offered the RCIA process. Over the last few years, a significant part of my work has been with the Catholic Enquiry Centre (CEC), a work of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ National Centre for Evangelisation. A large focus of our ministry is helping enquirers navigate their journey into the Catholic Church.
For many years I have sensed that support for the RCIA process was waning. Maybe this was not surprising given the tragic things that have happened in our Church and a society that is highly secularised. It could easily be assumed that in this climate there would be little interest in the Catholic faith. And, if that were the case, what would the point be of implementing a RCIA process? However, in my work at the CEC, and from listening to members of the Christian Initiation Australia Network (CIAN), I am confident that there are people searching for God and who are interested in the Catholic faith. As well, there are people who want to return to the faith and others wishing to complete their sacraments of initiation. Thus, it has been disheartening to hear enquirers to the CEC relay stories of the lack of welcome they received when making their initial enquiries to a parish, and in some cases being told that they would have to go to another parish because RCIA wasn’t being offered in the local parish.
These thoughts led me to propose a small-scale research project on the vitality of RCIA in Australian parishes as part of my ACU master’s degree. In the second semester of 2019, a literature review was conducted to ascertain what other research had been done in this area. In short: in Australia, not much. There had been an attempt to survey dioceses quite a few years ago, but it appears no reports were published. There was certainly mention of RCIA, adult faith formation, outreach etc in the Plenary Council1 reports. And from overseas there was some research by the US Centre for Applied Research (CARA)2 and by sociologist David Yamane3.
With a lack of local research about what was happening, I launched into the development of a survey, welcoming input from a wide variety of people interested in this ministry. In early 2020 I distributed an electronic survey to every parish priest/administrator in Australia. Prior to the survey being distributed, a copy was sent to every diocesan bishop for his information. While the survey was addressed to the parish priest, he was able to delegate the completion of the survey to someone else in the parish, for example the RCIA coordinator or the pastoral associate. Parishes were sent a reminder about the survey after three weeks, technical assistance was offered and complete anonymity was assured. The survey process was approved by the Australian Catholic University (ACU) Human Research Ethics Committee. It was estimated that the survey would take no longer than 30 minutes to complete, assuming that the parish’s sacramental registers were accessible and up-to date.
Space does not allow a detailed report on the findings. However, the following summary might provide some insight into the current status of the RCIA process in Australia.
1. DISTRIBUTION AND COMPLETION OF THE SURVEY
The survey platform used for this research was Qualtrics, which was approved by the ACU. Surveys were successfully sent to 1,118 parishes out of a possible 1,300 parishes. Of the 1,118 surveys, 64 (5.72%) parishes returned a completed survey.
As participants had been provided with my email address for technical support, 33 (2.95%) emailed me a response rather than participate in the survey. No quantitative data could be captured from these emails. However, some comments have been included in this summary.
2. CATECHUMENS AND CANDIDATES IN EACH PARISH AND THEIR ONGOING PARTICIPATION IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH
The RCIA process usually comprises people who have never been baptised (catechumens) and those who have been baptised, either in the Catholic Church or another Christian tradition (candidates), and who are looking to complete their sacraments of initiation. The following data gives an indication of how many parishes, of the 64, had no catechumens/candidates, and how many of the neophytes were still attending Mass.
a. Catechumens
Of the 64 parishes:
b. Candidates – previously baptised Catholic
Of the 64 parishes:
c. Candidates – previously baptised in another Christian tradition
Of the 64 parishes:
This section of the survey also recorded the parish geographical location. Anecdotally, there is a suggestion that regional areas have a higher “retention” rate than city areas4. I suggest that there is insufficient data to confirm this, but certainly there was no large disparity between city and regional areas.
3. HOW IS THE RCIA PROCESS CONDUCTED IN PARISHES?
Participants were asked to briefly indicate which components of the Rite they usually use, some broader questions about discerning the readiness of a candidate and the process around keeping connected with the neophytes.
Participants were asked who was usually involved in their parish RCIA process. Almost one half indicated that the parish priest and a team of parishioners accompanied the candidates (28/64). The remainder either did not have an RCIA process in the last three years, or the candidate met only with the priest or a designated person.
Participants were then asked if the parish priest, or someone from the parish team, had advised an enquirer that they should go to another parish for the RCIA process. Of the 64 participants, 12 said they had referred an enquirer on. This was either because the enquirer was not actually in that parish or that the parish did not offer the process every year.
WHAT CAN WE MAKE OF THIS?
Firstly, the low participation rate was certainly a disappointment. Could there be a correlation between the low response rate and interest in the RCIA process? To a certain extent, I believe there is. However, I do acknowledge the following as being possible reasons for the low engagement:
Since the finalisation of the research, I have had a number of informal discussions about the findings. Some people have not been surprised by the low response rate because they believe it does correlate with the general lack of momentum in this ministry. Others have been a little defensive citing a lack of knowledge about the survey and suggesting that just because a parish doesn’t offer the RCIA process, it does not mean that they are disinterested in bringing people to the faith. It is difficult to argue with this assertion.
However, despite the low participation rate, my sense is that the survey does provide a stimulus for further thought and dialogue about how we evangelise and how we accompany people on the journey to full initiation into our Catholic faith, and beyond.
Here are a few questions worth considering:
Finally, if we accept what the Rite advises, that “the community must always be fully prepared in the pursuit of its apostolic vocation to give help to those who are searching for Christ”, then Australian parishes should be encouraged and assisted in revitalising their efforts towards the RCIA process.
1 Dantis T, Bowell P, Reid S, Dudfield L. Listen to What the Spirit is Saying. Final Report for the Plenary Council Phase 1: Listening
and Dialogue. https://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FINAL-BOOK-v7-spreadversion- LISTEN-TOWHAT-THE-SPIRIT-IS-SAYING.pdf Accessed May 23, 2020.
2 Gaunt SJ, Thomas. Pastoral Practice in Light of the National Statutes on the Catechumenate. This is an unpublished report and
was received via private correspondence with the author, in his role as Director, CARA. Received May 7, 2020.
3 Yamane, David. Becoming Catholic: Finding Rome in the American Religious Landscape (New York, USA: Oxford University
Press, 2014).
4 The term “retention rate” may not be the most appropriate term, however, it is the phrase commonly used to refer to
neophytes who are still practising their faith.
5 ICEL. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Study Guide. (St Pauls Publications, Sydney: 2018) Introduction, paragraph 9, page 5
