Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 6, 2002
Out of the catacombs: RCIA and the Rite of Election
Over 3,500 attend rites at cathedral to welcome catechumens, candidates
By Joe Burns
About a year ago, my wife Cathy and I were privileged to visit the Catacombs of St. Callistus just outside the city limits of Rome. With the help of our guide, we traveled far under the earth through a labyrinth of tombs to visit sites where brothers and sisters in Christ, often at the risk of their lives, welcomed catechumens on their journey toward the paschal mystery.
Before a catechumen could be admitted to the final period of purification and enlightenment leading to initiation at the Easter Vigil, various members of the Christian community had to bear witness to the authenticity of that person's faith. Only after this testimony was given and the catechumens "elected" by the community as worthy to continue, could they receive the Gospel or the creed, or proceed toward the sacraments of initiation.
Recently, hundreds of catechumens and candidates from throughout the archdiocese on their journey of faith known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults have completed a rite that is strikingly similar to the ancient one described above. It is known today as the Rite of Election.
Due to the dramatic growth of the Archdiocese of Denver, four separate rites were held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception this year, with two on each of the first two Sundays of Lent. More than 3,500 participants attended these four liturgies.
During his homily, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., explained the significance of having the rite held at the cathedral. The word cathedral comes from the Latin and Greek words for chair, and the chair, from ancient times, represents the authority of the one who sits on it. This is why when the pope teaches infallibly, he is said to be teaching "ex cathedra," or "from the chair."
Therefore, the archbishop explained in his homily, when a person enters the Catholic Church in northern Colorado, he or she actually joins that part of the Church that is headed by a bishop, a successor of the Apostles. The pastor of the Church for all of us here in northern Colorado is Archbishop Chaput. Our parish pastors assist the archbishop in his role as chief pastor and teacher of the local Church. And so these ancient initiatory rites, once held in secret in the catacombs, are now held in all of their splendor in our magnificent incense-filled cathedral.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, the pastors of Vatican Council II called for the restoration of the "catechumenate of adults, comprising several distinct steps" (SC, 64). As a result, this magnificent rite has become the model and inspiration of all catechesis in the Church today (General Directory for Catechesis, 59). Through the "door" of RCIA, tens of thousands of new Christians have joined the Catholic Church worldwide, which now numbers more than one billion members.
Here in northern Colorado, the Church has experienced a dramatic increase in its membership, much of it through the RCIA. More than 2,000 members have entered through RCIA in each of the last several years, helping to swell the Church faithful to nearly half a million strong. No longer confined to the catacombs, the Church continues to share the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to a weary world. As the Gospel of Matthew states, "The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen" (4:16 NAB).
Burns is the metro-area director of evangelization and catechesis for the Archdiocese of Denver.
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