Becoming Catholic - OCIA

The process of becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church involves a period of formation that is called the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, abbreviated as OCIA (formerly known as RCIA… it has a new name, but it is the same process). Generally, the OCIA process lasts about the length of an academic school year, with people beginning formation some time in the fall season and entering the Church through reception of some or all of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) on Easter.

The Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil is the most solemn Mass of the year. Celebrated the Saturday night before Easter Sunday, it is when adults are welcomed into the Church through Baptism, Confirmation, and first Eucharist. It begins with a blessing of the Easter fire from which the Easter candle (pictured) is lit.

At this time, our OCIA program is led by Fr. Craig Irwin, our Associate Pastor, and a team of people who have been involved with this process before, whether by working with people entering the Church or by going through the process themselves. The “textbook” that we use is called the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, which goes through the Nicene Creed (which the Church prays most Sundays at Mass), the Seven Sacraments of the Church, and the Ten Commandments in order to lay out the basics of the Catholic Christian belief system and experience of life.

Throughout the process there are moments of commitment where rituals are performed publicly in order for the people of our parish to see you, get to know you, and welcome you into our community.

The first step of entering the process of OCIA and becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church is to set up a meeting with Fr. Craig by calling the parish office at 419-531-1421 or by emailing him at cirwin@gesutoledo.org.