People come to the Catholic Church by a thousand roads: a spouse, a friend, a book, a church visited on holiday, a grief, a long argument with God. Whatever the road, the door is the same: a parish, and the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults through which the Church welcomes adults. This guide is about the practical first steps, from the moment you think you might want this to the night you are baptized or received. It assumes nothing about what you already know or believe, except that you are willing to find out.

What you need

• The name, address and phone number of a Catholic parish near you
• Your baptismal certificate, or the name and place of the church, if you were baptized as a Christian
• A Sunday morning free most weeks
• Honesty about your questions and your situation, including any previous marriage

When to pray it

Any time of year is the right time to begin; most parishes receive inquirers continuously and celebrate the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil.

Steps

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   Step 1: Pray and ask

   Before anything else, ask God plainly for what you want: to know whether he is calling you into the Catholic Church, and for the courage to follow if he is. Pray the Our Father▾ every day; it is the prayer the Church will hand to you formally in Lent, and there is no reason not to begin now. Pray Come, Holy Spirit▾, since it is the Holy Spirit who draws people to Christ. Ask a Catholic you trust to pray for you, and read one of the Gospels, Mark or Luke, from beginning to end.

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   Step 2: Contact a parish

   Find a Catholic parish near you, the one nearest your home or one a friend belongs to, and call or email the office saying that you are interested in becoming Catholic and would like to speak to someone about the OCIA. Most parishes have a priest, deacon or lay coordinator responsible for adult initiation, and they hear this request often. If you have a Catholic friend or spouse, ask them to make the introduction; but you can walk in alone, and many do. Diocesan websites list every parish with contact details.

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   Step 3: The first meeting

   The first meeting is a conversation, not an interview. Expect to be asked about your background, whether you have been baptized and where, your family situation, and what has drawn you to the Church; expect to be able to ask anything in return. Bring your baptismal certificate if you have one. Be frank about a previous marriage, your own or your spouse's, because the Church may need to look at it before you can be received, and that is much better begun now than in Lent. Nothing said in this meeting commits you to anything.

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   Step 4: Attend Mass

   Begin going to Sunday Mass now, every week, at the parish where you are inquiring. You will not receive Communion until you are baptized or received, and you are not expected to; stay in your place, or come forward with your arms crossed over your chest for a blessing where that is the custom. Follow along with the missal, stand and kneel with the people, and let the liturgy teach you. Catholics are formed by the Mass more than by any book, and the OCIA is built around the Sunday assembly.

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   Step 5: Join the inquiry sessions

   Most parishes gather inquirers weekly, in the evening or after a Sunday Mass, for the period of inquiry: sessions in which the Gospel is proclaimed, Catholic belief and life are introduced, and questions are welcomed. There is no syllabus you must complete and no test; the sessions continue until you and the team agree that you want to go further. Meet the other inquirers; the people who begin with you, and their sponsors, become the community you are initiated into.

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   Step 6: The seasons of formation

   When you ask to go further, you are accepted as a catechumen (if unbaptized) or welcomed as a candidate (if baptized), in a rite at Sunday Mass, and the catechumenate begins: fuller instruction in Catholic teaching, prayer, the liturgy and Christian life, week by week, through the seasons. For catechumens the United States norms envisage about a year. Lent brings the Rite of Election with the bishop and the three scrutinies; the OCIA overview guide gives every stage in order. Candidates already baptized may be received sooner, at a time the parish judges right, and go to confession before their reception.

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   Step 7: Choose a sponsor and, if you wish, a saint's name

   During the catechumenate you choose a godparent (for the unbaptized) or a sponsor (for the baptized): a practising Catholic, at least sixteen, confirmed, who has received the Eucharist and lives the faith, and who is not your parent. They stand with you at the rites and, more importantly, walk with you afterward. Many people also choose a saint's name, taken at Baptism or Confirmation as a patron, a custom rather than a requirement. Read the lives of a few saints and pick one whose story speaks to yours; the saints of this site are a good place to begin.

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   Step 8: The Easter Vigil, and after

   On the night of Holy Saturday, at the Easter Vigil, catechumens are baptized, confirmed and receive first Communion, and candidates make their profession of faith, saying the Apostles' Creed▾ and the Church's form of assent, and are confirmed and receive the Eucharist. It is the most beautiful liturgy of the year and you will be at the centre of it. Then comes mystagogy, the Easter season and the first year in which you learn to live as a Catholic within the community. Becoming Catholic ends at the Vigil; being Catholic begins there.

Tips

• There is no charge, no test to pass and no obligation to continue; you may stop at any point, and many people take more than one run at it.
• If you were baptized in another Christian church with water and the Trinitarian formula, your baptism is valid and will not be repeated.
• Do not wait until you have all your questions answered. The questions are what inquiry is for.
• If a parish does not respond, try another; parishes vary, and the Church is bigger than any one of them.

Related practices

• Spiritual Direction

Related saints

• Saint Augustine of Hippo
• Saint John Henry Newman