Rite of Election

PATERSON  On the First Sunday of Lent March 1, in dioceses around the world, the Rite of Election took place as catechumens took a step closer to receiving Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist — to become full members of the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, April 11.

The Diocese of Paterson welcomed 115 catechumens to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here where Bishop Serratelli selected — or elected — them. The Rite of Election formally sets the catechumen on the path toward full sacramental unity with the Church. These catechumens are now known as the elect. The Rite of Election ceremony was coordinated by Father Pawel Tomczyk, diocesan director of Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), based at St. Paul’s Inside the Walls, the Diocesan Evangelization Center in Madison.

The catechumens have been studying the tenets of Catholicism through their parish’s RCIA program, the Church’s official process by which new members prepare for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.

The children in the RICA program will be baptized while some will also receive First Holy Communion. Adults in the process will receive all three Sacraments of Initiation. In addition, some adults who have already received Baptism but previously were uncatechized who wish to complete their Christian initiation through the sacraments of Confirmation and/or Eucharist will receive these sacraments during the Easter Vigil and be received into full communion in the Catholic Church.

The Rite of Election belongs to the diocesan bishop because his presence makes a fuller manifestation of the Church. This ritual event marked by solemnity and the presence of the bishop inserts the catechumens into the broader experience of the Church. The experience of the Rite of Election drives the young catechumens beyond domestic Church and parish church into the identity of the diocesan Church.

Following the homilies, the catechumens were presented to the Bishop and both the catechumens’ godparents and the congregation made an official affirmation of the catechumens’ worthiness for reception of the Sacraments of Initiation. Then, recognition of the enrolled names was presented to the Bishop in the Book of Elect. The catechumens were then asked to stand as an act of admission or election to become the elect.

At the end of the Rite, the Bishop dismissed the newly elected to go back to their parish communities to reflect more deeply on the Word of God with the assurances of the prayers of the diocesan Church.

After the Rite of Election, a reception was held in the Bishop Rodimer Center next to the Cathedral of St. John that brought the elect together. Many of them took the opportunity to have a picture taken with Bishop Serratelli.

One parish that will be rejoicing immensely during the Easter Vigil is Sacred Heart/Holy Rosary Parish in Dover. The parish has 21 catechumens ranging in age from 9 to 38, who will be baptized and receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time, with the young adults receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation as well.

Sonia Castro, director of religious education at the Dover parish, said, “I consider having this many catechumens the work of the Lord. He is the one that calls every person by their name and it is at his time. We have to understand that no one comes to the Lord unless he calls upon them. People are responding to the call and they believe that it is the Church where they will find the answers to so many questions.”

For the past few years, the Dover parish, like many of the churches in the Diocese with a Hispanic population, has seen an increase in catechumens. “We feel blessed that we are responding to the call of Jesus in which he tells us to ‘Go, then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples,’” Castro said. “This is a task that we assume with great responsibility. Although many people are leaving the Church, we have the blessing that many are coming back home to the Truth and living as the children of God.”