Baptisms for infants and children in this parish generally take place during one of the Sunday Masses. The first thing to do is to contact the Parish Office by email or phone to make an appointment to see the priest. You will be required to complete a baptism application form and attend a baptism course. God-parents need to be Catholic, over the age of 16 years and in good standing in the church. Non-Catholic Christians may participate in the rites of baptism and are called “Witnesses”.
For adult baptism please see the article below on “Are you interested in becoming a Catholic?”
Are you interested in becoming a Catholic?
God calls many to His church and as you might expect there is a process to becoming a Catholic. Although this is a simple process there is no time factor involved – some might start one of our courses and decide that yes, they are ready, whilst others may take years to make that decision.
The first thing to do is to start coming to Mass, for the Mass is central to our faith and it is important to see how we celebrate our faith, to see how we worship. Then make an appointment to go and see your local Parish Priest and, if you can, speak to Catholics you know about their faith.
Although there are different ways in which to become a Catholic the general route into the church for adults is through something called the RCIA, which is short for the “Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults”, more generally referred to as a “Journey in Faith” group. This is about learning in a relaxed and gentle way about the church’s teachings, its beliefs, its worship practices, prayer and the expectations that Catholics sign up to.
Part of this journey in faith will be about discernment, which is the prayerful reflection on what it is we believe God is calling us to do, and when you are ready to make that next step, the formal procedures of paperwork will need to be completed before being invited to the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion).
The RCIA course generally starts in the autumn and runs until Easter the following year; details about the course can be found in the parish newsletter.