500 to Participate in Rite of Election at Cathedral; Continuing Conversion Rite Offered at Parishes

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Five hundred catechumens will participate in the Rite of Election at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the first Sunday of Lent, March 5, and candidates will take part in the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion at their parish churches. 

Cardinal Dolan will celebrate the Rite of Election at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 2 p.m.

Men and women who have not been baptized or confirmed, or have not received First Holy Communion—the sacraments of initiation—take part in the Rite of Election during which they sign the Book of the Elect. 

Known as catechumens, these men and women have participated in the Catechumenate, or Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and are preparing to enter the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. 

Under a new archdiocesan directive, the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion will be celebrated at parish churches by the local pastor at the beginning of Lent. The rite is for men and women who are already baptized and who will receive the sacraments of confirmation and first Holy Communion during the Easter season. 

Previously, the archdiocesan Catechetical Office, on behalf of Cardinal Dolan, invited parishes to send their baptized RCIA candidates to one of several church locations throughout the archdiocese, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral, for the celebration of the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion.

A letter explaining the new directives was sent to pastors in October from Sister Joan Curtin, C.N.D., director of the archdiocesan Catechetical Office, and Oscar Cruz, director of the Catechumenate. 

All those who completed their sacraments of initiation and who have entered into full communion through the RCIA process are invited to the annual Neophytes Mass to be celebrated by Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, April 23, at 10:15 a.m. To register: nyfaithformation.org