Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion confirms readiness for the sacraments of initiation
The catechumens and candidates didn’t fit in the sanctuary of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis this year.
As Greg Barker surveyed the packed cathedral before the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion, he noted what a “good problem” that was. St. Joseph Parish in Manchester, where Barker is director of intercultural ministries, evangelization and faith formation, has 24 people planning to enter the Church at Easter.
“There is a resurgence of some kind happening in the Church,” Barker said. “I feel like I read about or hear about it, and now I’m seeing it.”
More than 1,000 people are preparing to be received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil this year across the Archdiocese of St. Louis. That number includes catechumens, who are unbaptized individuals who will receive the three sacraments of initiation: baptism, first Communion and confirmation; and candidates, who have already been baptized and will receive confirmation and first Communion to enter into full communion with the Church.
This year, the archdiocese totals 1,011 catechumens and candidates, according to the Office of Christian Initiation. That’s up from 683 last year at the Rite of Election — a 48% increase in those preparing for Easter sacraments.
The number of people planning to come into the Church as of the date of the Rite of Election can fluctuate somewhat before Easter; sometimes, catechumens or candidates delay receiving the sacraments for various reasons. The total number of people who enter the Church during a calendar year includes adults and children older than 7 who receive the sacraments of initiation at times other than the Easter Vigil.
The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion, celebrated this year on Feb. 21-22, formally confirms the catechumens’ and candidates’ readiness for the sacraments. During the rite, parish coordinators of Christian initiation approach the sanctuary and read the names of catechumens and candidates to be presented to the archbishop. Each also displays their Book of the Elect, which lists the catechumens’ names. (Because of their baptism, candidates are already considered members of the elect.)
Typically, catechumens and candidates come forward to stand in the sanctuary when their names are called, but because of the large number this year, they stood in their pews instead.
In the homily at the Mass, Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski said that we are the branches and Jesus is the true vine, the source of the call given to each person present to be united with Him through the Church. Jesus told His disciples to go out to all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
“We are here today because those disciples heard the word of Jesus, and after the Holy Spirit’s descent, they were able to go out and fearlessly proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen, the source of all life, the one who leads us to the kingdom of heaven,” Archbishop Rozanski said.
“We rejoice that you have heard God’s calling and have responded so generously,” he said.
Adam Baer had felt a pull toward the Catholic Church for a while before he started attending Christian initiation classes at St. Joseph Parish in Manchester. Baer’s wife and three children are Catholic, and a conversation with his father-in-law one night on a lake vacation helped give him the final push.
As a catechumen, he will receive baptism, first Communion and confirmation at the Easter Vigil. The Christian initiation process has helped him learn how to have a deeper personal relationship with God, Baer said, as well as learn more about the Catholic liturgies and traditions he’s seen with his family.
“Just learning more about the Mass — why we are doing the things we’re doing, and learning there’s an actual reason why we’re doing that and what it means — it helps me connect a lot more during Mass,” he said.
Emily DeTienne is among 30 candidates and catechumens at Incarnate Word Parish in Chesterfield this year. After growing up unbaptized but attending Baptist and First Christian churches, her career as a hospice nurse helped lead her to the Church. A Catholic patient she became close to would share things about her own faith — they watched Pope Leo XIV’s first appearance together — and when she died, DeTienne went to her funeral at Incarnate Word.
It was DeTienne’s first time attending Mass, and it made all the difference. She was struck by “how genuine everything was. Listening to the Word, seeing all the people there — it just really felt like home, and I felt like I belonged there,” she said.
She’s looking forward to becoming part of the Church and bringing her newfound faith into her nursing vocation, she said.
“I feel like I work in heaven’s waiting room, and I get to be an asset for people who are in that time of transition,” she said. “I’m so thankful that He’s helped me and shown me the way to where I am now.”
Megan Parks, a candidate at Incarnate Word, was inspired when she witnessed her now-husband, Aaron, be received into the Church last Easter. Both Megan and Aaron were raised Lutheran, and faith has always been important to them, she said. As Aaron went through Christian initiation last year, she started to ask more and more questions herself. The Easter Vigil sealed the deal.
“Our priest’s homily that day made me cry. Watching (Aaron) take his first Communion made me cry,” she said. “And I finally felt at home and like this is what God has meant for us, for our family. It was like a settling of heart.”
As she looks forward to becoming Catholic, the word that comes to mind is freedom, she said.
“The one that comes to mind is reconciliation and the freedom of the forgiveness of sins, but also the freedom of fully letting Christ lead your life,” she said. “That just seems like total freedom, because it’s just being fully in the presence of Christ and in communion with the true Church.”
Incarnate Word director of religious education Nicole Vonder Haar beamed as she accompanied her parish group. The biggest way her parish team helps invite people to consider entering the Church is by focusing on intentional discipleship, she said.
“It starts as friendship, and then all of a sudden, because people at Incarnate Word are living their faith so well, it’s natural — it’s brought up, people start asking questions,” she said. “People feel comfortable, and people feel safe. And when people feel comfortable and safe, they can give their ‘yes’ to the Lord.”
Christian initiation means walking with people, whatever their stories are and however long it takes them, as they come to know Jesus and His love for them, Vonder Haar said.
“It’s the greatest gift we can give as a Church,” she said.
Number received into the Church in the Archdiocese of St. Louis
These totals reflect the number of adults and children over age 7 who were received into the Church throughout the entirety of the calendar year.
- 2015: 1017
- 2016: 1013
- 2017: 963
- 2018: 849
- 2019: 809
- 2020: 589
- 2021: 653
- 2022: 719
- 2023: 844
- 2024: 789
- 2025: 962
Source: Office of Pastoral Planning
