The Catholic Church is among the world’s oldest institutions dating back about 2,000 years. Despite this, and the steady decline in membership in U.S. churches, two percent of U.S. adults are converts to Catholicism. Each year, adults interested in converting to Catholicism or becoming full members of the Church have an opportunity to receive the Sacraments of Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and Communion – at the Easter Vigil. 

This year, the Catholic Standard interviewed new members of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in downtown Washington, D.C., about their different paths to Catholicism. 

The Easter Vigil is the cornerstone of the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) as it celebrates Jesus’s resurrection. Across The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, about 1,000 participants in the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) received their Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil on April 8.

Catechumens who were recognized as the elect at the Rite of Election at the beginning of Lent – have not yet been baptized, whereas candidates have been baptized as Catholics or in other Christian faiths. At the Easter Vigil, the elect received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion, and candidates received the sacraments of Confirmation and Communion, and they became full members of the Catholic Church. The program is flexible, as people join on their own time, staggered throughout the year.

L.J. Milone serves as the director of faith formation at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and organizes the RCIA program at the cathedral. Of all the Church teachings he passes along, there’s one top priority for him as his candidates and catechumens move forward toward receiving the sacraments.  

“How to pray. I don’t care if they can’t recite the catechism… Most programs tend to focus on Church teachings, I think that has to be secondary to this relationship with God,” Milone said. “Everything makes sense when you start to experience God and pray and then it gives you more openness to hearing what the Church has to say and more conviction when you think, when your conscience says, ‘I don't know about that.’”

Rebecca Kinnebrew, who received the sacraments of Confirmation and Communion at the Easter Vigil, had been baptized in the Methodist faith. She said becoming Catholic was important for fostering a more structured and traditional spiritual life. Although she attended a Catholic high school in Alabama with her Catholic fiance and is the second person to convert in her immediate family, following her brother, Kinnebrew still has been surprised as she delves deeper into the faith. 

“I think [what has surprised me is] how many traditions there are, how many prayers there are, how many saints there are, how many different ways to interpret Scripture, how many women have been involved in creating the Catholic Church as it is now,” Kinnebrew said. “Which actually, was a big surprise for me and became something that drew me more and more into the faith.”

She listed St. Catherine of Siena and Mother Teresa as just a few religious figures Kinnebrew appreciates. Although she did have to consider any hesitations about joining the Church, she said Catholic teaching resonates deeply with her. 

“One thing I particularly like is how the Catholic Church thinks that the body and the soul are one, that’s very important to me. I think that’s a really core, important teaching,” Kinnebrew said. 

Aliye Garrett, who has been preparing alongside Kinnebrew, received Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion during the Easter Vigil. Although Garrett’s mother was Christian, she grew up in a Muslim household. 

Despite not having much interest in any religion while growing up, Garrett said her feelings shifted as she entered adulthood.

“In the past couple years, you know, grad school, having a real job, having to pay all the bills and everything, I thought, okay, this is a lot. I want something to bring me comfort and calm me down,” Garrett said. 

Her mother and grandmother have met her decision with enthusiasm. Garrett’s sponsor was her best friend from Louisville, Kentucky who flew out for the Easter Vigil.

She said her experience so far has been positive, and that whenever she reads or comes across something she doesn’t completely understand, she reflects on a quote from the English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson, “theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.”

“I go, you know what? I’m not going to reason why. It’s just the way it is, and I’m going to accept it,” Garrett said. 

Although she works as a receptionist now, Garett hopes to ultimately be a homemaker.

“The end goal is stay-at-home-mom, I just can’t apply for [that] job,” Garrett said. “That’s the other thing that drew me to Catholicism, whereas like views on marriage or abortion…like waiting until marriage, I already believe that and I already think that, because of this, this, and this. And if they’re right about this, what else are they right about? So let me go ahead and see, and check it out,” Garrett said. 

She hopes to meet more Catholics through the social events at St. Matthew’s, as Catholicism grows as a community for her.

Sonja Packard moved to the D.C. area from San Diego shortly after Christmas. She had begun her RCIA program on the West Coast prior to joining St. Matthew’s. Originally hailing from Ohio and living in Florida, Packard had been baptized as a Catholic and attended Catholic school growing up. 

She said her return to Catholicism came as a result of reflecting during the pandemic. 

“I was living alone at that point, I was kind of locked in my apartment for several months alone and didn’t really see friends or family, and was around very COVID-conscious people, nothing wrong with that at all, but for me, it was a very isolating experience,” Packard said. “It was hard to spend all of that time alone and really reflect on the last decade of my life.”

Like many during the pandemic, Packard was let go from her job and felt, as she said, increasingly “disconnected.”

“I was like, ‘I need a big change in my life, I need to strike out in a new direction, I need to really figure out what I’m missing because I feel really lost,’” Packard said. This prompted the move to San Diego, where she made friends with a group of people involved in their Catholic faith who invited her to Mass with them.

“At first, I was kind of skeptical, like ‘here we go again,’” Packard said. “But one thing I’ve found about people who have a close relationship with God and a dedication to their faith is that they just seem to be so blessed. They just seem to move through life so easily, even when as things happen, as they always do, and challenges come up, they just face it with a level of confidence and assuredness that I just couldn’t relate to,” Packard said. 

She said her boyfriend is very supportive of her decision to complete her Sacraments of Initiation – Confirmation and Communion – in the Catholic Church, as he himself converted to Catholicism in college. She looks forward to her future in the Church. 

“I do have the sense that I’m stepping into something that is really great. I want to make sure that the things that I’m doing and the way that I’m living, the lifestyle I lead is in line with what is to come next. There’s a transformation that’s happening actively,” Packard said.