Rite of Election to be held at local church parishes

Because of COVID-19, for the first time in the Diocese of Baton Rouge there will be no diocesan gathering at St. Joseph Cathedral to celebrate the Rite of Election for the unbaptized and/or the Call to Continuing Conversion of baptized candidates who are preparing for confirmation and/or Eucharist or reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church. 

As a precaution to help diminish a possible spread of the coronavirus, for this year only, Bishop Michael G. Duca is delegating each pastor to celebrate the Rite of Election in their local church parish, according to Father Tom Ranzino, director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

“When you’re in the liturgical Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults, there is a particular locale and minister that replaces the local pastor in terms of celebrating the rites for initiation or the journey toward initiation, and that specific locale and minister is for the Rite of Election,” Father Ranzino said. “And that belongs to the bishop. Most of the time it would happen in the bishop’s church, the cathedral.”   

This happens in two ways: one is called the Rite of Election, which is only for the un-baptized, according to Father Ranzino.

“In some dioceses they celebrate that rite only for the unbaptized. During that rite the bishop declares them, those who are called catechumens, to be the elect. They are chosen for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist at the next Easter Vigil,” he said.

The second way is the combined rite. The combined rite includes not only the unbaptized catechumens but also those who are baptized non-Catholic and they wish to receive confirmation and Eucharist. Also included are those who were baptized Catholic but were not catechized and have not made their first Communion. They, too, would receive confirmation and Eucharist. 

“At our cathedral, we have had the tradition of doing the combined rite. This year, because of the pandemic, consulting across the region on what other dioceses were doing and having many conversations with Bishop Duca, it seems reasonable to reconsider how we might do the Rite of Election and/or the combined rite at the cathedral given the COVID protocols. We were very concerned that we would not be able to house in this cathedral, based on the COVID restrictions, the number of people that normally attend. 

“We also didn’t want this to become in anyway a superspreader.”

The diocese deals with hundreds of candidates and sometimes more than 100 unbaptized at the cathedral, Father Ranzino pointed out.

“When you say you’re going to have a godparent and a sponsor and if you are dealing with a child over seven you need to have parents and team members, the numbers add up very quickly,” he said.

Parishes can limit the Rite of Election to only the unbaptized catechumen and perform it in a Sunday Mass on the first Sunday of Lent, or they can do a combined rite within the Mass. 

Father Ranzino noted that a separate rite for the already baptized, The Call to Continuing Conversion for the Already Baptized, is not a required rite to be celebrated.

“Baptized candidates do not have to be recognized this way. The combined rite is an option, it does not have to be done. What does have to be done is declaring the unbaptized as the elect ready for the Easter sacraments,” Father Ranzino said.

A pastor can do it within a Liturgy of the Word that afternoon or another day of the pastor’s choosing.

“At the cathedral, it’s not done within the Mass, it is a Liturgy of the Word,” Father Ranzino said.

He said the decision to do things differently this year has a couple of advantages.

“The pastors know how safety protocols can be done best in his own church,” said Father Ranzino.

In addition to keeping things safe, Father Ranzino said a parish community, particularly if it’s done within a Sunday Mass, can see what a Rite of Election or combined rite is all about.

“It’s a little streamlined but the essence of the rite is still there,” said Father Ranzino.

Bishop Duca is going to send to every parish a brief exhortation telling (cathechumens and candidates) that although “we can’t gather, the pastors are going to represent him in declaring the unbaptized as the elect and accepting into candidacy the already baptized – he has great joy with the wish we can all be together but he will be present by praying with the church.”