Did you know that the word catholic means “for everyone”? The Catholic Church around the whole world is filled with all kinds of people who know and love Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2000 years ago, the Son of God became man so that we could know God. Jesus revealed to us his Father in heaven, healed the sick and worked all kinds of miracles to show us that he really is God. Then he showed how much he loves us by dying for us on the cross to save us. On the third day, he rose again from the dead, before returning to his Father in heaven.

Jesus founded the Catholic Church so that everyone who looks for him can find him. Anyone can become a member — that’s what the name means.

Do you think God might be calling you to follow him in the Catholic Church? You don’t need to make any firm decisions before you can start asking questions. Speak to a priest to start learning more about what Catholics believe. No one will try to rush you into anything.

How do I become a Catholic?

We become members of the Church by being baptised (or christened) and confirmed. If you were baptised in another church either as an adult or as a child, you won’t need to be baptised again, but instead will be received into the Church and confirmed.

Before adults can be baptised, received or confirmed, there has to be a period of preparation or catechesis. This might seem strange when we think about it, since we regularly baptise babies — and they have no idea what’s happening to them! This illustrates a very important point: the sacraments of baptism and confirmation aren’t something human beings do. Baptism is a gift from God, and it is God who does the work when we are baptised. The same is true in confirmation. Since it is God himself working, it doesn’t matter whether we understand what’s happening or not in order for it to work. Babies are validly baptised with no understanding of what is happening to them. But unless those baptised babies are taught the faith as they grow up, their baptism won’t do them much good in leading a Christian life. So in the same way, the Church asks adults seeking baptism or confirmation to make sure they understand what they are asking for.

If you like to learn more about becoming Catholic contact any of the priests of the parish or the Parish Pastoral Worker

You can download a copy of Thinking about Becoming Catholic booklet here