THE
P RTAL
April 2019
Page 9
Catholic Social Teaching
Conversion
Fr Ashley Beck
‘ Protect them
from vain reliance on self and defend them from the power of Satan. Free them from
the spirit of deceit, so that, admitting the wrong they have done, they may attain purity of heart…’(Scrutiny
1) ‘Free these elect from the false values that surround and blind them...free those who are enslaved by the
father of lies.’ (Scrutiny 2) ‘Free these elect from the death-dealing power of the spirit of evil, so that they may
bear witness to their new life in the risen Christ’ (Scrutiny 3)
These words are extracts from prayers said at the three
‘Scrutinies’ – special ceremonies designed to support
adults preparing during Lent for their baptism at the Easter
Vigil. As you read this in early April, these catechumens
will be very near this great event in their lives.
All over our country and the rest of the world large
numbers of adults are going through this process which
we call the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
One of the most important ways in which the Church’s
liturgy has been renewed since the reforms called for
by the Second Vatican Council has been the restoration
of this public process, culminating in the most solemn
act of worship of the Christian Year, the Easter Vigil.
geared to our needs and our past life in the Anglican
Communion, recognising the graces we received
before we became Catholics. But we should not lose
sight of the fact that although it’s not the same as what
happens with those who have not been baptised, it is
still a real process of conversion and change.
If we weren’t going to change then there would be no
point in the process. If we try to invite others – perhaps
our brothers and sisters who are still in the Church
of England – to become Catholics, it’s a great mistake
to minimise this step, or make it appear to be easy, a
means of access to cheap grace. Becoming a Catholic
is always a big step in our lives, to be taken seriously;
and that means that for all of us who have done this, it
It has done so much to renew our parishes and to involves a turning away from what is flawed and sinful
deepen our experience of Lent. While it has had an in our past lives.
immense effect in the life of the Catholic Church, the
RCIA has also influenced similar programmes in the
If we look at the language of the scrutiny prayers
Church of England and other communities, such as the quoted above, the tradition of Catholic Social
Emmaus programme. Conversion is seen not simply Teaching helps us understand what this means. The
as a private affair between the prospective convert and moral teaching of Catholicism makes demands of us,
the priest, but rather as a process of joining and being by asserting that our faith has to be about the whole
affirmed by the local Catholic community in its public of our lives: as the Catholic Bishops put in their 1996
liturgy in Lent.
document on social teaching, The Common Good,
‘Nothing is beyond the scope of faith.’ Becoming a
These extracts are not simply prayers – they are part Catholic means embracing all that the Church teaches
of a rite of exorcism, when we ask God to keep those about society, about God’s preferential love for the
preparing to become Christians safe from evil (just we poor, about peace in the world, the sanctity of life, the
pray in the same way before a baby is baptised). This rights of workers, care for creation and so on.
insistence, which perhaps we often avoid thinking
about, reiterates that any process of conversion is about
This is particularly important for ex-Anglicans, since
turning away from things in our lives which are sinful the Church of England historically has always been
and flawed and turning to God, the source of all truth, identified with the powerful and the rich in society,
whom we encounter in the life of the Catholic Church. with the ‘establishment’ in British society – although
of course the Anglo Catholic movement has been
Scrutinies are for those seeking baptism. In most marked in many places by a tremendous concern for
of our parishes and groups adults seeking baptism the poor. So this Easter, this April, those becoming
are joined by Christians baptised in other churches, Catholics will be turning away from evil in our society,
including the Church of England. Most of us reading including ways of living which oppress those who are
this P ortal have been through a similar process
... continued at the foot of the next page Ø