March 9, 2011 // Local

Rites of Election, Calling of Candidates to be celebrated in diocesan cathedrals

Vince LaBarbera

Freelance Writer

By Vince LaBarbera

The Rites of Election of Catechumens and Calling of Candidates will be celebrated in the cathedrals in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend on the first and second Sundays of Lent.

On March 13, the First Sunday of Lent, the Rite of Election will take place in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. On March 20, the Second Sunday of Lent, the Rite of Election will be held in St. Matthew Cathedral, South Bend, also at 2 p.m.

Catechumens are those unbaptized people who will be entering the Catholic Church by receiving the sacraments of initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist — at the Easter Vigil. Candidates, those already baptized outside of the Catholic Church, are also preparing to complete their initiation and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

During the liturgy, each catechumen/candidate and their sponsor will be presented for recognition to Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, ordinary of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The catechumens and candidates are from local and area parishes of the diocese. All together, 550 to 600 catechumens and candidates from throughout the diocese — along with their sponsors, families and guests — are expected to attend the liturgies.

Prior to the ceremony, many of the catechumens and candidates will take part in an optional rite in their respective parishes that same weekend called the Parish Celebration for Sending Catechumens for Election and Candidates for Recognition by the Bishop. The catechumens will sign their names in a Book of the Elect that will be available for Bishop Rhoades to sign during the Rite of Election — often referred to as the Enrollment of Names.