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Becoming CatholicStep 7 of 8

The road: stages, rites and your sponsor

You don’t do this alone, and you don’t do it all at once.

Start here

Watch this first

#askfrmike: Confirmation Sponsors & Female Priests · Ascension Presents

Give it 7 minutes, then come back and we’ll walk through it together.

Video: #askfrmike: Confirmation Sponsors & Female Priests, Ascension Presents, published Mar 2, 2016. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

Becoming Catholic is a journey in stages, each marked by a rite, toward maturity of faith in a real community.12 A godparent or sponsor, a firm believer, walks with you.34

Watch first Or start reading2 min read · 7 min film
Zacchaeus in the Sycamore, by James Tissot: Zacchaeus watches from a tree as the crowd passes below.

James Tissot, Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Awaiting the Passage of Jesus, 1886–1894. Brooklyn Museum, New York. Public domain, source.

Journeys / Becoming Catholic / Step 7 of 8

On this page

Quick answers to related questions

Keep reading

All 8 steps in Becoming Catholic You’re on step 7
  1. 1. Who is Jesus?
  2. 2. Why a Church?
  3. 3. The Sacraments
  4. 4. The Mass
  5. 5. Prayer
  6. 6. The catechumenate (OCIA/RCIA)
  7. 7. The road: stages, rites and your sponsor
  8. 8. The Easter Vigil

Jericho, a sycamore tree

Becoming a Christian has always been a journey in stages, quick or slow.1

The Church marks each stage with a rite, so you can see how far you’ve come.5

Think of it less like a class, more like being walked home.

01The map

The stages, in plain English

Married before, or is your spouse? Raise it with the parish early, because a previous marriage may need a Church review (an annulment) before you can be received. Answers: What is an annulment? · Can Catholics get divorced? · Can Catholics marry non-Catholics? · What about our wedding?

First, inquiry: questions, coffee, no commitment.

Then the Rite of Acceptance: you stand up in a Sunday Mass and say you want to follow Christ. Then the catechumenate: months of learning, praying and living the faith with a parish.

On the first Sunday of Lent, the Rite of Election: the bishop calls you by name. Lent is the final preparation. At Easter, the sacraments. Afterward, a season of settling in.

The whole road is meant to bring your conversion and faith to maturity, with a real community.2

And who walks it with you?

03Already baptized?

If you were baptized in another church

Church teaching

A valid baptism is never repeated.6

Baptized Christians are usually received into full communion with a profession of faith, Confirmation and first Communion, on a path shaped to them.

Next: the night it all comes together.

Your move

Try this, this week

  1. Read Luke 19:1-10.
  2. Write down two people who might be your sponsor.
  3. Ask your parish when the next Rite of Acceptance is.

You’ll need

  • A list of two or three possible sponsors.
  • Your parish’s OCIA contact.

Remember Less like a class, more like being walked home.

If this is hard

If you don’t know a single Catholic, tell the parish. They’ll help you find a sponsor. That happens all the time.

How to talk to a priest

Only one thing to do

Your one next step

Email your parish OCIA coordinator and ask: when does the next group start, and how do I find a sponsor?

Find a parish near you

Step 7 of 8 · Becoming Catholic

Next: the Easter Vigil.

Step 8: The Easter Vigil
Back to all steps

Take it with you

Printable one-page cardDownload card (A4 PDF)Download card (US Letter PDF)

Short link: stoneandincense.com/go/bc7

Your real next step

This page can’t give you the sacraments. A parish can.

We’re just pointing. People walk with you. Find a Catholic parish near you, go to a Mass, or just ask a priest for ten minutes. You don’t need to have it figured out.

Take the next step What to say when you callYour OCIA kit

Notes

How we know · 6 sources for this page
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1229. vatican.va
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1248. vatican.va
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1255. vatican.va
  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1311. vatican.va
  5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1232. vatican.va
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1272. vatican.va

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain), modern verse numbers; Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Early Christian writers: Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885, public domain). Video: “#askfrmike: Confirmation Sponsors & Female Priests,” Ascension Presents, supporting material, not a teaching source.

Scenes marked “Imagine” are an invitation to picture the moment, not a historical record. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.