They come by the hundreds — a diversity of ages, faces and life stories.

All are traveling a common journey preparing them to live the rest of their lives as one community, sharing the Catholic faith.

This year more than 1,000 catechumens and candidates representing two-thirds of the parishes in the diocese will receive the sacraments of initiation and will be welcomed into the church during Easter Vigil Masses.

Many others currently going through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults will become members of the church throughout the year.

Last year, more than 1,000 people in the diocese and more than 150,000 people nationwide were baptized as Catholics or joined in full communion with the church during the Easter Vigil.

Those who are not yet baptized are called catechumens. At Easter they receive all three sacraments of Christian initiation — baptism, confirmation and their first Eucharist. Those already baptized in other churches or who were baptized Catholic but not raised in the faith are called candidates. At Easter they receive confirmation and the Eucharist.

On March 4, the first Sunday of Lent, catechumens and candidates will gather in special ceremonies in the diocese in Sacramento and Redding to participate in a Rite of Election, for catechumens, or a Call to Continuing Conversion, for candidates.

Linda Faivre, a religious education teacher at Holy Spirit Parish in Fairfield, knows in a very intimate way the power of the RCIA process. She is current chairwoman of the Diocesan Committee on Initiation of Adults, a group comprised of laity, priests, a woman religious and deacon who have formed guidelines for the implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in the diocese.

“Catechumens are not on this journey alone,” said Faivre, who admits to initially being a bit put off that as an adult she had to attend classes to be baptized Catholic.

“I would not change that experience for anything.” she said. “People are embraced not only by their own little RCIA group but by the whole community. I was able to build a relationship with a Jesus I had only heard about.”

Kristin Cohen and her eight-year-old daughter Rachel are just now completing the RCIA process at Holy Spirit and are making final preparations to come into full communion with the church.

Raised in the Methodist Church, Cohen had been attending Mass since marrying her husband Randy, who is Catholic. It was when Rachel began asking questions Cohen couldn’t answer about what it meant to be Catholic that both mother and daughter decided to enroll in the RCIA.

“RCIA was a commitment we would do together, something we could share,” said Cohen, adding that among the gifts of becoming Catholic was that she and Randy recently renewed their wedding vows. “It has brought our whole family together.”

At St. Mary Parish in Sacramento, Joan Hanrahan serves as RCIA coordinator, a ministry to which she has devoted her time and talent for the past 25 years. She said a vibrant RCIA helps build “church communities where praying and welcoming are present.”

“I find I am spiritually enriched working with these people,” Hanrahan said. “They catechize me.”

The RCIA group includes Errica Mitchell. Mitchell is following in the footsteps of her son Caden, 10, who completed the RCIA process as a catechumen last Easter.

“Caden was my inspiration,” Mitchell said. “Both our journeys have been good and we’ve met wonderful people in the parish along the way.”

Blain Wells, a member of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Rocklin, will also be welcomed into the church this Easter.

Wells’ conversion to the Catholic faith is by his own admission, “about the last thing” he was expecting.

Describing himself as “very spiritual but not terribly religious,” Wells, a baptized but non-practicing Presbyterian, had taken a pilgrimage to Italy in July with his wife Susan, a Catholic.

During a visit to an abbey near Assisi, established by St. Clare of Montefalco nuns, Wells was introduced to some of the cloistered sisters.

At one point he remembers bowing down and kissing the hands of one of the nuns.

“I sensed they were holy. The whole monastery radiated sacredness,” Wells said.

“I was suddenly open to the idea of the Trinity and realized that faith itself is a choice and was open to that.”

While going through the RCIA process at Saints Peter and Paul with Susan, who is his sponsor, Wells answered the call to be Catholic.

“I was able to hear about other people’s relationship with God,” he said. “Class discussions of the readings made me able to think about how to apply Scripture to my life.”

The person charged with oversight of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults for the diocese’s Spanish-speaking community is Deacon Antonio Ramirez, director of Hispanic catechesis in the department of Catholic Faith Formation.

Deacon Ramirez said only approximately 25 of the diocese’s 101 parishes provide an RCIA process for Spanish-speaking parishioners. This is due in part to the reality that the majority of Hispanic Catholics are baptized as infants but may be missing one or more of the other sacraments, he said.

“The RCIA is kind of new for Hispanics,” said Deacon Ramirez, who added that in Mexico, which is predominantly Catholic, children today typically do not receive the sacrament of confirmation before they immigrate to the United States.

“Over 90 percent of the Hispanic community is Catholic when they come here but are many times become lost to other religions,” he said. “We are now seriously promoting participation in the RCIA.”

At St. Joseph Parish in Elk Grove, Esther Valadez is coordinating the church’s first RCIA process in Spanish this year.

“We were having people coming forward at Mass saying they hadn’t had first Communion but they were here, and people uncomfortable explaining they hadn’t been confirmed,” she said. “The RCIA is opening the door for all those who want to enrich themselves in their faith.”

At St. Peter and All Hallows parishes in Sacramento, the RCIA in Spanish is available for both churches at the St. Peter site while the RCIA in English meets at All Hallows.

Elizabeth Labrado, who coordinates the RCIA at St. Peter, said that taking the whole community catechesis approach to the RCIA is creating a more nurturing process for adults seeking to become Catholic. A team comprised of four RCIA guides meets every Sunday, plans retreats, and makes sure each step and rite of the process comes alive.

“People come to realize the Catholic faith is what they want, that this is their calling,” Labrado said.

One of the catechumens is Angelica, whose story of conversion is so painfully personal she prefers to give her first name only.

When Angelica was 13-years-old, she was traumatized by an experience that caused her to run away from the foster care home where she was living at the time. She then looked for refuge at a Christian church where she shared her painful experience with a counselor. Minutes later police arrived at the church and arrested her as a runaway.

“After that I didn’t believe in God,” said Angelica, remembering a betrayal of trust at the one place she felt she would be protected. “If there was a God, I thought he would have helped me that day.”

Years passed and Angelica had children of her own. Then last year she found her way to St. Peter Church where she enrolled in the RCIA.

“I needed to follow something. I have my kids in my life and I want them to believe in God,” Angelica said. “(Labrado) was there to help me and lead me on the right path.”

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