As Holy Week progresses, those who have been working through RCIA programmes in their parishes over recent months are looking forward to the Easter Vigil when they will finally join the Church. As Iain from Billericay Parish says: “This is not the end of the journey but the beginning of the next episode.”
Iain is one of the many who attended the Rite of Election in Brentwood Cathedral at the beginning of Lent. He says: “I grew up in a non-religious household but as a musician I spent a lot of time around churches playing music. So it was a part of my life in a different context.” His wife brought church into his household, he says. “She is Polish and hence genetically Catholic,” he says with a smile. “With two young children, I had come to a point where I was actively looking for a spiritual home – and that turned out to be the Catholic Church.”
He decided to find out more and attended the ABC course at Billericay parish, starting in September. “There were around 15 of us – a lovely group of people.” Meeting and talking to people from a range of backgrounds, professions and ages has been one of the nice things about the course. “It brought us together and integrated us into the Church because we all know other people in the congregation, through our sponsors etc.”
He adds: “It’s been a very pleasant way to learn about Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular.” The course, which included weekly Sycamore videos, was very accessible, giving the participants information and opportunities to talk, he says. “We all feel comfortable expressing ourselves and are willing to share personal things – and talk about big things like life, death and war.”
He says the course was very well structured and focused to enable participants to make an informed decision to come into the Church and play an active role in it. “Fr Dan is keen that we get involved in parish life. With young children, I will be focusing on family activities.”
His wife is really pleased that he has got so much from the process of joining the Church. Says Iain: “It is a very different experience from the way young children used to learn by heart.” He adds: “Our children were baptised in Poland and this brings the whole family into the same space.”
All in all, it has been a lovely journey, he says. “I am excited to get to the next episode. The Rite was a beautiful service, made more special because it was my first time in the Cathedral. I enjoyed meeting the sponsors from within the group and getting an idea of the scale of the Diocese. From Walthamstow to Shoeburyness, it is such a big area.” It was his first encounter with Bishop Alan, who welcomed all the candidates individually. “He was very welcoming and articulate. It was a really positive experience.”
Rob Wizik, who has been following the same path at the Cathedral parish, agrees. “The Rite was overwhelming. I was so happy to see all these other people going up to see the Bishop. I had yearned for something for so long and it was a really great feeling. And he is really welcoming.”
Rob’s story is one of unexpected rediscovery of faith. Raised in the Church of England, he attended services as a child but gradually drifted away. Before last year, he hadn’t stepped inside a church since his son’s birth in 2017.
Everything changed in 2024 during a trip to Barcelona. While visiting Santa Maria del Pi, a 15th-century Gothic church, Rob experienced a profound moment of clarity.
“I’d been wanting to visit a church for a while. I wasn’t sure why. But as soon as I stepped inside, I felt like a burden had been lifted, as if someone had removed heavy armour I’d been carrying. I knelt in the chapel and simply said, ‘Tell me what you want from me.’ You could say it was a religious experience.”
That moment stayed with him. Months later, prompted by his fiancée and son, Rob decided to return to attend St Mary & St Helen’s Cathedral in Brentwood. “My son asked me ‘what’s God?’ and ‘can we go to church one day?’,” he recalls. He was warmly welcomed by his local priest, Fr John Harvey, and, since June, has attended Mass every Sunday. Rob has been following the RCIA course at the Cathedral parish and has also founded a community on X who pray the rosary together every night at 10pm, and who have supported him through his conversion.
“Finding God and becoming Catholic has been one of the best things to happen in my life.”
He is happy to share his story with others, both on twitter and face to face. At 29, with tattoos and a beard, he says, he is not the archetypal convert. He admits to a chequered past. “My dad was not around and I never knew how to relax. As I got older I realised I was yearning for something more – and now I have found it. If I can share my journey, how it has benefitted me, it may spark interest. Some kid may say I want to do that too.”
And he is keen to give something back. “That is a big part of being a Christian. We have enough to eat, a place to live, no AK47s threatening us.” Hence he has undertaken a virtual Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage for CAFOD raising funds for its work. It will finish as he walks down the aisle of Brentwood Cathedral during the Easter Vigil Mass, where he will be confirmed into the Catholic Church.
And it will probably be the first pilgrimage of many. He has already been to Aylesford Priory and plans to visit every parish and attend the Walsingham pilgrimage too. “There is so much I want to do.”
Read more about Rob’s journey here: www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/news/walking-in-faith-robs-pilgrimage-for-cafod/