As the Acts of the Apostles testify, the first Christians baptized without delay those who wanted to follow the way of Christ. From the 3rd century, the requirements strengthened: a catechesis was put in place accompanied by initiation rites. The term catechumenate only appeared in the 16th century in the context of missions: “We then spoke more of initiation, without unified practices like today,” recalls the theologian Roland Lacroix, who works, with the theologian Isaia Gazzola, on the dialogue between ancient and contemporary forms of Christian initiation.
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