The US Catholic Church has welcomed thousands of new Catholics at the Easter Vigil in what the Roman Missal describes as "the mother of all vigils".
About 60 of the nearly 200 dioceses in the United States reported numbers of catechumens and candidates entering the Church in 2017 to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington.
Catechumens receive the sacraments of initiation - baptism, confirmation and first Communion - during the Easter Vigil, having prepared for this moment through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Candidates, who are already baptised, also go through the preparation program to receive confirmation and first Communion to enter full communion with the Church.
