Why the Catholic Church?

The Catholic Church can trace her line of authority through an unbroken chain of succession all the way from Peter, the rock upon which Jesus founded His Church, down to the current Vicar of Christ, Pope John Paul II. In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church, the Apostles left bishops as their successors. The Apostles gave the bishops their own position of teaching authority. We know from inspired Scripture that the apostolic preaching was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time. We call it "Apostolic Succession" because the validly ordained bishops in the Catholic Church derive their authority through a direct line of succession passed down to them from the Twelve Apostles.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

It is my understanding that an adult who has been validly baptized needs to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in order to be received in full communion with the Church. A priest needs to be involved in this "period of the catechumenate" in order to make sure that we are properly preparing the individual for the Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation. Usually this celebration takes place during the Easter Vigil Liturgy on Holy Saturday. There is the possibility of getting an exception from the Bishop for one of the priests to perform the Sacrament of Confirmation prior to that time.

"As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion.... Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion." (Non-Catholics and Holy Communion, Committee on the Liturgy, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)