INTRODUCTION 1. Catechesis is an essential part of the broader process of renewal that the Church is called to bring about in order to be faithful to the command of Jesus Christ to proclaim always and everywhere his Gospel (cf Matt 28:19). Catechesis participates according to its own nature in the effort of evangelisation, in order that the faith may be supported by an ongoing maturation and express itself in a way of life that must characterise the very being of the disciple of Christ. Because of this, catechesis is related to the liturgy and to charity in making evident the essential unity of the new life which springs forth from Baptism. 2. In considering this renewal, Pope Francis, in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, has pointed out some of the distinctive characteristics of catechesis that connect it more directly to the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world. Kerygmatic catechesis9, which goes to the very heart of the faith and grasps the essence of the Christian message, is a catechesis which manifests the action of the Holy Spirit, who communicates God’s saving love in Jesus Christ and continues to give himself so that every human being may have the fulness of life. The different formulations of the kerygma, which necessarily open pathways of discovery, correspond to existential doorways into the mystery. Catechesis as mystagogic initiation10 introduces the believer into the living experience of the Christian community, the true setting of the life of faith. This formative experience is progressive and dynamic; rich in signs and expressions and beneficial for the integration of every dimension of the person. All this refers directly to an intuitive understanding, firmly rooted in catechetical reflection and ecclesial pastoral practice, which is becoming ever more urgent, that catechesis should be inspired by the catechumenal model.
9 10
Cf EG 164-165. Cf EG 166.
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