Directory for Catechesis

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING NEW EVANGELIZATION

DIRECTORY FOR CATECHESIS

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DIRECTORY FOR CATECHESIS Copyright © 2020 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano Libreria Editrice Vaticana omnia sibi vindicat iura. Sine eiusdem licentia scripto data nemini liceat hunc Directory for Catechesis denuo imprimere aut in aliam linguam vertere.

This edition first published in 2020 by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, London. Copyright © 2020 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Australian edition published in 2020 by ST PAULS PUBLICATIONS – Society of St Paul P O Box 906 Strathfield NSW 2135 www.stpauls.com.au ISBN 978 1 925494 53 2 Front cover image: Sermon on the Mount, fresco by Fra Angelico and followers, cell 32, Monastery of San Marco, Florence. Photo by Daniela Cammilli for Alinari/Alinari Archives, Florence. Reproduced with the permission of Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. © Alinari via Getty Images.

ST PAULS PUBLICATIONS is an activity of the priests and brothers of the Society of St Paul who place at the centre of their lives the mission of evangelization through the modern means of communication.

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CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

PART ONE CATECHESIS IN THE CHURCH’S MISSION OF EVANGELISATION CHAPTER I REVELATION AND ITS TRANSMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

1. Jesus Christ, revealer and revelation of the Father . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Revelation in God’s providential plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Jesus proclaims the Gospel of salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2. Faith in Jesus Christ: the response to God who reveals himself . . 36 3. The transmission of Revelation in the faith of the Church . . . . . 38 Revelation and evangelisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The process of evangelisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4. Evangelisation in the contemporary world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 A new stage of evangelisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Evangelisation of cultures and inculturation of the faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Catechesis at the service of the new evangelisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Catechesis “in a missionary going forth” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Catechesis under the sign of mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Catechesis as a “laboratory” of dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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CHAPTER II THE IDENTITY OF CATECHESIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

1. The nature of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 The intimate relationship between kerygma and catechesis . . . . . . . . . 53 The catechumenate as a source of inspiration for catechesis . . . . . . . . . 56

2. Catechesis in the process of evangelisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 First proclamation and catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Catechesis of Christian initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Catechesis and ongoing formation in the Christian life . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3. Goals of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 4. Tasks of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Leading to knowledge of the faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Initiating into the celebration of the Mystery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Forming for life in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Teaching prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Introduction to community life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

5. Sources of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Word of God in Sacred Scripture and in Sacred Tradition . . . . . . . 70 The Magisterium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 The liturgy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The testimony of the saints and martyrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Christian culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

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CHAPTER III THE CATECHIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

1. The identity and vocation of the catechist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 2. The bishop as first catechist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 3. The priest in catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 4. The deacon in catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 5. Consecrated persons in the service of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 6. Lay catechists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Parents, active participants in catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Godfathers and godmothers, co-workers with the parents . . . . . 87 The service of grandparents for the transmission of the faith . . . . . . . . 87 The great contribution of women to catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 CHAPTER IV THE FORMATION OF CATECHISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

1. The nature and goal of the formation of catechists . . . . . . . . . . . 91 2. The Christian community as privileged place of formation . . . . 92 3. Criteria for formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 4. The dimensions of formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Being and ‘knowing-how to be with’: human and Christian maturity and missionary awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Knowledge: biblical-theological formation and the understanding of human beings and the social context . . . . . . . 97 Savoir-faire: pedagogical and methodological formation . . . . . . . . . . 100

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5. The catechetical formation of candidates for Holy Orders . . . . 101 6. Centres for formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Centres for the basic formation of catechists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Centres of specialisation for officials and leaders of catechesis . . . . . 103 Higher institutes for experts in catechetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

PART TWO THE PROCESS OF CATECHESIS CHAPTER V THE PEDAGOGY OF THE FAITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

1. The divine pedagogy in salvation history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 2. Pedagogy in the faith of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Criteria for the proclamation of the evangelical message . . . . . . . . . . 113 The Trinitarian and Christological criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The criterion of salvation history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 The criterion of the primacy of grace and of beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The criterion of ecclesiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 The criterion of the unity and integrity of the faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

3. Catechetical pedagogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Relationship with the human sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

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CHAPTER VI THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH . . . . . . . 121

1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Historical note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Identity, aim, and audience of the Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Sources and structure of the Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 The theological-catechetical significance of the Catechism . . . . . . . . 124

2. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church . . . 125 CHAPTER VII METHODOLOGY IN CATECHESIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

1. The relationship between content and method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 The plurality of methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

2. Human experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 3. Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 4. Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Narrative language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 The language of art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Digital languages and tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

5. The group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 6. Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

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CHAPTER VIII CATECHESIS IN THE LIVES OF PERSONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

1. Catechesis and the family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Areas of family catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Catechesis in the family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Catechesis with the family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 The catechesis of the family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Pastoral guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 New family scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

2. Catechesis with children and teenagers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 3. Catechesis in the realm of young people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Catechesis with pre-adolescents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Catechesis with adolescents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Catechesis with young people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

4. Catechesis with adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 5. Catechesis with the elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 6. Catechesis with persons with disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 7. Catechesis with migrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 8. Catechesis with emigrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Religious assistance in countries of emigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Catechesis in the countries of origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

9. Catechesis with marginal persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Catechesis in prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

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PART THREE CATECHESIS IN THE PARTICULAR CHURCHES CHAPTER IX THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AS PARTICIPANT IN CATECHESIS . . . . . . . . . 173

1. The Church and the ministry of God’s word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173 2. The Eastern Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 3. The particular churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 4. Parishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 5. Associations, movements, and groups of the faithful . . . . . . . . 183 6. Catholic schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 7. The teaching of the Catholic religion in schools . . . . . . . . . . . .187 CHAPTER X CATECHESIS IN THE FACE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL SCENARIOS . . . . . . . . . 191

1. Catechesis in situations of pluralism and complexity . . . . . . . . 191 The urban context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 The rural context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Traditional local cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Popular piety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Shrines and pilgrimage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

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2. Catechesis in the context of ecumenism and religious pluralism . 202 Catechesis in the ecumenical context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Catechesis in relation to Judaism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Catechesis in the context of other religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Catechesis in the context of the new religious movements . . . . . . . . . 206

3. Catechesis in socio-cultural contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Catechesis and the scientific mentality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Catechesis and digital culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 General characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Anthropological transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Digital culture as religious phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Digital culture and educational questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Proclamation and catechesis in the digital era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Catechesis and some questions of bioethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Catechesis and the integrity of the person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Catechesis and environmental engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Catechesis and the option for the poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Catechesis and social engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Catechesis and the work environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 CHAPTER XI CATECHESIS AT THE SERVICE OF THE INCULTURATION OF THE FAITH . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

1. Nature and goal of the inculturation of the faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 2. Local catechisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Guidelines for obtaining the necessary approval of the Apostolic See for catechisms and other writings relative to catechetical instruction . . 233

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CHAPTER XII THE ORGANISMS AT THE SERVICE OF CATECHESIS . . . 235

1. The Holy See . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 2. The Synods of Bishops or Councils of the Hierarchy of the Eastern Catholic Churches . . . . . . . . . 236 3. The episcopal conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 4. The diocese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 The diocesan catechetical office and its tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Analysis of the situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Coordination of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 The diocesan project of catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 The practical programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Formation of catechists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

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ABBREVIATIONS SACRED SCRIPTURE Acts Acts of the Apostles Amos Amos Bar Baruch Col Colossians 1 Cor 1 Corinthians Deut Deuteronomy Eph Ephesians Exod Exodus Gal Galatians Gen Genesis Heb Hebrews Hos Hosea Isa Isaiah Jer Jeremiah John John 1 John 1 John Josh Joshua

1 Kgs 1 Kings Luke Luke Mark Mark Matt Matthew 1 Pet 1 Peter 2 Pet 2 Peter Phil Philippians Prov Proverbs Ps Psalms Rev Revelation Rom Romans 1 Thess 1 Thessalonians 1 Tim 1 Timothy 2 Tim 2 Timothy Wis Wisdom Zeph Zephaniah

DOCUMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL AA AG CD DV GE GS LG

Apostolicam Actuositatem Ad Gentes Christus Dominus Dei Verbum Gravissimum Educationis Gaudium et Spes Lumen Gentium

NA OE OT PO SC UR

Nostra Aetate Orientalium Ecclesiarum Optatam Totius Presbyterorum Ordinis Sacrosanctum Concilium Unitatis Redintegratio

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OTHER ABBREVIATIONS AAS AL ASS c. cc.

CCC CCEO CCL cf ChV CIC CT GDC EG EN id.

Acta Apostolicae Sedis Amoris Laetitia (Francis) Acta Sanctae Sedis canon canons Catechism of the Catholic Church Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium Corpus Christianorum - Latin Series compare Christus Vivit (Francis) Codex Iuris Canonici Catechesi Tradendae (John Paul II) General Directory for Catechesis (1997) Evangelii Gaudium (Francis) Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI) idem

no.

number

nn.

numbers

op. cit. opera citata PG

Patrologia Graeca (J. P. Migne)

PL

Patrologia Latina (J. P. Migne)

RCIA Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

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PREFACE The course of catechesis in recent decades has been marked by the apostolic exhortation Catechesi Tradendae. This text not only represents the journey accomplished starting from the renewal of the Second Vatican Council, it distils the contributions of numerous bishops from around the world gathered at the Synod of 1977. To use the words of that document, catechesis “has the twofold objective of maturing the initial faith and of educating the true disciple of Christ by means of a deeper and more systematic knowledge of the person and the message of our Lord Jesus Christ”1. This is an arduous task that does not allow for rigid distinctions between the various phases involved in the catechetical process. In any case the goal, although it is a demanding one, remains unchanged especially in the cultural context of recent decades. Catechesis, again with reference to the text from St John Paul II, is intended “to develop, with God’s help, an as yet initial faith, and to advance in fulness and to nourish day by day the Christian life of the faithful, young and old. It is in fact a matter of giving growth, at the level of knowledge and in life, to the seed of faith sown by the Holy Spirit with the initial proclamation and effectively transmitted by Baptism”2. In this way, catechesis remains rooted in the solid tradition that has characterised the history of Christianity since its origins. It endures as a unique formative activity of the Church that out of respect for the different age groups of believers strives to keep the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant so that it may provide support for a coherent witness.

This Directory for Catechesis is situated in dynamic continuity with the two that preceded it. On 18th March 1971, St Paul VI approved the General Catechetical Directory prepared by the Congregation for the Clergy. That Directory distinguished itself as the first systematic presentation of the teaching that emerged from the Second Vatican Council (cf CD 44). It should not be forgotten that St Paul VI considered all of conciliar teaching 1

CT 19

2

CT 20

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