What about laypersons? What about their lifelong learning, adult education/formation? In too many cases relatively little has been done and is being done. In other cases, serious efforts are being made to begin building a new tradition. Are there exceptions for laypersons? I think so.

 The exceptions are what are now being called ecclesial communities – an umbrella term that describes the new manifestations of the Spirit in the Church. Why are they an exception? They are an exception because they have a community context through which they feed their members. The community experience is not necessarily residential. However, it does give an experience of Church as the people deepen their initiation into Christ.

What is the programme content? The content is essentially the four elements of catechesis in an ongoing manner. The specific challenge in programmes for laypersons is that if the academic component is underemphasised, the result can be uninformed spirituality and uninformed pastoral care.

What is the application to parishes? Parishes in many ways are still sacramentalising people more than forming people in the sense of the four elements of catechesis. Remember the gas station example from the catechetical workshop! Yet the potential of the parish system is enormous.

The issue of sustained presence and formation through community must become the context for lifelong learning and adult education/formation. We must give people an experience of being Church as they learn and mature in Christ. If not, we will not be very successful. We will certainly not motivate parishes to become spiritual and apostolic communities in the Church. 

It is encouraging for us to note that our people who have begun or who are continuing a process of lifelong learning and deepening faith knowledge through formation are doing just fine in our age of challenge. Others, who may form the vast majority of our people, remain unfed and quite vulnerable. We can expect continued leakage if we do not try together to do things differently.

Three suggestions for dialogue

I offer by way of conclusion some brief suggestions for reflection and for our discussion during this meeting:

1) We must go back to the document we wrote on the Ministry of Catechesis and begin to connect the dots of the four essential elements. Our tendency is still to concentrate on the first element – sharing of faith knowledge.

2) We must accept the fact that many people do not read our documents. We have to consult with professional communicators for ways to make our teaching more accessible to the people e.g. by putting them on audio tapes or a CD so people can listen to them in their cars as they travel each day.

3) Since none of us has the resources to respond to this challenge alone, we must begin to think regional on a more intense level. For example, will the Bishops agree to share certified experts from their Dioceses to provide media access on Catholic themes to the people on an agreed upon syllabus similar to the experiment that was begun in Trinidad and Tobago this year as a result of the Conference wide workshop on our own document, Guidelines for Catechesis?

Conclusion

The Permanent Board of Bishops agreed that after this reflection there would be some time for sharing. During the Holy Hour scheduled for later this morning to be organised by Bishop Kurtz, I was asked to offer four pastoral examples on the reflection I gave for personal and silent reflection before the Blessed Sacrament.

Bishop Kurtz agreed to duplicate the material for you. I want to introduce them to you now:
1) A quotation from the General Directory for Catechesis, a 1997 publication from the Congregation for Clergy. It shows how the Church Universal has been challenged to incorporate all the elements of catechesis into catechetical ministry.
2) A brief quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a 1992 publication with which we are all familiar. It stresses the responsibility of the believer not only to catechize and but also to evangelize.
3) A quotation from the National Directory for Catechesis of the USCC, a 2005 publication which integrates the various elements of catechesis as did the Pastoral Letter of this Conference in the jubilee year 2000.
4) A brief quotation from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, a 2006 publication. The quotation suggests a model for how the goals of catechesis can be integrated. Each unit stresses the importance of meditation and prayer as part of the catechetical process.    

The consensus on catechetical theory is clear. It is up to us now to create an attractive pastoral package to move the consensus into a plan of action. We are trying to build a new tradition, a new culture, a new attitude in the Church.

 The process will be difficult and will take time. In my view, how we begin the project and how we persevere in the project will have a great deal to say about the future of the Church in the Caribbean Region.