Statement of gratitude

I want to take advantage of the opportunity provided by this column on “Evaluating Catechesis” to thank most sincerely all those who have participated in catechetical/religious education ministry during the last school year in union with their parish priests/parish administrators, the Catechetical Office of the Archdiocese, the principals of the Catholic schools and the leadership of the Children on Fire for Christ Programme which serves the needs of Catholic children in government schools.

I am grateful to the Commissions and Secretariats of the archdiocese which participate in the education/formation responsibilities of the Church e.g. Family Life, Evangelisation and Youth.

My gratitude extends to groups that are not part of the official structures of the archdiocese but which are committed to the ministry of education/formation. (Guidelines will be issued in September to facilitate better order in the archdiocese on the ministries of various groups that operate in good faith to serve the Church).

Allow me to identify specifically those who fall into the category of participants in catechetical/religious education ministry. I refer to: 

1) The Catechetical Department of the archdiocese which, among other things, provides texts to catechists in both parish-based programmes and teachers in school-based programmes. For the information of the archdiocese, the Education Commission of the Antilles Episcopal Conference and some Bishops of the Caribbean region have ordered copies of these books for their dioceses. These texts are mandatory for the parishes and schools of the archdiocese. While parishes and schools may supplement the text, they may not replace the text.

2) Parents who take a personal interest in the Catholic education/formation of their children and become involved as educators in the faith for their children at home; 

3) Principals and teachers in Catholic schools and the leadership of the Children on Fire for Christ Programme in government schools;

4) Catechists on all levels of parish-based programmes whether pre-sacramental or adult education/formation; 

5) Those who are involved in Adult Education/Formation either in the Correspondence Courses of the Archdiocesan Catechetical Department or the electronic programme that is being sponsored for the Caribbean Region by the Catechetical Commission of the Bishops’ Conference.

The context for catechesis and religious education

There are two major themes for catechesis and religious education: Integrated religious education/formation and lifelong catechesis.

Integrated religious education/formation means the interrelationship of the “Think Four” formula i.e. the ongoing interaction among the essential elements of catechesis: faith knowledge, formation based on faith knowledge, commitment to the Lord based on formation and involvement in mission based on commitment to the Lord.

Lifelong catechesis refers to the teaching of the Church that the challenge and process of growth never ends. It journeys with us until death.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding the best efforts of many committed and skilled people, many adults and children still understand catechesis exclusively in terms of pre-sacramental preparation and the communication of knowledge about the faith. There is still much to be done.

Evaluating catechesis

In my younger days, I was privileged to participate in a number of visitations of theology schools for the Board of Regents of the State of New York, the then National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Seminary Visitation Programme of the Vatican.

One of the very valuable processes we used during the visitation was not only to examine carefully the Vision and Mission Statement for the total programme, but also to measure how well the Vision and Mission Statement was implemented through the instrument of Outcome Studies i.e. how well did the graduates do relationally (human formation) academically, spiritually and pastorally. The Outcome Study grouped graduates in five-year categories for about a 20-year period.

A proposal

I wonder whether a consensus could be developed in the archdiocese through non-threatening dialogue facilitated by a committee of representatives from various departments of the archdiocese to evaluate the effectiveness of catechesis/religious education in the archdiocese.

The context for the evaluation would be the Think Four Formula and the lifelong catechesis theme. Some issues to be pursued, should a consensus be eventually developed, would be:

• How well do the recipients of a sacrament understand the teaching of the Church on the Sacrament? Should there be an age-appropriate test based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the text provided by the Catechetical Department before the reception of the sacraments to objectify readiness for the sacrament?

• What is the attitude of the recipients about the connection between catechesis and spirituality? How does it operate in their public worship of God and in their personal prayer life?
Do they ever renew the commitment they made to the Lord when they received a sacrament to keep it alive as an influential force in their lives?

What have they ever done for the Church as a result of having received the sacraments? Do they understand the call to mission? Are they committed to mission?
Have they persevered as believers in the practice of their faith? Are they committed to lifelong catechesis and spiritual growth?

• Why is it that so many people who have received the sacraments have just disappeared from the believing community? Many of them never joined other religions, they just stopped practising their faith. What happened to all those people? Is their disappearance just a series of individual stories?

Or is there enough “Outcome” evidence already available to conclude that the call of Pope John Paul II for a New Evangelization was quite accurate and the time has come to deepen our response as an archdiocese? 

Conclusion

We are quickly approaching the time of summer vacation. One of the good things that we can do as we experience all the fun, rest and varied rhythm of life that is part of vacation is to think – just a little.

What do you think about evaluating the effectiveness of catechesis in the archdiocese? Is it a good idea or not? Is it possible to do or not?

Based on the information (“Outcome” data) that is available, is it time to decide as an archdiocese to intensify our commitment to the essential process of catechesis specified by the Think Four Formula and the theme of lifelong catechesis?

I invite you to share your thoughts with Sr Columba Byrne HF, the Chairperson of the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office in September.  Her office is at the Catholic Centre.