New Directory for Catechesis
is “a joyful event in the life of the Church"
Archbishop Rino Fisichella presenting the new Directory for Catechesis during the press conference
The Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New
Evangelization presents the new Directory for Catechesis during a press
conference held in the Vatican on Thursday.
By Vatican News
“The publication of a Directory for Catechesis is a joyful
event in the life of the Church.” These were the opening words of Archbishop
Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the
New Evangelization, during a press conference in the Vatican organized on the
occasion of the release of a new Directory for Catechesis on Thursday.
Presenting the Directory, Archbishop Fisichella said the new
edition, the third since the Second Vatican Council, is the result of a
wide international consultation.
The new Directory for Catechesis was released in Italian on
Thursday. It will be also published in other major languages.
Other speakers at the press conference included
Archbishop Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van
Elst, Delegate for Catechesis and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Promotion of the New Evangelization respectively.
Background
Archbishop Fisichella notes that “the need for a new
Directory was born of the process of inculturation which characterizes
catechesis in a particular way and which, especially today, demands a special focus.”
He cites the example of the global phenomenon of the digital
culture, pointing out that the instruments created in the last decade manifest
a “radical transformation of behaviors” that influence “the formation of
personal identity and interpersonal relations.” This new model of communication
and formation “also affects the Church in the complex world of education.”
Theological and ecclesial reasons have also contributed to
the preparation of the new Directory. Fisichella recalls that several recent synods
have consistently treated the theme of evangelization and catechesis. Pope
Francis also picked up the theme in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
gaudium during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of
the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“Catechesis, therefore, must be united intimately with the
work of evangelization and cannot be separated from it,” Fisichella affirms.
This is because “Evangelization is the task that the Risen Lord has
entrusted His Church in order to be, in the time of every age, the
faithful announcement of his Gospel.”
“Kerygmatic Catechesis”
“The heart of catechesis is the proclamation of the person
of Jesus Christ,” Fisichella said. Jesus “surpasses the limits of space and
time to present Himself to each generation as the good news offered to reach
the meaning of life,” he added.
Fisichella points out that in light of Evangelii
gaudium, the Directory supports a “kerygmatic catechesis” because
“primacy belongs to evangelization, not to catechesis.”
Therefore, the proclamation of the person of Jesus
(the kerygma) is also an proclamation of the mercy of God directed
at the sinner, who is no longer excluded, but rather a privileged guest at the
banquet of salvation.
Varying themes
Fisichella explains that the Directory unfolds by touching
on various themes.
The first — mystagogy — is presented
through two elements: a renewed appraisal of the liturgical signs of Christian
initiation, and the progressive maturation of the formation process, which
involves the whole community.
Another theme is the link between evangelization and the
catechumenate. This highlights the urgency of a “pastoral conversion” to free
catechesis from elements that prevent its effectiveness.
Reiterating Pope Francis’s words in Evangelii
gaudium, when he encouraged formation using in the “way of beauty” (via
pulchritudinis), Fisichella points out that the Directory “has placed
the way of beauty as one of the ‘sources’ of catechesis.”
The Archbishop also highlights that the Directory strives to
“insert us progressively into the mystery of the faith.” He points out that
this characteristic cannot be limited to a single dimension; rather catechesis
can guide us to accept and live the mystery “completely in our daily
existence.”
In his intervention, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van
Elst said that the Directory is attentive to the signs of the times and
interprets them in the light of the Gospel. He pointed out that it gives
courage to the content of faith and underlines the importance of catechesis in the
wider process of evangelization. He also hopes that many local churches would
be inspired to develop their own diocesan directories based on this new
Directory.
Concluding, Archbishop Fisichella said he hopes the new
Directory will be of assistance for the “renewal of catechesis in the process
of evangelization that the Church has not tired of carrying out.”
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