Franciscan at Home

As the Bishop of Lancaster, I published my teaching document Fit for Mission? Schools on Catholic education and the ethos of Catholic schools in November 2007. It was distributed to all parents, teachers, and school governors in my diocese.

To be honest, my document isn’t groundbreaking, just a simple and clear presentation of the Church’s understanding of the identity and role of Catholic schools, and a frank assessment of problems, with some practical suggestions.

We need a renaissance of catechesis in Catholic schools.

To put it simply, the purpose of Fit for Mission? Schools is to promote a renaissance of evangelisation and catechesis in Catholic schools. If a school does not present the fullness of Catholic faith to our students, so that they have the opportunity of entering into a living relationship with the person of Jesus Christ, then they offer nothing worthy of the name ‘Catholic’.

At the heart of my strategy is the expectation that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is placed at the heart of the life of schools and colleges in my diocese. Little did I realise the reaction such a proposal would cause in my own country and around the world. Nowadays for a bishop to insist that schools present the fullness of Catholic faith with clarity and conviction is to invite controversy, opposition and hostility, from both inside and outside the Church – from those Catholics who dissent from the teaching of the Church and from powerful groups in secular society.

Subsequent events have convinced me that in order to face such challenges catechists, more than ever, need to deepen their co-operation with the gifts of the Holy Spirit received through the sacrament of Confirmation, especially the gift of courage. The sacrament of Confirmation is a much neglected and underdeveloped source of grace and strength in the life of the Church.

“If youth can lead one another to sin, why not to sanctity?” So wondered St. John Bosco as he undertook his life’s work with poor boys in Turin in the 1850s. And youth ministers have asked themselves the same question ever since.

In the last issue of The Sower Jose Varickasseril highlighted Paul’s methods for catechesis. Here is a practical application of his lessons in the area of youth evangelization and catechesis. Reprinted here with permission from Celia Siriois.

Peer ministry is built on the premise that young people can indeed influence one another to the good, that they can be light and leaven in the world in which they find themselves. In many ways peer ministry is the goal toward which all youth ministry tends. It takes with radical seriousness the words of the prophet Joel echoed by Peter in his first sermon: “’And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams’” (Acts 2:17; cf. Joel 2:28). Peter announces the good news that the saving work of Jesus has inaugurated the last days. The Spirit has been poured out on all God’s people without distinction. Now young and old alike are sent to bear witness to the gospel.

Peer ministry seeks to awaken the baptismal imagination of the young, to make them mindful of the gift and call of their Baptism. It encourages them to begin even now to participate actively and responsibly in the work of evangelization. In many ways it is a school, educating the hearts, minds and wills of young people, equipping them to make an intelligent and imaginative contribution to the Church and the world.

There is a word, which starts with the letter ‘M’, which almost never fails to prompt a strong reaction in catechetical circles. Whether you love the concept behind this word or hate it, its mere mention has been known to cause an immediate hush to fall over a group of otherwise happily chatting catechists. For many today, the ‘M-word’ is a nasty word, bringing one back in memory to the not too distant ‘dark ages’ of catechesis. For others, the absence of this word from our catechetical conversation is one of the significant reasons for a drop-off in understanding and literacy in the truths of the Faith.
The newly published Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church is quite careful in its reference to the ‘M-word’ in its description of how the Compendium can be best used. When describing its question and answer format and the fact that what is presented in the text is the truly essential, the Compendium states, ‘the dialogical format also lends itself to brevity in the text, by reducing it to what is essential. This may help the reader to grasp the contents and possibly to memorize them as well.’ Imagine that - ‘possibly’ memorizing chosen selections from the Compendium!
Yes, the controversial ‘M-word’ is back! - although part of the purpose of this article is to demonstrate that it never left the Church’s late-twentieth century magisterial catechetical vision.

Leonard Franchi proposes uses for the Compendium in the education programmes for Catholic teachers.

Catholics schools best fulfill their mission when they are staffed by teachers who are committed heart and soul to their own faith tradition. This applies to teachers at all stages in the educational journey. If the role of the Catholic teacher is pivotal to the Gospel witness of the school, it follows that the educational institutions which prepare Catholic students for the vocation of teaching should have the faith formation of their students at the core of their course design. How can this be done?