Bahasa-bahasa

Franciscan at Home

Forming those who form others

Antiquum Ministerium: Instituting the Ministry of Catechist

On May 10, 2021, Pope Francis formally instituted the ministry of catechist with the apostolic letter Antiquum Ministerium, which he issued motu proprio, or on his own initiative and under his personal signature. An initial reaction to the formal institution of the role of catechist might be to wonder, “So what’s new?” The role of catechist has been understood as a ministry of the Church since the first century.

In the first sentence of this apostolic letter, Pope Francis refers to catechesis as an ancient ministry.[1] Indeed, twice in the Gospel of Luke, twice in his Acts of the Apostles, and twice in Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians the precise use of different forms of the Greek verb katécheó, meaning to teach by word of mouth and from which the term “catechesis” is derived, clearly identifies the roots of this ancient ministry and describes its parameters. The ministry of catechesis, then, from the earliest days of the Church seems specifically included among the ways the disciples of Christ could be faithful to his imperative to “go . . . and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19; emphasis added).

The rest of this online article is available for current Guild members.

Join the Guild today!

Monsignor John Pollard is a former member of the Holy See’s International Council for Catechesis. He is the founding Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of the Catechism and the former Director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Department of Evangelization and Catechesis. The author of Exploring the Catholic Faith (Benziger) and Know, Love, and Live the Catholic Faith (Our Sunday Visitor), he presently serves as Pastor Emeritus of Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago, Illinois. 

 

This article is from The Catechetical Review (Online Edition ISSN 2379-6324) and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of The Catechetical Review by contacting [email protected]

Categorized Under
Issue: 

Current Issue: Volume 10.4

Designed & Developed by On Fire Media, Inc.