Franciscan at Home

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).

When John Everett Millais’ Christ in the House of His Parents was first displayed at the Royal Academy, the public response was near-universal revulsion.

Beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is the place where tradition tells us the Angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary. An altar stands in this grotto, inscribed with these words: “verbum caro hic factum est” (the Word became flesh here).

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This is a paid advertisement in the July-September 2021 issue. Advertisements should not be viewed as endorsements from the publisher. 

"The Church is alive in Iraz, and Christ is alive in Iraq."

Pope Francis, March 7, 2021 Erbil, Iraz

On my fiftieth birthday, I received as a gift a detailed map of the world. The map holds pins of places traveled on behalf of Franciscan University of Steubenville and the names of cohort members in the Master of Catholic Leadership graduate program, of which I am the director. Each name on the map is significant as is the story of how they have come to their leadership role.

In March of 2021, I had the privilege of adding my own pin to this map. Along with Fr. David Pivonka, TOR, and Dr. Daniel Kempton, Vice President for Academic Affairs, I traveled to Erbil, Iraq at the invitation of Archbishop Bashar Warda. Our trip coincided with Pope Francis’s historic visit to Iraq.

In its “practical directions” for reading the Catechism the authors have placed a brief instruction:

This catechism is conceived as an organic presentation of the Catholic faith in its entirety. It should be seen therefore as a unified whole. Numerous cross-references in the margin of the text (numbers found at the end of a sentence referring to other paragraphs that deal with the same theme), as well as the analytical index at the end of the volume, allow the reader to view each theme in its relationship with the entirety of the faith.[1]

What is the meaning of such a direction? What would such a practice look like? How should it be undertaken and what is its value?

In 2020, the Shepherds of the Church gave us a treasure in the new Directory for Catechesis. Dr. Farey was a member of the working party for the bishops on the new Directory and shares additional reflections on its practical implications in this issue and the next two issues.

There is an uncomfortable reality of spiritual multiplication with which we catechists, ministers, and missionaries must wrestle. That reality is this: spiritual multiplication produces results, but not always in the way we imagine.

Early Memories 

It was yet another miraculous catch of fish.