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Forming those who form others

The Pedagogy of God, Part 1

At the very centre of the universal Church’s most recent document on catechesis, the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), issued in 1997, lies the notion of ‘the pedagogy of God’. What does this phrase mean, and why is it so important?[i]

We will see that it provides the key for understanding the specific nature and character of catechesis according to the mind and heart of the Church, and especially for the linking of the content of what is taught to how we teach, and for linking the work of the catechist to the work of the Blessed Trinity in catechesis. The ‘pedagogy of God’ is not so much a theory of education or even a set of principles to guide us. Rather, this central section of the Directory reminds us to focus on the action and work of God who is the Pedagogue, forming and transforming those whom we teach, drawing them to himself through a unique kind of educational discipline.

This article will expound the teaching of the GDC (137-147) on this area so as to draw out the main features of the pedagogy of God.

God is the Pedagogue, and we catechise attentive to his ways.

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

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Dr. Petroc Willey BD, STL PhD, PhD (Lateran) studied theology at King's College, London and Maynooth in Ireland and philosophy at Liverpool University in England and the Lateran University in Rome. From 1985-1992, he was Lecturer in Christian Ethics at Plater College, Oxford. From 1992 until October 2013 he worked at Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, where he was Dean of Graduate Research overseeing a doctoral program in Catholic Studies at the Maryvale Institute, offered in collaboration with Liverpool Hope University. He was appointed by Benedict XVI as a Consultor for the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and is currently a Consultor for the Dicastery for Evangelization. He is a professor at Franciscan University for the Office of Catechetics. His publications include Become What You Are: The Call and Gift of Marriage (with Katherine Willey), and The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis (co-authored with Professor Barbara Morgan and Fr. Pierre de Cointet, and with an introduction by Cardinal Schonborn), and has articles in collections of essays and in journals such as The International Journal for Catechesis and Evangelization, New Blackfriars, Faith, The Nazareth Journal, The Catholic Canadian Review. He was the Host of the EWTN series Handing on the Faith (2007).

This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

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