Franciscan at Home

In this twentieth anniversary year of the English edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Janet Benestad responds to concerns that the Catechism is not sufficiently related to human experience. Drawing on the insights of the late Avery Cardinal Dulles, she explains why this most important of catechetical texts is essential to parish evangelization.

The Archdiocese of Boston has undertaken a major pastoral planning effort. Called Disciples in Mission, it involves the realignment of parishes for administrative and financial success, and the training of diocesan and parish leaders. The goal is to create parishes that are vibrant centers of evangelization. The training of parish leaders includes best practices in the new evangelization.

At one meeting regarding adult formation, a long-serving parish pastoral associate questioned using the Catechism to evangelize adults. “Why use the Catechism,” she asked. “It’s 30 years old,” as if a re-writing were expected any day. At another meeting, a parish director of liturgy reacted to instruction on using parish websites and bulletins as tools for catechizing adults: “I prefer to let people rely on their own experiences,” he said.

Such comments by Church leaders beg the question: After 20 years of the Catechism, why the continued resistance to it among many professional Catholic Church leaders? Why the preference for experience, rather than doctrine, as a surer norm for spreading the faith? These questions sent me back to an article written by Avery Cardinal Dulles in 1994 entitled, “The Challenge of the Catechism.” In it, Dulles describes the confusion that results when experience becomes the preferred norm for faith formation.

“All statements about revelation,” says Dulles, “. . . are said to be so culturally conditioned that they cannot be transferred from one age or one cultural region to another. Every theological affirmation that comes to us from the past must be examined with suspicion because it was formulated in a situation differing markedly from our own. Each constituency must experience the revelation of God anew and find language and other symbolic forms appropriate to itself.”[i]

Dulles is describing the heresy of modern practical relativism—the position that each age or culture only knows what is true on the basis of its own experiences. This position denies the existence of any ultimate source of truth. When relativism informs the thinking of theologians and, as a result, catechetical leaders, it undermines faith in God, who is the source of all Truth. Unfortunately, relativism informs the thinking of a good many catechetical leaders, to wit, the examples above. For that reason, it is worth taking a look at what Dulles has to say about the ways in which the Catechism provides an “antidote” to tension between faith and experience.

A former military advisor illustrates how a small, highly motivated, highly trained group of evangelist "advisors" can affect a disproportionate change in the promotion of the goals of the New Evangelization.

What do you think of when you hear “Special Forces”? Most people think about an elite military team conducting an operation deep in unfriendly territory, appearing from and melting into the dark, still water of some jungle river. Or perhaps they think of a team conducting a hostage rescue in a desert environment with a HALO infiltration, utilizing night vision technology. These images represent only one aspect of Special Operations capabilities, which is direct action. However, another role of Special Forces, and one you might not think of, is that of highly trained advisors that facilitate the work of others, resulting in force-multiplication. Special Operations and the “quiet” professionals who carry them out are particularly suited to this role and its “work yourself out of job” methodology. Earlier in my life, I had the honor of working with men who demonstrated this methodology with profound professionalism, discipline and humility—true quiet professionals.

But what does the advisor role of Special Forces have to do with the New Evangelization? Special Forces advisors are a small, highly trained, highly motivated, well-equipped cadre of teachers who act as force-multipliers by forming the next formators. This role is utilized whether training personnel in small unit tactics, land navigation or combat casualty care. It is extremely effective because in addition to training the first generation of students, the team also establishes the infrastructure for this first generation to form the next ones.

This role is suited to the work of the New Evangelization for three reasons: (1) the limited resources that many dioceses and parishes have at their disposal, (2) our natural reluctance to change, and (3) the dynamic nature of the New Evangelization. Regarding limited resources, it is often easier to support a small group of incarnate-advisors who can multiply their effectiveness, especially in the “ad intra” phase of the New Evangelization. When it comes to the natural reluctance to change, advisors first act as incarnate examples of the change that they are encouraging, allowing a “bottom-up” example that can complement the “top-down” encouragement of the bishop or pastor. And finally, the dynamic nature of the New Evangelization (which parallels the dynamic nature of personal conversion) requires quicker assessment of needs and opportunities. Paired with diocesan structures that are already in place, advisors can be an efficient and effective leaven for them, responding quickly and allowing the mission of the New Evangelization to grow in present structures.

To explicate this approach, I will offer specific examples from my work, as well as best practices from other ecclesial situations. These examples fall into three general categories, which I call the “three P’s”: partnerships, parishes-schools and projects. These parallel the three dimensions of the Special Forces advisor: the subject matter expert, the force-multiplier and the incarnate example.

In reflecting on my life and those closest to me that I love and cherish dearly (my family and friends), I often wonder how and why I received the gift of faith and maybe not some of them. Why did God choose me to practice my Catholic faith that was handed on to me by my parents? Why did God have mercy on me and pull me out of sin and death and from the pits of Hell? Honestly, there have been points in my life where I was headed on a path that wasn’t toward Heaven. There have been moments in my life where I should have been dead from all the stupid things I’ve done. What makes me so special that the Lord came to me and offered me the grace of salvation? Of all my friends and family members, why am I the one that has received and responded to God’s grace and mercy?

Evangelisation requires us to be disciples. This means we embrace Christ’s teaching and example as outlined in the Gospels. Interestingly this takes on a new dimension when going around the parish knocking on doors to find out where Catholics live. Amazingly a Catholic will tell you if they are lapsed or not. Catechesis can become a knee-jerk experience when doing doorstep discipleship and evangelisation. One needs to rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to inspire the right answers to questions that are troubling either the lapsed Catholic or would-be inquirers into the faith. Going further in my own study of the faith through course work in catechesis at Maryvale Institute, I find the knowledge gained invaluable when doing this type of work.
Jesus speaks to the person who answers the door, as quoted in the Book of Revelation: “Look I am standing at the door knocking, if one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that person’s side. Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches” (3:20-22). Jesus welcomes everyone who has drifted away or even rejected him.

President for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization Archbishop Fisichella gave the introduction to the International Conference on Catechesis, September 26–28, 2013. Here it is translated into English for our subscribers.

The subject matter at the heart of the two terms in question—new evangelization and catechesis—has been discussed on many occasions in prestigious venues and documents that have left their mark on the history of catechesis. Our sole aim here is to highlight the concerns that have been raised and the directions, which may be taken in the near future. I like to situate these reflections upon the stage of Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii nuntiandi, because in fact his Apostolic Exhortation focuses the issues in the immediate wake of the Council: “A means of evangelization that must not be neglected is that of catechetical instruction. The intelligence, especially that of children and young people, needs to learn through systematic religious instruction the fundamental teachings, the living content of the truth, which God has wished to convey to us and which the Church has sought to express in an ever richer fashion during the course of her long history. No one will deny that this instruction must be given to form patterns of Christian living and not to remain only notional. Truly the effort for evangelization will profit greatly- at the level of catechetical instruction” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 44). In order to more directly examine this programmatic text, it is worth recalling, first of all, the context in which this Apostolic Exhortation was developed. The Pope, in effect, identified certain privileged means necessary for carrying out evangelization. He centered the focus on “how to evangelize” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 40)[1], emphasizing that Christian witness is the foremost sign of all genuine work of evangelization[2].

It is in this context that we further read this paradigmatic expression: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 41). He added, however, that the proclamation of the Gospel is the determining factor in effective evangelization, all the while underscoring the importance of the new culture steadily crowding onto the horizon, the effects of which can be readily ascertained today. The Pope spoke of the “civilization of the image”, which has risen to predominance over the word[3]. On this stage of evangelizing preaching, Paul VI gave primacy of the Word of God, particularly in the framework of the liturgy, highlighting the fundamental importance of paying all due attention to the homily, so as to reclaim the full pastoral effectiveness of this privileged means of evangelization[4].

Reconstruction of this context permits us to view catechesis as inserted in service, above all, to the Word of God, which is proclaimed, as one particular stage in the evangelization process. To forget this aspect is to distort what catechesis is, making it inconsistent with the pastoral plan of the Church, and thus, impoverishing the pledge to evangelize.

In the Apostolic Letter, Ubicumque et semper, wherein Pope Benedict XVI created the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, he notes that, while recent technological advancements may have had a positive impact on the material quality of life, they have had a deleterious effect on the spiritual quality of life. He roots this latter deterioration in a “loss of the sense of the sacred,” which has corrupted, on a wide scale, the Christian belief in a person God. However, although Pope Benedict XVI identifies the loss of the sense of the sacred as a root cause of secularism’s advance, he leaves open the question as to what precisely constitutes this sense, as well as, consequently, the best means of restoring it in contemporary society.

This article will argue that a broader look at Benedict XVI’s writings reveals that his understanding of the sense of the sacred closely parallels that of the twentieth century French Jesuit, Henri Cardinal de Lubac. Tracing the mutual influence of de Lubac and Ratzinger in this question, moreover, can help explain some of Benedict XVI’s more recent comments about the unique role that the liturgy can and must play in restoring that sense in the modern world.

Blessed John Henry Newman was a man with a vision for the battles of our times. He fought with courage, and he calls us to take up the fight today, confident in our ultimate victory.

The Saints and Blessed ones have, throughout England’s history, spoken a word of encouragement and hope to successive generations. Like those “witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us,”[i] of which the Letter to the Hebrews speaks, the witnesses of the saints from every corner of this land and beyond have urged us towards that victory which faith assures. From those first missionaries to the English people sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great to awaken the hope of holiness in our land down to our present age, throngs a great communion of saints. Amid a “new evangelization” fourteen centuries later, we look to these holy witnesses to our faith for example and prayers as we face the spiritual struggles of today.

The Sower profiles the catechetical work of one of the key catechetical charities working in the Church today.

In his motu proprio Ubiqumque et semper Pope Benedict XVI stresses that “[i]t is the duty of the Church to proclaim always and everywhere the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need has always supported the work of evangelisation and catechesis in a number of countries. Its mission helping Christians who are suffering, persecuted or in serious pastoral need has always included a spiritual dimension alongside the practical. Fr Werenfried van Straaten founded the charity more than 60 years ago when he responded to the needs of those who had entered West Germany fleeing the advance of communism. Among the help he provided for the people was rucksack priests, who visited the refugee camps to celebrate the Sacraments. More than 60 years on, support for people’s spiritual needs, including catechesis, remains a key part of the charity’s work.

ACN’s help for catechetical work is broad and diverse. In Iraq, many Christians have fled from the south of the country as Islamists target them. The bombing of Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Cathedral in October 2010, which left at least 52 people dead, and a series of attacks that followed, added to the haemorrhaging of Christians from the south. Now most of the Christians remaining in the country have settled in the north. The Church is seeking to help those in the north lay down roots there and among the projects are two catechetical centres in Aqra and Zebur diocese, which ACN is helping with. The charity is supporting other projects around the world: in Malawi the charity recently provided 69 bicycles to help catechists travel to far flung parishes, bringing with them the knowledge of the Faith; in Tanzania ACN supported a five-day Christian education workshop for more than 300 catechists and teachers; and in Eastern Europe, where the charity started its work, it continues to help out, and is supporting the Basilian Fathers’ catechetical work.

The New Evangelization inspires a renewal of faith that leads to a desire for evangelization. More and more people are heeding the call of Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi to make a “clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus” (no. 22).The pontificates of Blessed John Paul II and our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI have reaffirmed and expounded upon Evangelii Nuntiandi.

In 1983, at the Opening Address of the 6th General Assembly of CELAM, Blessed John Paul II called for a New Evangelization: “The commemoration of the millennium of evangelization will achieve its full meaning if it is a commitment… not to re-evangelization, but to a new Evangelization. New in its ardor, its methods and its expressions.” This renewed vision of evangelization includes, as Pope Benedict stated at the homily of First Vespers on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, a “re-proposing” of the Good News to all, including the Christian faithful actively participating in their faith and those who have drifted from the faith.

The influences of secularization and materialism have lead many people to question their faith and no longer consider Christ and the Church as relevant to their lives. The New Evangelization challenges catechists to discover new and creative ways to re-propose the truth of Christ to a society that has grown indifferent or antagonistic to the Gospel message.

Evangelii Nuntiandi states that “the Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself” (no. 15). The New Evangelization involves a renewal of faith and deepening of sacramental worship so the sharing of the Good News of Christ with family, friends and neighbors will be effective. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Go and Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States and the newly-developed Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis web resource, Disciples Called to Witness: the New Evangelization offer a variety of suggestions for dioceses and parishes to create, enhance and renew their evangelization efforts.

A Year of Faith. A period of focus and of new evangelisation. A Synod, later this year, devoted to the question of the transmission of the Faith. Many initiatives are already beginning to emerge in response to this call from the Holy Father to prepare for a new springtime in the Church. What are some of the important things that the Church wants us to remember as we enter this time?