In recent weeks, we have been exploring the ministry of catechist, especially now that Pope Francis has established this ministry as a permanent vocation. In the last post, we started looking at the three dimensions of formation for catechists: In this post, I want to spend some time on the second dimension of formation: knowledge. RCIA catechists […]
RCIA catechists have to teach the faith…in context
In this series on the ministry of catechist, we have been exploring the implications of Pope Francis’s decision to establish this ministry as a permanent vocation. The Directory for Catechesis provides some excellent instruction on how parishes and dioceses are to form catechists for this ministry. Specifically, the Directory says there are three dimensions of
Does your RCIA team know how to “be with”?
The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)Background: Out of the 26 particular churches that make up the Catholic Church (Maronites, Ruthenians, etc.), only the Roman Church abandoned in the course of the Middle Ages the sharing of the Blood of Christ by all believers during Communion. At about the same time the observance of
After Pope Francis instituted a new ministry of catechist, we began looking at what that might mean for RCIA teams. Earlier, we looked at why is the new ministry of catechist important and then at the identity of the catechist as witness, mystagogue, and accompanier. In this post, I want to discuss how we get
What RCIA teams need to know about how catechists are formed
In a previous post, we looked at the institution of the new ministry of catechist by Pope Francis and why that is important for RCIA teams. In the press conference announcing the new ministry, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization said, “It is obvious that not everyone who is
What is the ministry of the catechist?
On May 11, 2021, Pope Francis instituted a new ministry of catechist. You may be thinking, as I did when I heard the news, that we have had the ministry of catechist since the Second Vatican Council. In fact, we could say that the ministry of catechist or teacher was established in the New Testament
Why is the new ministry of catechist important for RCIA teams?
In a recent interview, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said that Pope Francis has opened the church to a strong emphasis on four theological priorities: mission encounter the peripheries mercy Accomplishing a shift to these priorities, he said, “will require changes on how we do and are church.” Cardinal Tobin did not mention the
What would happen if every parish had an ongoing (year-round) RCIA process?
More of our parishes would implement an ongoing (year-round) catechumenate process if they could imagine how to do so without adding to the stress of the team and needing to recruit more team members. The good news is that your parish already has an ongoing process. And some of the burdens the catechumenate team has
How to start a year-round initiation process
You can reflect questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here.Fifth Sunday of EasterBackground: For two Sundays the gospel selections are a continuous reading from John, 15, part of what is called the Last Supper Discourse. It would seem odd that in Easter Season we are reading from a discourse given on Holy Thursday
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers: Eastertime — Year B
When parishes that use an academic, school calendar model for evangelizing and catechizing seekers, it can be difficult to imagine any other way of doing things. Some common objections for expanding to an ongoing process include: We have limited resources The rest of the world is organized around a school-year schedule It’s just easier The
What is ongoing (year-round) RCIA, really?
