If you have been following along in this series on the ministry of catechist, you will know that we have most recently been looking at what the Directory for Catechesis identifies as the three dimensions of formation for catechists: We have arrived at the final dimension, savoir-faire. Savoir-faire is one of those terms that I […]
Five attitudes necessary for your RCIA team’s savoir-faire
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”?
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?
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?
There are two dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first is the danger of serious physical illness. And the second is the danger of convenience. We will eventually overcome the physical danger. But the danger of convenience may linger. Many pastoral leaders are already worried about what will happen to their Sunday gatherings when
Is the pandemic making RCIA too convenient?
Q: What would you do with someone coming from a tradition that baptizes adults and older teens and so was catechized but never baptized? We don’t have an unbaptized, catechized, category. A:This is a great question, and it is actually a fairly common one. In the United States and in some parts of Canada and
Q&A: Does the RCIA have a category for unbaptized, catechized seekers?
