Our People

Launching of Faith Education Courses

Catholic Adult Education Centre

By Most Rev. Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
30 January 2004

I am very happy to be asked to launch the Certificate courses to be offered this year through the Adult Education Centre.

The provision of these courses for people of the Archdiocese of Sydney and beyond should not be underestimated. They mark a significant development the provision of material for the formation of adults in the faith and the providing of means of training for a variety of forms of ministry within the Church.

Let me attempt to explain why I see particular significance in the provision of these courses in faith education.

To do so I would like to comment upon the Church’s understanding of catechesis, or formation in faith.

In 1997 a revision of the General Directory for Catechesis was produced. It was a revision of the 1971 Directory approved by Pope Paul VI.

What is of particular significance in the revision of the Directory is the incorporation of the teaching of the document, Evangelii Nuntiandi, written by Pope Paul VI in 1974.

The Introduction to the 1997 Directory states,

The reflections of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of October 1974 on the theme of Evangelization in the Contemporary World constitute a decisive milestone for catechesis. The propositions subsequently drawn up by the Synod were presented to Pope Paul VI, who promulgated the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi of 8 December 1975. This document enunciates, amongst other things, a particularly important principle, namely, that of catechesis as a work of evangelization in the context of the mission of the Church.

The revised Directory recognizes that catechesis must be viewed in the context of the fundamental mission of the Church to evangelise. Thus the Directory begins not with speaking about teaching the faith, but with the lengthy section on evangelization. Indeed, it is a quite wonderful reflection upon the nature of evangelization.

When it comes to discuss catechesis as such it describes catechesis as “an essential moment in the process of evangelization” (par 63). That statement reminds us that the catechetical endeavour, in a whole range of applications in the church, always retains an evangelical purpose.

It is not that we evangelise – for example, by preaching the Gospel – and then turn to catechesis as though it were the imparting of knowledge or information, or even instruction of how to live as a follower of the Lord Jesus. No! Catechesis always retains the dynamism of evangelization.

Catechesis must always be at the service of building and nourishing the faith.

The Directory expresses it thus:

[a comprehensive and systematic formation in the faith] includes more than instruction: it is an apprenticeship of the entire Christian life, it is a "complete Christian initiation", which promotes an authentic following of Christ, focused on his Person; it implies education in knowledge of the faith and in the life of faith, in such a manner that the entire person, at his deepest levels, feels enriched by the word of God; it helps the disciple of Christ to transform the old man in order to assume his baptismal responsibilities and to profess the faith from the "heart". (par 67)

This is a rich and noble vision that can motivate every Catholic who is engaged in the work of catechesis in the church.

The Directory describes the object, or the final purpose, of the work of catechesis in these words – and I commend them to you for your consideration:

"The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but also in communion and intimacy, with Jesus Christ". All evangelizing activity is understood as promoting communion with Jesus Christ. Starting with the "initial" conversion of a person to the Lord, moved by the Holy Spirit through the primary proclamation of the Gospel, catechesis seeks to solidify and mature this first adherence. It proposes to help those who have just converted "to know better this Jesus to whom he has entrusted himself: to know his 'mystery', the kingdom of God proclaimed by him, the requirements and comments contained in his Gospel message, and the paths that he has laid down for anyone who wishes to follow him". Baptism, the sacrament by which "we are configured to Christ", sustains this work of catechesis with the help of its grace. (par 80)

I understand this to be at the heart of what is being offered through these courses to be offered this year at the Catholic Adult Education Centre.