Ministry, Catechesis and Religious Education: Implications for Youth Ministry and Catholic Schools By MICHAEL WARREN, Professor of Theology and Pastoral Ministry, St John's University, Jamaica, New York. Reproduced with permission, from Catholic School Studies, 1986 In 1981, Pope John Paul 11 noted that 1eaching of religion, distinct from and at the same time complementary to catechesis properly so-called, ought to form a part of the curriculum of every school". In quoting this statement, the Roman Congregation for Catholic Education points out a crucial distinction between catechesis and religious education. Professor Michael Warren of St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, considers that the distinction between catechesis and religious education is a vital one for effective youth ministry and parish catechesis. His writing will help all interested in the Church's ministry to young people. At the same time, it will help clarify the role of the Catholic school which should specialise in religious education, while including whatever aspects of catechesis it can cover appropriately. The material in this article is an edited extract from Professor Warren's address "The Catechumen in the Kitchen: Reflections on Ministry and Catechesis in Ireland" delivered at Mater Dei Institute of Education, Dublin, in 1985. The original address included many references to the particular situation of youth ministry in Ireland. Understanding the place of Catechesis in Pastoral Ministry 1 presume there are still some who limit catechesis to instruction in doctrinal formulations and who tend to see it as something that passes between teachers and students in classrooms. 1, however, prefer to view catechesis within pastoral ministry, rather than within education. As a form of the ministry of the word, catechesis cannot function properly unless it is integrated into a total work of the church that includes the three other ministries: the ministry of worship, the ministry of guidance and counsel and the ministry of healing. In ministry there is a kind of balance of nature, a symbiosis, with the various forms in harmony with one another.] Catechesis cannot function properly unless it is integrated into a total work of the Church that includes the three other ministries: the ministry of worship, the ministry of guidance and counsel, and the ministry of healing, The ministry of guidance and counsel and the ministry of healing are action-oriented but rooted in the primal action of noticing, of listening, of trying to discern. It is the ministry of those who are wise enough to be literally dumb. If they will know we are Christians by our love, one of the sure signs of love is attentiveness. Perhaps we could call these two basic ministries: guidance/ counsel and healing, the ministries of credibility. At least for those who stand outside the circle of faith, these are the works that make the community's life believable. They cannot be feigned, because they either make the good news seem like good news or they do not. When people inquire in response to their experience of ministries of credibility, the person ministering moves into the ministry of the word, which is a ministry of accountability, in the sense that it gives an account of the roots of one's action. Evangelization does not begin by "talking the way" with young people but by "walking the way" with them. Eventually the whole process may reach the point of words, talk about the realities of Christian faith. Gradually those who presume those realities mean nothing to them may come to judge that they mean everything to them. If they come to see that they eventually stand inside the circle of faith or want to stand there, they will have crossed over into the zone of catechesis, which always presumes faith. From there they may proceed to worship, which itself continues their catechesis because it is in the context of worship that they struggle to understand further what faith is calling them to, what it means to them. Catechesis and worship, then, are not the first steps in the journey of ministry; they are the final but continuing steps. A youth minister presumes little (except the possibilities) and starts where the young people are; together they may take a kind of exodus journey out of alienation to the Eucharist. 1 would like to stress, however, that this journey is one that youth enter into themselves and then progress a step at a time. They are not to be marched along to an alien beat like prisoners of war. Evangelization and catechesis can only take place in an ambience of freedom and choice. Two Catechetical Dilemmas The church in its ministries of credibility needs to be present on the side of the most disadvantaged or marginalized in society. If the church in its organized life is on the side of young people, it is not always apparent to them, nor is it apparent to many youth ministers. For example, among the followers of Jesus, systemic unemployment which denies any persons their fundamental human rights must not be met with either the silence of words or the silence of deeds. If there are structural inequities present in society, then colluding in them are managerial-class and investment class persons who name themselves as followers of Jesus and on whom has been lavished the best talent and the best facilities the church has to offer.4 These persons have a special responsibility to be on the side of the have-nots, though they may not all have heard the gospel preached as good news of justice. Evangelization and catechesis can only take place in an ambience of freedom and choice Could it be that adult catechesis in general has been ignored in the church? Have catechetical leaders fully accepted the fact that the days are gone when Christian faith could be passed on through family traditions and through socialisation in village or neighbourhood values? In the age of television, could it be that expressions of robust faith can only be continued through deliberate nurturing, which will need careful catechesis? 1 now wish to comment on the proper relationship between catechesis and ministry. In its ministry, the church, while on the side of the victims must also be at their side, as a guiding, healing presence among the people. Establishing such a presence may be a particular problem where some might expect certain of the church's ministries to be institutionalised in services provided by the state. Still, the parish that gives the impression that its one and only ministry is that of worship has already begun to die, because it has ignored its wider mission. A good example of a ministry that can function properly only in the local believing community is the ministry of catechesis. As an ecclesial activity, catechesis cannot, of its very nature, be relegated to the schools. The General Catechetical Directory makes it clear that the chief catechiser is not a teacher, even one called a catechist, but the believing community itself. "Within the scope of pastoral activity, catechesis is the term to be used for that form of ecclesial action which leads both communities and individual members of the faithful to maturity of faith. With the aid of catechesis, communities of Christians acquire a more profound living knowledge of God and of his plan of salvation centred in Christ".5 Notice the communal stress here. Catechesis is not for children only; in fact it is not even mainly for children. It is primarily adult activity, that is, a lifelong struggle to make sense of death, evil, injustice, and suffering, a struggle that emerges with something to celebrate. If catechesis is mainly done apart from the local community of faith and mainly in schools, what happens to a young person who leaves school at age fifteen or sixteen? Is that person, who is apt statistically to be from the poorest sectors of society,' to live the rest of his/ her life with a primary school understanding of faith? Are there not understandings of faith appropriate or even accessible only at later moments of life, including some of the more complex issues of justice and peace? Who then will be the catechist for this fifteen year old no longer in school? Or who for example will catechise the business executive whose decisions may worsen economic injustice?' If the local church does not face up to catechesis as its own work, then we leave our people with the "catechesis of the tube", with the catechesis of Dallas and Kojak, a religion geared to the ever greater fulfilment of consumer fantasies. We no longer have a choice in this matter. We either, like the third world churches, ground our work of religious transformation in slow and careful catechetical ministry or we abandon our people to oppressive systems, in this case to the marketeers. Religious Education in the Schools 1 have stressed the catechetical importance of the church's being on the side of the most marginalized and of placing catechesis within ministry. In this concluding section, 1 wish to comment explicitly on the role of the school in dealing with religious understandings. To be blunt, 1 have great doubts about the possibilities of catechesis in the schools. In my view, schools should be doing religious education and leaving catechesis to be done by and within the local church community. There needs to be an extended discussion of this matter here, such as is currently underway in the United States and Canada.' 1 suggest the following three points be included in that discussion. 1. A fundamental question, often overlooked by teachers but fundamental to understanding the social reality of a school, is the following: Under what circumstances and auspices do those who assemble in schools come together there? And what sort of institution is it in which they assemble? 1 would love to believe, as one whose profession involves teaching in a school, that the young who assemble there do so willingly because of my skill as a performing artist and because of the luminous quality of my reflections. Yet 1 know students do not assemble in a university for the reasons people assemble in a theatre. The forces in the university are complex and even contradictory. In a primary or secondary school, however, the forces are much more direct and compulsory. Those who assemble in those places do so because not to do so would mean the intervention of the state in their lives. Since civil law mandates schooling up to a certain age, those who assemble in schools do not do so out of a full choice on their part. To admit this fact is not to deny that many children and youth actually enjoy various aspects of life at school. In fact, youth often rank teachers highly in the list of those who understand them, just after parents, a wonderful tribute to the teaching profession.9 Still, the primary and secondary school does not exist as a zone of full choice, as becomes clear when we contrast the school with the worshipping community. The worshipping community is meant to be the place of free assembly. Why? Because it is in the nature of human beings that celebration can only be proposed; it can never be imposed. At the moment of imposition, celebration ceases to be true celebration and becomes something else. It might superficially look like celebration, but the heart has been cut out of it. Celebration works from the inside out; compulsion works from the outside and never fully gets in. Not all in the church like to face the implications of this fact, i.e., that obligation subverts the act of worship.10 Catechesis is a cousin of celebration. In the early church, full catechesis could only take place after the ecstasy of both having gone down into the water of baptism and shared in the broken bread of the body. This fullest form of catechesis was mystagogic catechesis, a pondering of the wonderful things that had happened. 11 Mystagogic catechesis was the final step in the catechumenate, a process every step of which the community insisted be free. If freedom and choice is a central aspect of catechesis, then that aspect is masked somewhat when catechesis is done in the zone of obligatory attendance, i.e., the school. In catechesis the person is actively pursuing his or her own understanding. The catechist presumes that the person has already embraced Jesus' way and stands inside the circle of faith. In a school that presumption of choice is not so possible as it was, say in a voluntary group. Voluntary presence at a Eucharist indicates people actively seeking an enrichment of their faith life. This illustrates for me choices so central to catechesis, but not necessarily central to a school. If freedom and choice is an essential aspect of catechesis, then that aspect is masked somewhat when catechesis is done in the zone of obligatory attendance, i.e. the school Similarly, religious education is also a great gift, which examines religious questions, including Christian ones, not so much from the point of commitment, which is the perspective of catechesis, but from that of intellectual inquiry.13 What seems especially important about religious education is that it can dispel multiple illusions young people can develop about religious matters: that the religious is limited to the Christian; that the religious is something imposed on them by an institution called the church, rather than an area of human achievement pursued in all cultures of all time; that other religious forms are 'wrong' in the face of our 'right' way. Religious education seeks religious literacy that is, a broad understanding about how religious forms work, especially about how religious language works. 14 In doing religious education, we need not exclude the examination of Christian and Roman Catholic matters, but we examine them from a much more objective stance than that used in catechesis. Catechesis presumes conversion; religious education presumes some willingness for disciplined inquiry. Its goal is not growth in commitment so much as growth in understanding. The fulfilment of catechesis is worship and action for justice. The fulfilment of religious education is mastery in an intellectual sense. 15 1 claim that such an approach to religion is especially important after about age 14-15, when many young people need a chance to re-think their own religious commitments. One of the reasons 1 stress the value of religious education is my commitment to catechesis. We will never move to religious education until catechesis is more properly situated in the local church, as a lifetime pursuit of fidelity to discipleship. The pursuit of fidelity certainly has its ups and downs, which is one reason we have a sacrament of reconciliation at all. If we knew that the catechesis necessary for a lifelong pursuit of discipleship was going on in our local churches, we would then be able to broaden our approach to religious matters in schools, where intellectual inquiry is the appropriate mode. However, where there is little lifelong catechesis going on, 1 can see how persons in the schools might be reluctant to move toward religious education. 3. A further aspect of schools deserves a word: the issue of freedom. If Christian faith cannot be imposed, neither can education, because in its deepest sense education also comes from inside out. A key problem schools have to grapple with is that of establishing a consensual climate. When a person reaches the age for secondary school, there must be sensitive attention to the establishment of such a climate. In schools there is an educational triangle among whose parts must be developed a harmonious balance: the faculty, the students, and the subject matter. 16 The relation among these parts needs to be negotiated between students and teachers. One does not establish consensus by incessantly asking students, "What would you like to do today". Yet if students have not agreed to a particular line of disciplined inquiry, there will be little learning. In modern societies with ready access to information via television, young people are more and more resisting the imposition of education forms in which they have no say. At all levels of education, dialogue is the appropriate form, not communiques from on high. Communiques undermine education, though they are the death of catechesis. In dealing with religious issues, schools need to be especially open places. Catechesis presumes conversion; religious education presumes some willingness for disciplined inquiry Conclusion In this presentation 1 focused attention on the marginals in our society. 1 did so out of a conviction that the option for youth should be fused with the option for the poor. If our entire program of ministry, including catechesis, begins among the marginals, at their side and on their side, that position provides us with the radical questions for discipleship in our time. 1 have highlighted the catechetical questions of choice and readiness. This draws attention to the lifegiving but tolerant posture of those who gather in faith, who are secure enough in their own continuing search for fidelity to allow time and space for the one who does not quite fit. Notes 1 . See, "Youth Ministry in Transition," Chapter 1 of M. Warren, Youth and the Future of the Church (Minneapolis: Winston-Seabury, 1985), pp. 8-16. 2. For an overview of the centrality of evangelization in contemporary catechetical thinking, see, M. Warren, "Evangelization: A Catechetical Concern," in Warren, ed., Sourcebook for Modern Catechetics (Winona: St. Mary Press, 1983), pp. 329-338. 3. An important treatment of this key aspect of evangelization is: Jon Sobrino, "Evangelization as Mission of the Church," Chapter 9 of The True Church and the Poor (NY: Orbis, 1984), pp. 253-301. 4. There are, of course, two sides to collusion in unjust systems. The poor can also collude when they do not take seriously their own need to participate in the formulation of social policies. Without popular participation, no re-distribution of power is possible. See, Richard Quinn, "Economic Development and Christian Faith," The Furrow 35:4 (May 1984): 306-318. 5. Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, General Catechetical Directory (Washington: USCC, 1971), Par. 21, p.21. 6. The statistical evidence for this claim can be found in "Aspects of the Education and Employment of Young People in Ireland," Chapter 8 of, National Youth Policy Committee: Final Report (Dublin: National Stationery Office, 1984), pp. 73-93. 7. A nuanced presentation of the need for adult catechetical work in Ireland. though not stressing the justice perspective, is, Liam Lacey, "Adult Catechesis in Ireland: A Way Forward," The Irish Catechist 7:3 (October 1983): 31-41. 8. See, James Dunning "Words of the Word: Evangelization, Catechesis, and the Catechumenate," (Washington: North American Forum on the Catechumenate, 1984). 9. National Youth Policy Committee: Final Report, p. 54. 10. See, Joset Pieper, In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1973). 11. An excellent account of mystagogic Catechesis can be found in Hugh M. Riley, Christian Initiation, Vol. 17 of Studies of Christian Antiquity, Johannes Quasten, ed, (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1974). 12. An attempt to compare and contrast catechesis and religious education is, M. Warren, "Catechesis: An Enriching Category for Religious Education," Sourcebook, pp. 379-394. 13. See, Michael Grimmitt, What Can 1 do In R.E.? (Great Wakering: Mayhew-McCrimmon, 1973), esp., Chapter 5, "A Conceptual Framework for Religious Education in Schools," pp. 49-87. Contrast Grimmitt's treatment with the jumbled categories used in the following news report, Christiana Murphy, "Education is secular, says teacher priest," Irish Times (26 June 1982): 15. 14. See, for example, Grimmitt's treatment of this matter. Ibid., pp. 59-75. 15. Still deserving close attention is the following treatment of the religious studies question in third level education, Cosmas Rubencamp, "Theology as a Humanistic Discipline," in George Devine, ed., Theology in Revolution (NY: Alba House, 1970), pp. 185-197. 16. "A major concern of this Committee has been the provision of opportunities for young people to participate in their society. To this end, we asked young people if they see it as important that they be involved in the decision making procedures of their schools and colleges. The vast majority (82%) felt they should, and the suggestions received particular support among the under 1 7's and those still in school. Young people in urban areas, and females, also saw this as being particularly important". Youth Policy Committee: Final Report, p. 84. See also, Theodore Sizer, A Study of High Schools: A Proposal (Washington: National Association of Secondary School Principals, March 1981) |