Catholic World Report has an English translation of the letter of Cardinal Archbishop Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) to catechists on his diocese on evangelization.
Go to CWR to read the whole letter. Here are some excerpts:
But catechesis would be seriously compromised if our experience of faith were to leave us confined in and anchored to our familiar world or in the structures and spaces that we have been creating over the years. To believe in the Lord is always to enter anew through the door of faith that makes us go out, to set out on a journey, to leave our comfort zone….
It is good to realize that today, more than ever, the act of believing must allow the joy of the Faith to shine through. …
Therefore I urge you: live this ministry with passion, with enthusiasm. …
The first commenter at CWR says this:
I didn’t notice anything in there about handing on the content of the Faith or its traditions. That was absent in my own catechesis as a child and without the actual knowledge of how to live my Faith or how to believe in the face of so many contrary ideas in the world. … Now I am a catechist in my parish and very glad that there is increasingly an effort to teach the content of the Faith. I try my best that other kids may have the necessary knowledge that I wasn’t given. Joy is certainly good. But “enthusiasm” isn’t enough. ….
What do you think? What are the main themes you see in this letter? Do you think it’s weak on content?
awr
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