The New Catechetical Directory

The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization released the new Directory for Catechesis in June of 2020. This is the third Directory for Catechesis that the universal Church has promulgated in recent history. It began at the Second Vatican Council when the call to renew catechesis within the universal Church led to the publication of the first General Catechetical Directory (GCD) in 1971. In 1993, the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) initiated a second chapter of history with the release of the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) in 1997. The GDC basically expanded upon St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, which identified the six essential tasks of catechesis: Knowledge of the Faith; Liturgical Education; Moral Formation; Learning to Pray; Education for Community Life; and Missionary Discipleship and Service. Each of these catechetical tasks helps to deepen our relationship with Christ. Knowing Jesus calls us to ongoing conversion, which inspires a deeper life of prayer, the recognition of the needs of others, and the desire to respond to those needs in service, evangelization, and ministry. In carrying out these six tasks of catechesis the Church relies on moments which coincide with the liturgical seasons. Catechesis also takes root in different places, the family or home, the parish and the Catholic school. It is the responsibility of many people, beginning with Pope Francis, the Bishops, pastors and catechists in parishes, teachers in our Catholic schools and parents. 

In 2015, the Pontifical Council held a plenary meeting to discuss the relationship between catechesis and evangelization with representatives from around the world. During that meeting, the urgency of the new evangelization became evident and so did the need for a new directory - one that could assist dioceses, parishes, lay associations, and Catholic schools and families in fulfilling these tasks of catechesis.

This Directory for Catechesis (2020) highlights the important and inseparable link between evangelization and catechesis as a response to the realities of our times, particularly the advancements in digital communications and the need for evangelization at each stage of a person’s life. Pope Francis emphasizes the importance of a missionary Church and a “discipleship of accompaniment” so that others will recognize Jesus’ call in the love and service of His disciples.

There are three main parts to this new directory.

• Part 1 focuses on the relationship between catechesis and the Church’s mission of evangelization. It includes chapters on divine revelation and its transmission in the Church, the goals of catechesis, the vocation of catechists, and the formation of those who teach and hand on the Faith.
• Part 2 focuses on the pedagogical process of catechesis with a particular emphasis on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its use in catechesis and catechetical approaches. Part 3, the “Catechesis in Particular Churches,” centers on the Christian community where catechesis takes place and makes the connection between a catechesis in the Faith and daily living.
• Part 3 addresses the role of the entire Christian community in catechesis - parishes, lay association and movements, and Catholic Schools – as well as the way in which catechesis responds to current issues, changing cultural contexts, and the structures within the Church that should exercise catechetical oversight and formation.

​With Pope Francis’ emphasis on missionary discipleship, the Directory for Catechesis urges those who teach the Faith to form followers of Jesus who can articulate their faith and live it in practical ways even when faced with opposing views and seemingly overwhelming global challenges. It is in this section that catechists are called to see how catechesis should stimulate social and political action related to the defense of life from conception to natural death, uphold human dignity for each person and exercise responsible stewardship of creation. There is also a section on catechesis and the growing digital culture. The digital world is a mission field and it holds a great potential for catechesis when used with discernment and wisdom.

​The Directory for Catechesis (2020) is particularly useful for clergy, religious and lay people who are directly involved in the work of teaching, evangelization and catechesis at the parish or diocesan level, and in Catholic schools. For all who teach the Catholic faith, the new Directory provides a solid foundation which has benefited from the input of expert theologians and catechists from around the world. This new directory will be a valuable resource in strengthening the five marks of our Catholic schools and informing the ongoing work of formation in the Faith and the professional development of our Catholic educational leaders and teachers.

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Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary