For a few weeks now, we have been exploring the ministry of catechist and specifically what the Directory for Catechesis calls for in the formation of catechists. If you have read the entire series—and especially if you read the sections of the Directory upon which I based the articles in the series—you may wonder who […]
The journey toward becoming an RCIA catechist
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?
When parishes look for RCIA catechists, they tend to look for people who are good at giving presentations. While this tendency is understandable, it’s not exactly what the church expects of a catechist. The Directory for Catechesis describes the catechist as someone who has a vocation. The catechist is a Christian who receives a particular
Why your RCIA team needs a mystagogue
We have said many times before that mystagogy takes place throughout the entire catechumenate. If that’s so, why is there a particular period of the catechumenate specifically named “mystagogy”? To understand that, we have to understand how liturgy relates to catechesis. The church teaches that the liturgy is “the privileged place for catechizing the People
Why the RCIA period of mystagogy is crucial for your neophytes
Here at TeamRCIA, we spend a lot of time talking about the inadequacy adapting the catechumenate into a school model. Using a classroom paradigm is so common in parishes that many RCIA teams think it is the norm. However, if you read the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults carefully, you will find no reference
The school model is a chokehold on the RCIA
