The discourse of faith with adults must take serious account of their experience, of their conditioning and of the challenges which they have encountered in life. Their questions of faith as well as their needs are many and varied.52Cf. COINCAT 10-18. Consequently, the following categories may be distinguished: – adult Christians who consistently live their faith option and sincerely desire to deepen it; – adults who have been baptized but who have not been sufficiently catechized, or have not brought to fulfilment the journey begun at Christian initiation, or who have fallen away from the faith, to such a degree that they may be called 'quasi catechumens'; 53CT 44. – non-baptized adults, to whom the catechumenate truly and properly corresponds.54Cf. CT 19. Mention must also be made of those adults who come from Christian confessions which are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Elements and criteria proper to adult catechesis 55Cf. DCG (1971), 92-94; COINCAT, 20-25; 26-30; 33-84.
Adult catechesis concerns persons who have a right and a duty to bring to maturity the seed of faith sown in them by God.56Cf. 1 Cor 13:11; Eph 4:13. It is addressed to individuals who are charged to fulfill social responsibilities of various types and to those who are also prey to all kinds of changes and crises, sometimes profound. The faith of adults, therefore, must be continually enlightened, developed and protected, so that it may acquire that Christian wisdom which gives sense, unity, and hope to the many experiences of personal, social, and spiritual life. Adult catechesis requires the accurate identification of the typical characteristics of Christian adults. It must translate them into objectives and content, and determine certain constants of presentation. It must establish the most effective methodological approaches and choose formats and models. The role and identity of the catechists who work with adults and their formation—the people who are responsible for the catechesis of adults in the community—are vitally important.57Cf. COINCAT, 33-84.
Among the criteria which assure an authentic and effective adult catechesis, mention must be made of the following: 58Cf. COINCAT, 26-30. – attention to those to whom it is addressed, to their condition as adult men and women, requires taking account of their problems and experiences, their spiritual and cultural resources, with full respect for their differences; – attention to the lay condition of adults, on whom Baptism confers the task of "seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's Will",59LG 31; cf. EN 70; ChL 23. and whom it calls to holiness; 60Cf. ChL 57-59. – attention to the involvement of the community so that it may be a welcoming and supportive environment; – attention to ensure systematic pastoral care of adults, with which liturgical formation and the service of charity have been integrated. General and particular tasks of adult catechesis 61Cf. DCG (1971), 97.
So as to respond to the more profound needs of our time, adult catechesis must systematically propose the Christian faith in its entirety and in its authenticity, in accordance with the Church's understanding. It must give priority to the proclamation of salvation, drawing attention to the many difficulties, doubts, misunderstandings, prejudices and objections of today. It must introduce adults to a faith-filled reading of Sacred Scripture and the practice of prayer. A fundamental service to adult catechesis is given by the Catechism of the Catholic Church and by those adult catechisms based on it by the particular Churches. In particular, the tasks of adult catechesis are: – to promote formation and development of life in the Risen Christ by adequate means: pedagogy of the sacrements, retreats, spiritual direction... – to educate toward a correct evaluation of the socio-cultural changes of our societies in the light of faith: thus the Christian community is assisted in discerning true values in our civilization, as well as its dangers, and in adopting appropriate attitudes; – to clarify current religious and moral questions, that is, those questions which are encountered by the men and women of our time: for example, public and private morality with regard to social questions and the education of future generations; – to clarify the relationship between temporal actions and ecclesial action, by demonstrating mutual distinctions and implications and thus due interaction; to this end, the social doctrine of the Church is an integral part of adult catechesis; – to develop the rational foundations of the faith: that the right understanding of the faith and of the truths to be believed are in conformity with the demands of reason and the Gospel is always relevant; it is therefore necessary to promote effectively the pastoral aim of Christian thought and culture: this helps to overcome certain forms of fundamentalism as well as subjective and arbitrary interpretations; – to encourage adults to assume responsibility for the Church's mission and to be able to give Christian witness in society: The adult is assisted to discover, evaluate and activate what he has received by nature and grace, both in the Christian community and by living in human society; in this way, he will be able to overcome the dangers of standardization and of anonymity which are particularly dominant in some societies of today and which lead to loss of identity and lack of appreciation for the resources and qualities of the individual. Particular forms of adult catechesis 62Cf. Part I, chap. 2; DCG (1971), 96.
Certain situations and circumstances require special forms of catechesis: – catechesis for the Christian initiation or catechumenate of adults: this has its own express form in the RCIA; – traditional forms of catechesis of the people of God, duly adapted to the liturgical year or in the extraordinary form of missions; – the on-going catechesis of those who have a task of formation in the community: catechists and those involved in the lay apostolate; – catechesis for use in particularly significant events in life, such as Marriage, the Baptism of children and the other sacraments of initiation, at critical times during youth, in sickness etc.: in such circumstances, people are disposed more than ever to seek out the true meaning of life; – is for special events and experiences, such as beginning work, military service, emigration etc.: these are changes which can give rise to interior enrichment or bewilderment and in which the need of God's saving word should be emphasized; – catechesis for the Christian use of leisure time, especially during holidays and travel; – catechesis for special events in the life of the Church and society. These and many other forms of special catechesis, complement, but do not replace, the ongoing, systematic, catechetical courses which every ecclesial community must provide for all adults. The catechesis of infants and young children 63Cf. DCG (1971) 78-81; CT 36-37. The important context of infancy and childhood 64DCG (1971) 78-79; ChL 47.
This age group, traditionally divided into early infancy or pre-school age and childhood, possesses, in the light of faith and reason, the grace of the beginnings of life, from which "valuablepossibilities exist, both for the building up of the Church and for the making of a more humane society".65Cf. ChL 47. As a child of God, in virtue of the gift of Baptism, the child is proclaimed by Christ to be a privileged member of the Kingdom of God.66Mk 10:14. For various reasons today, rather more than in the past, the child demands full respect and help in its spiritual and human growth. This is also true in catechesis which must always be made available to Christian children. Those who have given life to children and have enriched them with the gift of Baptism have the duty continually to nourish it. Characteristics of catechesis for infants and children 67Cf. DCG (1971) 78-79; CT 37.
The catechesis of children is necessarily linked with their life situation and conditions. It is the work of various but complementary educational agents. Some factors of universal relevance may be mentioned: – Infancy and childhood, each understood according to its own peculiarities, are a time of primary socialization as well as of human and Christian education in the family, the school and the Church. These must then be understood as a decisive moment for subsequent stages of faith. – In accordance with accepted tradition, this is normally the time in which Christian initiation, inaugurated with Baptism, is completed. With the reception of the sacraments, the first organic formation of the child in the faith and his introduction into the life of the Church is possible.68Cf. CT 37. – The catechetical process in infancy is eminently educational. It seeks to develop those human resources which provide an anthropological basis for the life of faith, a sense of trust, of freedom, of self-giving, of invocation and of joyful participation. Central aspects of the formation of children are training in prayer and introduction to Sacred Scripture.69Cf. Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Directory for Masses with children; AAS 66 (1974) pp. 30-46. – Finally attention must be devoted to the importance of two vital educational loci: the family and the school. In a certain sense nothing replaces family catechesis, especially for its positive and receptive environment, for the example of adults, and for its first explicit experience and practice of the faith.
Beginning school means, for the child, entering a society wider than the family, with the possibility of greater development of intellectual, affective and behavioural capacities. Often specific religious instruction will be given in school. All this requires that catechesis and catechists constantly co-operate with parents and school teachers as suitable opportunities arise.70Cf. DCG (1971) 79. Pastors should remember that, in helping parents and educators to fulfil their mission well, it is the Church who is being built up. Moreover this is an excellent occasion for adult catechesis.71Cf. DCG (1971) 78, 79. Infants and children without religious support in the family or who do not attend school 72Cf. DCG (1971) 80-81; CT 42.
There are indeed many gravely disadvantaged children who lack adequate religious support in the family, either because they have no true family, or because they do not attend school, or because they are victims of dysfunctional social conditions or other environmental factors. Many are not even baptized; others do not bring to completion the journey of initiation. It is the responsibility of the Christian community to address this situation by providing generous, competent and realistic aid, by seeking dialogue with the families, by proposing appropriate forms of education and by providing catechesis which is proportionate to the concrete possibilities and needs of these children.