The proclamation, transmission and lived experience of the Gospel are realized in the particular Church 130As mentioned in LG 26a the term Churches in the NT is used to denote lawful groups of the faithful; see the biblical texts with which this part opens. or Diocese. 131Cf. CD 11. The particular Church is constituted by the community of Christ's disciples, 132The particular Church is described before all else as Populi Dei portio or "a portion of the people of God". who live incarnated in a definite socio-cultural space. Every particular Church "makes present the universal Church together with all of its essential elements". 133Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Lettera Communionis Noito, 7 (AAS 85 -1993), 842. In reality the universal Church, made fruitful by the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost, "brings forth the particular Churches as children and is expressed in them". 134Communionis Notio, 9b. The universal Church, as the Body of Christ, is thus made manifest as "a Body of Churches". 135LG 23b refers to St Hilary of Poitiers In Ps 14:3 (PL 9, 206) and St Gregory the Great Moralia: IV, 7, 12 (PL 75, 643 C).
The proclamation of the Gospel and the Eucharist are the two pillars on which is built and around which gathers the particular Church. Like the universal Church she also "exists for evangelization". 136EN 14. Catechesis is a basic evangelizing activity of every particular Church. By means of it the Diocese gives to all its members, and to all who come with a desire to give themselves to Jesus Christ, a formative process which permits knowledge, celebration, living and proclamation within a particular cultural horizon. In this way the confession of faith—the goal of catechesis—can be proclaimed by the disciples of Christ "in their own tongues". 137Cf. Acts 2:11. As at Pentecost, so also today, the Church of Christ, "present and operative" 138Communionis Notio 7. in the particular Churches, "speaks all languages", 139Ibid. 9b: l.c., p. 843; cf. AG 4. since like a growing tree she extends her roots into all cultures. The ministry of catechesis in the particular Church
In all the ministries and services which the particular Church performs to carry out its mission of evangelization, catechesis occupies a position of importance. 140The expression ministry of catechesis is used in CT 13. In this the following traits are underlined: a) In the Diocese catechesis is a unique service 141It is important to underline the nature of the one service which catechesis has in the particular Church. The subject of evangelizing activity is the particular Church. She proclaims and transmits the Gospel, which celebrates... The agents of catechesis "serve" this ministry and work "in the name of the Church." The theological, spiritual and pastoral implications of the ecclesial nature of catechesis are considerable. performed jointly by priests, deacons, religious and laity, in communion with the Bishop. The entire Christian community should feel responsible for this service. Even if priests, deacons, religious and laity exercise catechesis in common, they do so in different ways, each according to his particular condition in the Church (sacred ministers, consecrated persons and the Christian faithful). 142CT 16: "Shared but differentiated responsibility". Cf. also note 54, as well as note 50 for a clarification of the term "ministry of the Word". Through them all and their differing functions, the catechetical ministry hands on the word in a complete way and witnesses to the reality of the Church. Were one of these forms absent catechesis would lose something of its richness as well as part of its proper meaning; b) On the other hand it is a fundamental ecclesial service, indispensable for the growth of the Church. It is not an action which can be realized in the community on a private basis or by purely personal initiative. The ministry of catechesis acts in the name of the Church by its participating in mission. c) The catechetical ministry—among all ministries and ecclesial services—has a proper character which derives from the specific role of catechetical activity within the process of evangelization. The task of the catechist, as an educator in the faith, differs from that of other pastoral agents (liturgical, charitable and social) even if he or she always acts in coordination with them. d) In order that the catechetical ministry in the Diocese be fruitful, it needs to involve other agents, not specifically catechists, who support and sustain catechetical activity by performing indispensable tasks such as: the formation of catechists, the production of catechetical material, reflection, organization and planning. These agents, together with catechists, are at the service of a single diocesan catechetical ministry even if all do not play the same roles or act on the same basis. The Christian community and responsibility for catechesis
Catechesis is a responsibility of the entire Christian community. Christian initiation, indeed, "should not be the work of catechists and priests alone, but of the whole community of the faithful". 143AG 14. In this sense CT 16 says: "Catechesis always has been, and always will be a work for which the whole Church must feel responsible and must wish to be responsible." Cf. also 1977 Synod; MPG 12; RCIA 12; CIC 774 § 1. Continuing education in the faith is a question which concerns the whole community; catechesis, therefore, is an educational activity which arises from the particular responsibility of every member of the community, in a rich context of relationships, so that catechumens and those being catechized are actively incorporated into the life of the community. The Christian community follows the development of catechetical processes, for children, young people and adults, as a duty that involves and binds it directly. 144Catechesis must be supported by the witness of the ecclesial community, DCG (1971) 35; cf. part IV, chapter 2. Again, at the end of the catechetical process, it is the Christian community that welcomes the catechized in a fraternal environment, "in which they will be able to live in the fullest way what they have learned". 145CT 24.
The Christian community not only gives much to those who are being catechized but also receives much from them. New converts, especially adolescents and adults, in adhering to Jesus Christ, bring to the community which receives them new religious and human wealth. Thus the community grows and develops. Catechesis not only brings to maturity the faith of those being catechized but also brings the community itself to maturity. Yet, while the entire Christian community is responsible for Christian catechesis and all of it members bear witness to the faith, only some receive the ecclesial mandate to be catechists. Together with the primordial mission which parents have in relation to their children, the Church confers the delicate task of organically transmitting the faith within the community on particular, specifically called members of the people of God. 146"Besides this apostolate, which belongs to absolutely every Christian, the laity can be called in different ways to more immediate co-operation in the apostolate of the hierarchy, like those men and women who helped the apostle Paul in the Gospel, labouring much in the Lord" (LG 33). This conciliar doctrine is adopted by CIC 228 and 759. The Bishop has primary responsibility for catechesis in the particular Church
The Second Vatican Council gave much importance to the proclamation and transmission of the Gospel in the episcopal ministry. "Among the principal duties of Bishops, that of preaching the Gospel excels". 147LG 25; cf. CD 12a; EN 68c. In carrying out this task, Bishops are, above all, "heralds of the faith", 148LG 25. seeking new disciples for Jesus Christ, and "authentic teachers", 149Ibid. transmitting the faith to be professed and lived to those entrusted to their care. Missionary proclamation and catechesis are two closely united aspects of the prophetic ministry of Bishops. To perform this duty Bishops receive "the charism of truth". 150DV 8. The Bishops are "beyond all others the ones primarily responsible for catechesis and catechists par excellence". 151CT 63b. In the Church's history the preponderant role of great and saintly Bishops is evident. Their writings and initiatives mark the richest period of the catechumenate. They regarded catechesis as one of the most fundamental tasks of their ministry. 152Cf. CT 12a.
This concern for catechetical activity will lead the Bishop to assume "the overall direction of catechesis" 153CT 63c. in the particular Church, which implies among other things: – that he ensure effective priority for an active and fruitful catechesis in his Church "putting into operation the necessary personnel, means and equipment, and also financial resources"; 154CT 63c; CIC 775 § 1. – that he exercise solicitude for catechesis by direct intervention in the transmission of the Gospel to the faithful, and that he be vigilant with regard to the authencity of the faith as well as with regard to the quality of texts and instruments being used in catechesis; 155Cf. CT 63c; CIC 823 § 1. – "that he bring about and maintain... a real passion for catechesis, a passion embodied in a pertinent and effective organization", 156CT 63c. out of a profound conviction of the importance of catechesis for the Christian life of the diocese; – that he ensure "that catechists are adequately prepared for their task, being well instructed in the doctrine of the Church and possessing both a practical and theoretical knowledge of the laws of psychology and educational method"; 157CD 14b; CIC 780. – that he establish an articulated, coherent and global programme in the Diocese in order to respond to the true needs of the faithful: it should be integrated into the diocesan pastoral plan and co-ordinated with the programmes of the Episcopal Conference. Priests, pastors and educators of the Christian community
The function proper to the presbyterate in the catechetical task arises from the sacrament of Holy Orders which they have received. "Through that sacrament priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest, in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head". 158Cf. PO 8; 6; 12a; John Paul II, Post synodal exhortation Pastores dabo vobis (25 March 1992), n. 12 l.c. 675-677. In virtue of this ontological configuration to Christ, the ministry of the priest is a service which forms the Christian community and co-ordinates and strengthens other charisms and services. In catechesis the sacrament of Holy Orders constitutes priests as "educators of the faith". 159PO 6b. They work, therefore, to see that the faithful are properly formed and reach true Christian maturity. 160Cf. CIC 773. Conscious, on the other hand, that their "ministerial Priesthood" 161LG 10. is at the service of "the common Priesthood of the faithful", 162LG 10. Concerning the "two ways of participating in the single priesthood of Jesus Christ", cf. CCC 1546-1547. priests foster the vocation and work of catechists and assist them in carrying out a function which springs from Baptism and is exercised in virtue of a mission entrusted to them by the Church. Thus priests put into effect the request which the Second Vatican Council made of them: "to recognize and promote the dignity of the laity and their specific role in the Church's mission". 163PO 9b.
The catechetical tasks proper to the presbyterate and particularly to parish priests are: 164Cf. CIC 776-777. – to foster a sense of common responsibility for catechesis in the Christian community, a task which involves all, and a recognition and appreciation for catechists and their mission; – to care for the basic orientation of catechesis and its planning by giving emphasis to active participation of catechists and by insisting that catechesis be "well structured and oriented"; 165CT 64. With respect to this basic orientation which priests must collaborate in giving to catechesis, the Second Vatican Council indicates two basic requirements: "their role is to teach not their own wisdom but the word of God", (PO 4) and "to expound the word of God not merely in a general and abstract way but by an application of the eternal truth of the Gospel to the concrete circumstances of life" (ibid.). – to promote and to discern vocations to the service of catechesis and, as catechist of catechists, attend to their formation by giving the greatest attention to this duty; – to integrate catechetical activity into his programme of community evangelization; and foster the link between catechesis sacramets and the liturgy; – to secure the bonds between the catechesis of his community and the diocesan pastoral programme by helping catechists become active co-operators in a common diocesan programme. Experience bears out that the quality of catechesis in a community depends very largely on the presence and activity of the priest. Parents, primary educators of their children 166Cf. chap. 3 of this Part, The family as an environment or means of growth in the faith, where the characteristics of family catechesis are analysed; here, more consideration is given to parents as agents of catechesis. Cf. CIC 226 § 2; 774 § 2.
The witness of Christian life given by parents in the family comes to children with tenderness and parental respect. Children thus perceive and joyously live the closeness of God and of Jesus made manifest by their parents in such a way that this first Christian experience frequently leaves decisive traces which last throughout life. This childhood religious awakening which takes place in the family is irreplaceable. 167CT 68. It is consolidated when, on the occasion of certain family events and festivities, "care is taken to explain in the home the Christian or religious content of these events". 168Ibid. It is deepened all the more when parents comment on the more methodical catechesis which their children later receive in the Christian community and help them to appropriate it. Indeed, "family catechesis precedes...accompanies and enriches all forms of catechesis". 169Ibid.
Parents receive in the sacrament of Matrimony "the grace and the ministry of the Christian education of their children", 170Cf. ChL 62; cf. FC 38. to whom they transmit and bear witness to human and religious values. This educational activity which is both human and religious is "a true ministry", 171FC 38. through which the Gospel is transmitted and radiated so that family life is transformed into a journey of faith and the school of Christian life. As the children grow, exchange of faith becomes mutual and "in a catechetical dialogue of this sort, each individual both receives and gives". 172CT 68; cf. EN 71b. It is for this reason that the Christian community must give very special attention to parents. By means of personal contact, meetings, courses and also adult catechesis directed toward parents, the Christian community must help them assume their responsibility—which is particularly delicate today—of educating their children in the faith. This is especially pressing in those areas where civil legislation does not permit or makes difficult freedom of education in the faith. 173Cf. CT 68. In this case "the domestic Church" 174LG 11; FC 36b. is virtually the only environment in which children and young people can receive authentic catechesis.