TheoFonsAd fontes fidei

Directorium catechisticum generale

DCG · Directorium · Congregatio pro Clericis · 1971 · LA · 134 paragraphi · vatican.va ↗

The content of catechesis is found in God’s word, written or handed down; ibis more deeply understood and developed by the people exercising their faith under the guidance of the Magisterium, which alone teaches authentically; it is celebrated in the liturgy; it shines forth in the life of the Church, especially in the just and in the saints; and in some way it is known too from Those genuine moral values which, by divine providence, are found in human society. Catechesis has all these as its sources. These sources are either principal or subsidiary, and so they are by no means all to be taken as sources in exactly the same sense. In using them, the catechist must first and always look to the unquestionable pre-eminence of revelation, written or handed down, and to the authority of the Magisterium of the Church in matters connected with faith. Moreover, in regard to any particular part of the content of faith that is to be explained, the calechist should carefully note how the mystery of Christ is the center of that part; how the Church interprets and defines that part, and how she celebrates it and puts it into practice, sharing it in her liturgy and in the practice of the Christian life. Finally, the catechist must consider how, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, the plan of God can be fulfilled in the present era.