The Catechism of the Catholic Church is given to all the faithful and to those who wish to know what the Catholic Church believes. 445FD 4c. It is "meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and Catholic doctrine". 446FD 4d. Local catechisms, prepared or approved by diocesan Bishops or by Episcopal Conferences, 447Cf. CIC 775. are invaluable instruments for catechesis which are "called to bring the power of the Gospel into the very heart of culture and cultures". 448CT 53a; cf. CCC 24. For this reason Pope John Paul II has offered a warm encouragement "to the Episcopal Conferences of the whole world to undertake, patiently but resolutely, the considerable work to be accomplished, in agreement with the Apostolic See, in order to prepare genuine catechisms which will be faithful to the essential content of Revelation and up to date in method, and which will be capable of educating the Christian generations of the future to a sturdy faith". 449CT 50. By means of local catechisms, the Church actualizes the "divine pedagogy" 450DV 15. used by God himself in Revelation, adapting his language to our nature with thoughtful concern. 451Cf. DV 13. In local catechisms, the Church communicates the Gospel in a manner accessible to the human person so that it may be really perceived as the "Good News" of salvation. Local catechisms are palpable expressions of the wonderful "condescension" 452DV 13. of God and of his "ineffable" 453DV 13. "Ineffable kindness", "providence and care", "condescension" are terms which define the divine pedagogy in Revelation. They show God's desire to " adapt Himself " (synkatabasis) to human beings. This same spirit should guide the redaction of local catechisms. love for the world. The literary genre of the local catechism
Three principal traits characterize every catechism adopted by a local Church: its official character, its organic and fundamental synthesis of the faith, and the fact that, along with Sacred Scripture, it is offered as a reference point for catechesis. – The local catechism is an official text of the Church. In a certain sense, it makes visible the "handing on of the Creed" and the "handing on of the Our Father" to catechumens and those to be baptized. For this reason, it is an act of tradition. The official character of local catechisms establishes a qualitative difference from other instruments which may be useful for catechetical pedagogy (didactic texts, non-official catechisms, catechetical guides etc.) – Moreover, every catechism is a synthetic and basic text, in which the events and fundamental truths of the Christian mystery are presented in an organic way and with regard to the "hierarchy of truths". The local catechism presents, in its organic structure, "an ensemble of the documents of Revelation and Christian Tradition", 454DCG (1971) 119. made available in the rich diversity of "languages" in which the word of God is expressed. – The local catechism, finally, is given as a reference point to inform catechesis. The Sacred Scriptures and the catechism are the two basic doctrinal texts for the process of catechesis and must always be to hand. While both of these texts are of the greatest importance, they are not the only texts available. Indeed, other more immediate aids are necessary. 455In catechesis apart from catechetical aids there are other decisive factors: the person of the catechist, his method of transmission, the rapport between catechist and those being catechized, respect for the receptive capacity of those being catechized, an atmosphere of love and faith in communication, active involvement of the Christian community, etc. It is, therefore, a valid question to ask if an official catechism should contain pedagogical elements or, on the contrary, should be limited to giving a doctrinal synthesis and a presentation of sources. In any case, the catechism, being an instrument of catechetical activity, which is an act of communication, always reflects a certain pedagogical inspiration and must always make apparent, in its own way, the divine pedagogy. More purely methodological questions are obviously more appropriate to other instruments. Aspects of adaptation in a local catechism 456Cf. part IV, chapter 1.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates those aspects which must be taken into account when adapting or contextualizing the organic synthesis of the faith which every local catechism must offer. This synthesis of the faith must exhibit the adaptations which are required by "the differences of culture, age, spiritual maturity, and social and ecclesial conditions among all those to whom it is addressed". 457CCC 24. The Second Vatican Council also emphatically affirms the need for adapting the Gospel Message: "Indeed, this kind of adaptation and preaching of the revealed word must ever be the law of all evangelization". 458GS 44. Hence: – The local catechism must present the synthesis of the faith with reference to the particular culture in which catechumens and those to be catechized are immersed. It will, however, incorporate all those "original expressions of life, of celebrations and of thought which are Christian",459CT 53a. proper to a particular cultural tradition and are the fruits of the work and inculturation of the local Church. – The local catechism, "faithful to the message and to the human person", 460Cf. CT 55c; MPD 7; DCG (1971) 34. presents the Christian message in a meaningful way and is close to the psychology and mentality of those for whom it is intended. Consequently, it will refer clearly to the fundamental experiences of their lives. 461Cf. CT 36-45. – It shall pay attention in a special way to the concrete manner in which religion is lived in a given society. It is not, for example, the same thing to prepare a catechism for a society permeated by religious indifference as it is for a profoundly religious context. 462Local catechisms must give attention to the question and orientation of popular devotions (cf. EN 48; CT 54 and CCC 1674-1676). Equally they should be concerned with ecumenical dialogue (cf. CT 32-34; CCC 817-822) and with inter-religious dialogue (cf. EN 53; RM 55-57 and CCC 839-845). The relationship between belief and science must be treated with great care in every catechism. – Problems arising from social conditions, especially those arising from its more profound structural elements (economics, politics, family) are a factor in the contextualization of a catechism. Drawing inspiration from the social teaching of the Church, the Catechism will offer criteria, motivations and modes of action to highlight the Christian presence in these critical situations. 463LC 72 distinguishes between "principles of reflection", "criteria of judgement" and "directives for action" which the Church offers in her social doctrine. A catechism should also distinguish these various levels. – Finally, the concrete ecclesial situation lived by a particular Church shall provide the context to which a catechism must make reference. Obviously one does not refer hereby to contingent situations, which are addressed by other magisterial documents, but to the more permanent situation which demands a more specific and appropriate evangelization. 464It refers fundamentally to "the different socio-religious situations" faced by evangelization. These are examined in Part I, chap. I. The creativity of local Churches in the elaboration of catechesis
Local Churches, in fulfilling the task of adapting, contextualizing and inculturating the Gospel message by means of catechisms, for different ages, situations and cultures must exercise a mature creativity. From the depositum fidei entrusted to the Church, local Churches select, structure and express, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, their inner Master, all those elements which transmit the Gospel in its complete authenticity in a given situation. For this difficult task, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a "point of reference" to guarantee the unity of the faith. This present General Catechetical Directory, for its part, offers the basic criteria which govern the presentation of the Christian message.
In elaborating local catechisms it will be useful to remember the following points: – it is a question, above all, of elaborating genuine catechisms, adapted and inculturated: in this sense, a distinction must be drawn between a catechism which adapts the Christian message to different ages, situations and cultures, and one which is a mere summary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and serves as an introduction to its study. These are two different types. 465On the distinction between local catechisms and syntheses of the Catechism of the Catholic Church see "Orientamenti sulle sintesi del Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica", of the Congregation for the Clergy and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Among other things it notes: "syntheses of the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be erroneously understood to be substitutes for local catechisms even to the extent of discouraging these latter. However, they lack those adaptations to local situations particular to those who are catechized which is required of catechesis" (4). – Local catechisms may be diocesan, regional or national in character. 466Cf. CIC 775 §§ 1-2. – with regard to the structuring of contents, different Episcopates publish catechisms of various structures and configurations; as has been said, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is proposed as a point of doctrinal reference, but, does not impose on the entire Church a determined structure on other catechisms: there are catechisms with a trinitarian structure; others are planned according to the stages of salvation; others again are organized along a biblical or theological theme (Covenant, Kingdom of God, etc.); some are structured around an aspect of the faith, while others again follow the liturgical year; – with regard to the manner of expressing the Gospel message, the creativity of a catechism will have a bearing on its formulation and content, 467The question of language both in local catechisms and in catechetical activity is of supreme importance. Cf. CT 59. evidently a catechism must be faithful to the deposit of faith in its method of expressing the doctrinal substance of the Christian message:"The individual churches—which are involved not only with men but also with their aspirations, their wealth and their poverty, with their manner of praying and living and their outlook on the world—must make their own the substance of the evangelical message. Without any sacrifice of the essential truths they must transpose this message into an idiom which will be understood by the people they serve and those who proclaim it"; 468EN 63. In the delicate task of assimilation and translation mentioned in this text it is most important to bear in mind the observation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and of the Congregation for the Clergy "Orientamenti sulle sintesi del Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica", 3: "The preparation of local catechisms, which have the Catechism of the Catholic Church as an authoritative and secure reference text (FD 4), remains an important objective for the various Episcopates. However, the foreseeable difficulties which can arise in such an undertaking can only be overcome by an adequate assimilation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Such assimilation even when it is accomplished over a long period of time prepares the theological, catechetical and linguistic ground for a work that really inculturates the contents of the Catechism". The principle to be followed in this delicate task is indicated by the Second Vatican Council: "to seek out more efficient ways—provided the meaning and understanding of them is safeguarded—of presenting their teaching to modern man: for the deposit of faith is one thing, the manner of expressing it is quite another". 469GS 62b. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms: the symphony of faith
The Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms, each, with its own specific authority, naturally, form a unity. They are a concrete expression of the "unity of the same apostolic faith", 470FD 4b. and, at the same time, of the rich diversity of formulations of the same faith. To those who contemplate this harmony, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms together express a "symphony" of faith, a symphony inherent above all in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which has been drawn up with the collaboration of the entire Episcopate of the Catholic Church, a symphony harmonized with this and manifested in local catechisms. This symphony, this "chorus of voices of the universal Church", 471RM 54b. heard in the local catechisms and faithful to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, has a very important theological significance. – It manifests the Catholicity of the Church: the cultural riches of the peoples is incorporated into the expression of the faith of the one Church. – The Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms make manifest to the ecclesial communion of which "the profession of the one faith" 472CCC 815. is one of the visible links, "in which and formed out of which the one and unique visible Church of Christ exists". 473LG 23a. The particular Churches, "parts of the one Church of Christ", form with the whole, the universal Church, "a peculiar relationship of mutual interiority" 474Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Communionis notio, n. 19 l. c. 843. The unity which thus exists between the Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms makes visible this communion. – The Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms equally express, clearly, the reality of episcopal collegiality. The Bishops, each in his own diocese and together as a college, in communion with the Successor of Peter, have the greatest responsibility for catechesis in the Church. 475Cf. CT 63b. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and local catechisms, by their profound unity and rich diversity, are called to be a renewing leaven of catechesis in the Church. Contemplating them with her Catholic and universal gaze, the Church, that is, the entire community of the disciples of Christ, can say in truth: "This is our faith, this is the faith of the Church".