The Christian community is the historical realization of the gift of "communion" (koinonia), 243Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Communionis notio", n. 1: l.c. 838. which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. "Communion" expresses the profound nucleus between the universal Church and the particular Churches which make up the Christian community. It is realized and made visible in the rich variety of immediate Christian communities in which Christians are born into the faith, educated in it and live it: the family; parish; Catholic schools; Christian associations and movements; basic ecclesial communities. These are the loci of catechesis, the community places where initiatory catechesis and continuing education in the faith are realized. 244Cf. MPD 13.
The Christian community is the origin, locus and goal of catechesis. Proclamation of the Gospel always begins with the Christian community and invites man to conversion and the following of Christ. It is the same community that welcomes those who wish to know the Lord better and permeate themselves with a new life. The Christian community accompanies catechumens and those being catechized, and with maternal solicitude makes them participate in her own experience of the faith and incorporates them into herself. 245Cf. CT 24. Catechesis is always the same. However the loci 246CT 67a. This is a classic expression in catechesis. The Apostolic Exhortation speaks of the places of catechesis (de locis catecheseos). of catechesis distinguish it, each in its own way. Hence it is important to know the role of each of these. The family as an environment or means of growth in faith
Parents are the primary educators in the faith. Together with them, especially in certain cultures, all members of the family play an active part in the education of the younger members. It is thus necessary to determine more concretely the sense in which the Christian family community is a locus of catechesis. The family is defined as a "domestic Church", 247Cf LG 11; cf AA 11; FC 49. that is, in every Christian family the different aspects and functions of the life of the entire Church may be reflected: mission; catechesis; witness; prayer etc. Indeed in the same way as the Church, the family "is a place in which the Gospel is transmitted and from which it extends". 248EN 71. The family as a locus of catechesis has an unique privilege: transmitting the Gospel by rooting it in the context of profound human values. 249Cf. GS 52; FC 37a. On this human base, Christian initiation is more profound: the awakening of the sense of God; the first steps in prayer; education of the moral conscience; formation in the Christian sense of human love, understood as a reflection of the love of God the Father, the Creator. It is, indeed, a Christian education more witnessed to than taught, more occasional than systematic, more on-going and daily than structured into periods. In this family catechesis, the role of grandparetns is of growing importace. Their wisdom and sense of the religious is often times decisive in creating a true Christian climate. The baptismal catechumenate of adults 250See Part I, chap. III. Here the question of the baptismal catechumenate as a locus of catechesis is addressed in relation to the continuing presence of the community in it.
The baptismal catechumenate is a typical locus of catechesis, instituted by the Church to prepare adults, who desire to become Christians and to receive the Sacraments of Christian initiation. 251Cf. DCG (1971), 130 which describes the end of the baptismal catechumenate. Cf. RCIA 4 indicates the connection between the baptismal catechumenate and the Christian community. In the catechumenate, it is realized "that specific formation by means of which the adult, converted to the faith, is brought to a confession of baptismal faith during the Easter Vigil". 2521977 Synod, MPG 8c. The catechesis given in the catechumenate is closely linked with the Christian community. 253Cf. RCIA 4, 41. From the moment of their entry into the catechumenate, the Church surrounds catechumens "with her affection, her care, as though they are already her children and joined to her: indeed, they belong to the family of Christ". 254RCIA 18. Thus the Christian community assists "candidates and catechumens during their initiation process, from the precatechumenate to the catechumenate, to the period of mystagogy". 255RCIA 41. This continual presence of the Christian community is expressed in different ways and appropriately described in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. 256Cf. RCIA 41. The parish as an environment for catechesis
The parish is, without doubt, the most important locus in which the Christian community is formed and expressed. This is called to be a fraternal and welcoming family where Christians become aware of being the people of God. 257Cf. CT 67c. In the parish, all human differences melt away and are absorbed into the universality of the Church. 258Cf. AA 10. The parish is also the usual place in which the faith is born and in which it grows. It constitutes, therefore, a very adequate community space for the realization of the ministry of the word at once as teaching, education and life experience. Today, the parish is undergoing profound transformation in many countries. Social changes are having repercussions on the parish especially in big cities "shaken by the phenomenon of urbanization". 259CT 67b. Despite this, "the parish is still a major point of reference for the Christian people, even for the non-practising". 260Ibid. It must however, continue " to be the prime mover and pre-eminent place for catechesis", 261Ibid. while recognising that in certain occasions, it cannot be the centre of gravity for all of the ecclesial functions of catechesis and must integrate itself into other institutions.
In order that the parish may succeed in activating effectively the mission of evangelization, some conditions must be fulfilled: a) Adult catechesis 262The importance of adult catechesis is underlined in CT 43 and DCG (1971) 20. must be given priority. This involves "a post-baptismal catechesis, in the form of a catechumenate, ...presenting again some elements from the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults with the purpose of allowing a person to grasp and live the immense, extraordinary richness and responsibility received at Baptism". 263ChL 61. b) With renewed courage, the proclamation of the Gospel to those alienated or who live in religious indifference 264Cf. EN 52. must be planned. In this task, pre-sacramental meetings (preparation for Marriage, Baptism and First Holy Communion of children) can be fundamental. 265Cf. DCG (1971) 96c. c) As a solid reference point for parochial catechesis it is necessary to have a nucleus of mature Christians, initiated into the faith, for whom the pastor should have an adequate and differentiated pastoral care. This objective can be more easily achieved by the formation of small ecclesial communities. 266It is important to state as Pope John Paul II does in ChL 61 the usefulness of small ecclesial groups in the context of parishes. They should not however be a parallel movement which absorbs the best members of parishes: "internal to the parish, especially if vast and territorially extensive, small Church communities, where present, can be a notable help in the formation of Christians by providing a consciousness and an experience of ecclesial communion and mission which are more extensive and incisive". d) While the preceding points refer mainly to adults, at the same time catechesis for children, adolescents, and young people—which is always indispensable—will also benefit greatly.