Catechesis today
and tomorrow
 

in the words of Tonino Lasconi
     


Biancarosa Magliano (courtesy)

Italian version

trasp.gif (814 byte) trasp.gif (814 byte) trasp.gif (814 byte) trasp.gif (814 byte)

 
A passionate lover of the Gospel and its undying message of hope, Tonino Lasconi, was ordained priest on 29th June 1967. He was straightaway introduced to the pastoral activities in the area of the Catholic Action, where he dedicated himself to the knowledge of the boys and of modern forms of communication, such as cinema, theatre, TV, photography, publicity, songs, theatre and journalism. In the year 1969, together with a group of persons, he was entrusted with the task of constituting the Catholic Action of Boys (ACR), for which, in the successive years, he prepared the means for a journey of faith. He has been holding seminars for catechists and pastoral workers all over Italy for many years; he is a journalist for articles of Catholic interest and has been sending to the press a series of publications adopted in many Italian parishes for the catechesis of children, boys and adolescents, as well as for the formation of catechists, utilised by parish-priests in search of a new language, thanks to his marked sensitivity in seeking languages apt to communicate  faith today, to youths as well as to adults. Many of these publications have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene and Polish. They have been published also abroad. He states that, to communicate the Gospel in the 2000 we need to abandon definitely the old methods of Pius X catechisms and to find new agile and light forms, starting from the language used by the mass media. In one of his prayers he states, “Lord, I praise the publicity, not for what it says, but for the way it says it, (…) because it does it with the investment of money and the commitment of brains, fantasies, artistic inclinations (…); because of its guilefulness, which we, too, should have, for You”. At present he carries on his service as Parish Priest in the Parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Fabriano. He is a diocesan assistant of the Catholic Action and director of the catechetic Office in the diocese of Fabriano-Matelica.

We have addressed to him some questions on the catechesis today and tomorrow.

Catechesis has always had an exceptional importance. We think of the Didaché, of St. Augustine’s text The catechesis for beginners, and many more writings in the history of man and of the Church, together with the last exhortation of John Paul II   Catechesi tradendae (1979). Catechesis is effectively the very essence of the Magisterium of the Church. However, what can we say of today’s catechesis? Would you, please, speak to us about the problems that are arising in various areas of catechesis today: adults, children, youths, family…  

“Out of the many problems of catechesis today there is one at the basis of them all.  It consists in two main difficulties: the difficulty of the adult faithful to understand the exigency of catechesis, and that of the clergy (with annexed and connected…) to do catechesis for the adults. For many decenniums we have combined catechesis with the children getting ready for the First Holy Communion and Confirmation (not Baptism) and this has caused the fact that the adults (starting from the boys and girls soon after Confirmation) do no longer understand the need of catechesis for a mature and responsible faith.

The praxis of doing the catechesis only for children has made the clergy less able to substitute the catechesis as a “lesson” with a different modality,  capable of arousing the interest of the adults. This difficulty, hardly glimpsed until the “Christian” society has been able to transmit the truth and values of Christianity through the family and tradition, is becoming a very serious problem with the deep and very rapid change of society”.

Which responsibility does the catechesis assume in welcoming the new exigencies  and in facing today’s new problems of the world? (How to conciliate the basic theological lines with the new demands and situations of our daily life?).

“It is a must to elaborate a catechesis that, without taking for granted the adult and responsible adhesion to the Christian faith, -often absent even from those who practise it-  may be able to stimulate and motivate men and women, by proposing the Christian message as a response to the demands, the problems, the aspirations and values of today’s people, with a language comprehensible for today’s persons. Trained as they are by the media to discuss and to dialogue on everything, today’s men do no longer accept ideas and messages coming from the other, not even those coming down from Above”.

At present, which prerogatives and abilities are requested by the Catholic Church to carry on the ministry of a catechist?

“The prerogatives and abilities asked by the Church from the catechists are listed very clearly and exhaustively in the document of the National Catechetical Office: “The formation of catechists in the Christian community” (2006)), Nos. 19-33. I herewith mention some of them: relational competence, capacity of proclaiming and narrating, capacity of educating others to read the signs of God, capacity of introducing people into the life of the community. No. 21 of the same document states that the catechist must be: a witness, exemplar, a friend of children, a master capable of transmitting the Word with a comprehensible language, an  educator, a builder of communion. These are all true, beautiful and important things.

In reality, rarely the catechists possess these requisites fully, mainly because many of them are “enrolled” due to necessity. However, this does not judge “the complaint on the catechists”, often raised by those who do not live near them. In fact, there are very many lay catechists, more and more young adults (above all, mothers) who, once they are “enrolled”, commit themselves to carry on their task with noteworthy generosity. Not even the usual singers of the past are justified, if we think that  forty years ago  the only existing catechesis consisted in a few months of lessons before the reception of the sacraments, a time dedicated to let the children learn by heart the answers to the questions of Pius X’s catechism; nobody ever thought about the participation of the families, today so much (rightly) deprecated. There is, instead, the recrimination of the fact that the priests themselves, even the young ones, do not encourage the catechists desirous of newness, thus retarding the catechetic renewal.

The Catechesi tradendae spoke of the ecumenical dimension of catechesis (No. 32) and of the ecumenical co-operation in the field of catechesis (No. 33). Benedict XVI also hopes in an ecumenical commitment of his pontificate. Does he find a real factor of dialogues and communion in the present catechetical lay out?  

“From what I have been able to notice during my going through the Italian dioceses, I think that the ecumenical dimension is paid only a marginal attention by our catechesis, above all that of the children, boys and girls. At the most they may organise some meetings with a representative of some other religion during the days for the unity of the  Christians”.

How do you judge the actual “catechetical production” (papery and eventual complementary products)

“The catechetical production can be divided distinctly into two groups. One of them tries to facilitate the work of the catechists, by offering a “ready-made material” to them, namely small lessons without any personal mediation: unluckily it seems that this type of production goes on increasing, both at national and (above all) at diocesan level. Then, there is another sector, perhaps of the minority, which offers subsidies to stimulate the creativity of the catechists and their formation. However, we do hope that these “stimulating” subsidies may go on acquiring importance. This happens thanks to the fact that the children boys and girls (as well as adults) keep on being not available and refractory to a catechesis such as: little prayers, explanation, little designs. Many serious and responsible catechists, once assumed the service of catechesis, find no pleasure in wasting time with children, boys and girls who do not want to listen to, or with adults who presume to busy themselves with the sacraments of their children, thus seeking adequate subsidies”.   

To you, does the catechumenate journey answer the demands of the sacred for those who land in the Catholic Church? Is there any more attention to be set into action?

“The journey of catechumenal type is very important for the adults who wish to join the Catholic Church, provided it is not an “archaeological”  repetition of the old catechumenate, but rather an intelligent re-proposal adapted to today’s people.

It is dangerous when it is applied to the catechesis for children, boys and girls, but only in a nominalistical way, in other words,  by proposing  traditio et redditio,a handing over of the “Our Father” and something more, without the commitment to provoke the interest for Jesus and the Church, that must be at the very beginning of every true catechumenal journey. Attention! We, Italian, are specialised in changing names without changing the reality. Now handicapped persons exist no more. Once we had the disabled, now the differently able persons are not better off than the handicapped of the past”.

Internet and the digital technologies are determining a new culture and a new anthropology; what has the catechist to do in order to relate adequately with the “multi-medial boys and girls and to foster journeys of faith?

“The catechist must know and help others to know these realities, their culture and their languages. The CEI Directory, communication and Mission,  says, “The minimum expected from a good catechist is that he knows how to read and to use adequately the instruments of communication” (57. It is not possible that many catechists, in many parishes, do not confront themselves  with these new worlds, which the children know from the time they attended the nursery school. This is a very serious problem, because the children, boys and girls are not willing to stay in the attitude of listening to adults who know these things less than they do. We can just imagine the results which catechists can hope for, if they reveal themselves to be ignorant of these new worlds.

However, we conclude: away with pessimism and complaints! Today, the lay catechists, adults and young adults  (no longer the once little girls) are more than three hundred thousand. It is an enormous resource to be encouraged, helped, cultivated and made responsible. As well as to be thanked!