Directory for Catechesis: New Edition

by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

As the Catholic Church embarks on the mission of teaching the Christian faith, the new Directory for Catechesis (2020) lays the how-to guidelines for catechesis and presents universal norms to guide pastors and catechists in the work of evangelization. The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization presents the Directory to guide the proclamation of the Gospel by the Christian faithful to people of all ages and in all seasons of life.
The Directory places catechetical instruction and formation of catechetical teachers clearly within the realm of evangelization. It offers guidelines to assist in the creation of local directories and catechisms and clarifies the importance of catechetical renewal in Christian communities. The Directory affirms the presentation of the Catholic faith articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a sound point of reference for instruction while drawing deeply from Scripture and the writings of recent popes, especially Pope Francis s Evangelii Gaudium.
These guidelines are important for bishops, who are the primary catechists in their local diocese. The Directory will also be indispensable for all those responsible for formal religious instruction, including pastors and parish priests, deacons, lay and religious catechists, and religious education teachers in dioceses, parishes, and schools. The Directory will furthermore aid directors of formation who train the faithful in the forms and means of catechesis, including seminary rectors, directors of formation for the permanent diaconate, and lay ecclesial minster formation program directors.

288 pages, Paperback

Published June 25, 2020

About the author

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy (i.e., diocesan, coadjutor, and auxiliary bishops and the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter) in the United States and the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the bishops in the six dioceses form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference (Spanish, Conferencia Episcopal Puertorriqueña). The bishops in U.S. insular areas in the Pacific Ocean – the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Territory of Guam – are members of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (Latin, Conferentia Episcopalis Pacifici).

The USCCB adopted its current name in July 2001. The organization is a registered corporation based in Washington, D.C. As with all bishops' conferences, certain decisions and acts of the USCCB must receive the recognitio, or approval of the Roman dicasteries, which are subject to the immediate and absolute authority of the Pope.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important work in the contemporary understanding of the interplay of evangelization and catechesis in the life of the Church at the present moment. Only four starts because, as is inherent to this sort of document, some sections are a bit of a slog and are perhaps more suited for reference than reading.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and inspiring.

[George Dziuk Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read it for church work.