Where Today’syoung people “are”

11:00 KW

A New Warning

At the June 2003 US Bishops’ meeting in Saint Louis

• “The catechetical deficiencies of our young people”

• “The diminished appreciation of the sacramental nature of the church and the uniquely real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”

A New Warning

At the June 2003 US Bishops’ meeting in Saint Louis

“There is a certain sense of malaisein the catechetical world.”

malaise

What isAdolescent Catechesis?

Exploring the Possibility

of a New Framework

Issue/Question

The GDC (1997) and RTV (1997) situate adolescent catechesis within compelling, but different, frameworks.

Is there a new framework that synthesizes the insights of both and helps set a direction for adolescent catechesis?

Catechesis is a moment in the process of evangelization (GDC 48, 63)

5. Continuing EducationIn the Faith

2. Witness

3. Proclamation ofthe Gospel

4. Initiation

1. Love and Charity6. Inspire Missionary

Spirit

Catechesis is most closely associated with stages 4 and 5, but it is also concerned with stages 1-3 (52) and has a role in stage 6 (86).

STAGE 4

Initiation into

the Faith

Catechesis Sacraments

of Initiation

Incorporation into the

Community

STAGE 5

ContinuingEducation

in the Faith

Homilies and

other forms

of Catechesis

The Sacraments

The Practice

of Charity

Catechesis is one of the eight components of youth ministry. Each one enhances and supports the others. A comprehensive approach

provides balance among all eight (RTV, p. 26).

Prayer/Worship

Pastoral Care

Leadership Development

Justice/Service

Evangeli-zation

CommunityLife

Catechesis

Advocacy

Youth Ministry

Discussion

What might a new framework that synthesizes the insights of the GDC and RTV look like?

How would a new framework contribute to the re-thinking of adolescent catechesis?

Some things to think about:

-- What are the key insights about adolescent catechesis presented in the GDC and RTV? How do the understandings of catechesis articulated in each compare?

-- What is the relationship between the components of youth ministry and stages of evangelization, the frameworks within which the RTV and the GDC situate catechesis?

Some things to think about:

• RTV points out that there are a variety of schemas used to identify the Church’s ministries (see RTV, p. 59, n. 8).

• The names and the number of ministries vary. Consider that the 8 YM components and the 6 tasks of catechesis may reflect two of the various schema.

• How would the tasks of catechesis be articulated if the RTV’s eight-part schema were used instead of the GDC’s six-part schema?

• What would the component framework look like if the GDC schema were used?

• Is there a more useful schema for envisioning youth ministry, including adolescent catechesis, that is different from both the GDC and RTV?

Some things to think about:

The GDC (87) draws on Canon 773 to define two principle means of catechesis: 1) transmission of the Gospel message and 2) experience of the Christian life (apprenticeship). How do the two means relate to catechesis and the other 7 components as envisioned in the RTV?

For Reference

Six Tasks of Catechesis (GDC 85-86):

-- promote knowledge of the faith

-- liturgical education

-- moral formation

-- teaching to pray

-- education for community life

-- prepare people to participate actively in the life and mission of the Church

Catholic Identity

Last time you taught, what was the topic….???

Faith Identity

August 29, 2005:

Which best describes you.  

Web Survey

Spiritual, but NOT religious  

Religious, but NOT spiritual  

Religious and Spiritual

NOT spiritual and NOT religious

Don't know  

32% 24%

3.3% 9%51% 55%

11% 8 %

2.2% 4 %

Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case

for Authoritative Communities

Children are biologically ‘hardwired’ for close attachments to other people and for moral and spiritual meaning.

National Study onYouth and Religion

This study focused on 13-17 year olds to:

1.Research the shape and influence of religion and spirituality in the lives of U.S. adolescents.

2. Identify effective practices in the religious, moral, and social formation of young people

3. Describe the extent to which young people participate in and benefit from the programs and opportunities that religious denominations are offering to their youth.

Purpose of Study:

Religion has a significant

presence in the lives of many U.S.

teens today.

Finding #1:

Contrary to many popular assumptions and stereotypes, the character of teenage religiosity in the U.S.

is extraordinarily conventional.

Finding #2:

Religious education is failing –

if by that we mean helping people

understand what they believe.

Finding #3:

“Many teenagers know abundant details about the lives of favorite musicians and television stars or about what it takes to get into a good college, but

most are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were.”

-Dr. Christian Smith

17 year old, white Catholic boy from Wisconsin:

“My religious beliefs, what’s good and bad, like you know, if you kill or rape someone, I think you’re screwed, give up on life ‘cause it’s over.”

Then he added, “I’ll never stop being Catholic, even if I stop believing in God, I’ll still be Catholic.”

15 year old conservative Protestant Hispanic boy from Texas:

“I’m sure God exists and like, helps people and answers their prayers, that’s pretty much it.” [Do you believe in Jesus?] “Ah, yes…I think (little laugh). I don’t know, I don’t know.”

Most U.S. teens have a difficult to impossible time explaining what they believe, what it means, and what the implications of their beliefs are for their lives.

Finding #4:

17 year old mainline Lutheran boy from Colorado:

“Uh, well, I don’t know, um, well, I don’treally know. Being a Lutheran,confirmation was a big thing but I didn’treally know what it was and I still don’t. I really don’t know what beinga Lutheran means.”

“Indeed, it was our distinct sense that for many of the teens we interviewed, our interview was the first time that any adult had ever asked them what they believed and how it mattered in their life.”

-Dr. Christian Smith

Regardless of the denomination, most U.S. teens are “Moralistic Therapeutic Deists”

Finding #5:

15 year old Hispanic conservative Protestant girl from Florida:

“God is like someone who is always there for you, I don’t know, it’s like God is God. He’s just like somebody that’ll always help you go through whatever you’re going through. When I became a Christian I was just praying and it always made me feel better.”

14 year old Jewish girl from Washington:

“I guess for me Judaism is more about how you live your life. Part of the guidelines are like how to live and I guess be happy with who you are, ‘cause if you’re out there helping someone, you’re gonna feel good about yourself, you know?”

14 year old white Catholic boy from Pennsylvania:

“ ‘Cause God made us and if you ask him for something, I believe he gives it to you. Yeah, he hasn’t let me down yet. God is a spirit that grants you anything you want, but not anything bad.”

16 year old white mainline Protestant boy from Texas:

“Well, God is almighty, I guess [yawns]. But I think he’s on vacation right now because of all the crap that’s happening in the world, ‘cause it wasn’t like this back when he was famous.”

- A God exists who created and orders the world.- God wants us to be good and fair.- Central goal of life is to be happy

and feel good about oneself.- God does not need to be

particularly involved in one’s life,except when needed to resolve a problem.

- Good people go to heaven when they die.

The Creed ofMoralistic Therapeutic Deism

Highly religious teens appear to be doing much better in life than less religious teens.

Finding #6:

“At the very least, what appears to be clearly not true is the idea that the

religious teenagers are essentially no different from non-religious teenagers.”

-Dr. Christian Smith

“Catholic teenagers, who represent nearly one-quarter of all U.S. teens, stand out among the U.S. Christian teenagers as consistently scoring lower on most

measures of religiosity.”

-Dr. Christian Smith

U.S. CP MP BP RC J LDS NR

Made a personal commitment to live for God.

55 79 60 74 41 21 69 13

Shared own religious faith with someone not of faith

43 56 51 41 37 58 72 --

Youth Group participation rate (involved in YG/YG available)

52 64 64 44 32*

41 75 --

Only one religion is true 29 46 26 31 19 9 67 5

Okay to practice religions besides own

51 36 59 40 58 78 36 70

Evangelization: “people should leave everyone else alone”

43 27 39 42 55 75 15 66

Okay to pick and choose beliefs without accepting whole faith

46 36 53 34 54 71 31 62

Believers need to be involved in a religious congregation

32 35 27 45 32 20 60 14

* This question was only asked of teens who attend Mass more than twice a year.

Baylor Religion Survey

America’s

Four Gods

• Authoritarian• Benevolent • Critical • Distant

Type B:Benevolent God

Type A:Authoritarian God

Type D:Distant God

Type C:Critical God

Believe that God is Angry

low high

high

Bel

ieve

that

God

is E

ngag

ed

Baylor Religion Survey

America’s

Four Gods

• Authoritarian 31.4 %• Benevolent 23.0 %• Critical 16.0 %• Distant 24.4 %

America’s

Four Gods

• Authoritarian• Benevolent • Critical • Distant

Baylor Religion Survey

American Black Protestants’

Four Gods

• Authoritarian 68.0 %• Benevolent 12.0 %• Critical 20.0 %• Distant 0 %

Baylor Religion Survey

American Catholics’

Four Gods

• Authoritarian 22.6 %• Benevolent 28.2 %• Critical 18.6 %• Distant 29.2 %

The Catholic Church in America

Catholic Identity defined by:

• Attendance at Mass

• How Important is the Church to You Personally

• Locus of Moral Authority

Can you be a GOOD CATHOLIC without this?

Percentage saying yes 1987 1993 1999 2005

Without believing that Jesus physically rose from the dead

Without believing that in the Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus

Without donating time and money to help the poor

Without obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching regarding abortion

23 23

38 36

44 52 56 44

44 56 53 44

Can you be a GOOD CATHOLIC without this?

Percentage saying yes 1987 1993 1999 2005

Without donating time and money to help the parish

Without obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching on divorce and remarriage

Without their marriage being approved by the Catholic church

Without obeying the church hierarchy’s teaching on birth control

W/out weekly church attendance

60 58

65 66

51 61 68 67

66 73 72 75

57

57 62

70 7773 76

Because we live in a world that almost always appears to be of our making, in which, so to speak, God no longer appears directly but seems to have become superfluous, even out of place.

A true education must awaken the courage to make definitive decisions, which today are considered a mortifying bind to our freedom. In reality, they are indispensable for growth and in order to achieve something great in life, in particular, to cause love to mature in all its beauty: therefore, to give consistency and meaning to freedom itself.

Head

know

Heart

feel

do

Hands

Feet

am/home

• We can not allow the language of faith to be a foreign language.

• Evangelization and catechesis are what all the RTV components are about….

When you have so little time you can't say everything you want to say about "no." Firstly you have to know what we really want, right? Christianity, Catholicism, isn't a collection of prohibitions: it's a positive option. It's very important that we look at it again because this idea has almost completely disappeared today. We've heard so much about what is not allowed that now it's time to say: we have a positive idea to offer.

Benedict on Message

that now it's time to say: we have a positive idea to offer.

A true education must awaken the courage to make definitive decisions, which today are considered a mortifying bind to our freedom. In reality, they are indispensable for growth and in order to achieve something great in life, in particular, to cause love to mature in all its beauty: therefore, to give consistency and meaning to freedom itself.