HONG KONG (SE): On May 11, Pope Francis signed his latest apostolic letter, Antiquum ministerium, (Ancient Ministry) in which he instituted the “Ministry of Catechist.” In the letter, issued motu proprio (on his own initiative), the pope asks all bishops around the world to establish the ministry.
He recommended men and women of profound faith and human maturity to this ministry and to actively participate in the life of the Christian community; to be welcoming, generous and live a life of fraternal communion.
Pope Francis often has spoken of the importance of selecting, training and supporting catechists, who are called to lead people to a deeper relationship with Jesus and prepare them to receive the sacraments and educate them in the teachings of the Church. The Directory for Catechesis, published in 2020, devoted ample space to the identity and vocation of the catechist. The apostolic letter now provides special recognition to the millions of laypeople around the world who serve as catechists.
Especially in communities without a resident priest, catechists are the leaders of the local Catholic community, evangelising, convoking and guiding their fellow Catholics in prayer and works of charity. Therefore, Pope Francis’ decision to recognise them more formally as having a ministry in the Church means a better recognition for the various roles played by laypeople in the life of the Church.
The establishment of the new ministry also means that it is not enough to choose, at the beginning of each catechetical year, lay faithful animated by good will to prepare the children for the sacraments of Christian initiation.
‘…the Code of Canon Law has a canon on catechists involved in strictly missionary activity and describes them as ‘lay members of Christ’s faithful who have received proper formation and are outstanding in their living of the Christian life. Under the direction of missionaries, they are to present the gospel teaching and engage in liturgical worship and in works of charity’.’
Guide for Catechists
The 1997 Guide for Catechists from the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples notes that “the Code of Canon Law has a canon on catechists involved in strictly missionary activity and describes them as ‘lay members of Christ’s faithful who have received proper formation and are outstanding in their living of the Christian life. Under the direction of missionaries, they are to present the gospel teaching and engage in liturgical worship and in works of charity’.”
In some communities, it said, catechists may be entrusted by their bishop with the tasks of: “preaching to non-Christians; catechising catechumens and those already baptised; leading community prayer, especially at the Sunday liturgy in the absence of a priest; helping the sick and presiding at funerals; training other catechists in special centres or guiding volunteer catechists in their work; taking charge of pastoral initiatives and organising parish functions; helping the poor and working for human development and justice.”
The Statistical Yearbook of the Church, a Vatican publication, said that as of 31 December 2019, there were more than three million catechists serving the Church. At meetings of the Synod of Bishops over the past 30 years, especially synods for individual regions of the world, bishops highlighted the important role of lay catechists in building and sustaining local Christian communities and called for more resources to be devoted to their training and support and for greater recognition and respect for their contributions.
‘It is with good reason that the older and established churches, committed to a new evangelisation, have increased the numbers of their catechists and intensified catechetical activity. But the term ‘catechists’ belongs above all to the catechists in mission lands … Churches that are flourishing today would not have been built up without them’
Pope St. John Paul III
Pope Francis’ decision to formally institute the ministry of catechist seems to be a response to those calls. The move follows the pope’s decision in January to open the ministries of lector and acolyte to women (Sunday Examiner, January 17). While in most dioceses women already serve as readers and altar servers at Mass, they were previously not formally instituted in those services on a stable basis.
In his 1990 encyclical, Redemptoris Missio (Mission of the Redeemer), Pope John Paul II described catechists as “irreplaceable evangelisers.” He wrote: “It is with good reason that the older and established churches, committed to a new evangelisation, have increased the numbers of their catechists and intensified catechetical activity. But ‘the term “catechists” belongs above all to the catechists in mission lands … Churches that are flourishing today would not have been built up without them.”
The General Directory for Catechesis (1997) delineated the objective of catechesis as—a personal relationship with Christ—which can be obtained in a truly adequate and authentic way through the six tasks of catechesis. These tasks are: promoting knowledge of the faith, liturgical education, moral formation, teaching how to pray, education for life in the community and missionary initiation.
With the new recognition accorded to catechists, the Church appreciates the contributions of lay evangelisers in promoting and sustaining life in faith.
In his 2020 post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), Pope Francis said that there was a need to strengthen lay leadership in the Amazon region. He wrote: “A Church of Amazonian features requires the stable presence of mature and lay leaders endowed with authority and familiar with the languages, cultures, spiritual experience and communal way of life in the different places, but also open to the multiplicity of gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows on every one. For wherever there is a particular need, he has already poured out the charisms that can meet it.”
The pope went on to write: “This requires the Church to be open to the Spirit’s boldness, to trust in, and concretely to permit, the growth of a specific ecclesial culture that is distinctively lay. The challenges in the Amazon region demand of the Church a special effort to be present at every level, and this can only be possible through the vigorous, broad and active involvement of the laity.”
In January this year, the pope issued, motu proprio, the apostolic letter, Spiritus Domini (The Spirit of the Lord), amending canon law to allow women to serve as lectors and acolytes.
Lector and acolyte are publicly recognised ministries instituted by the Church. The roles were once considered “minor orders” in the tradition of the Church and were changed to ministries by Pope Paul VI.
