Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis

May 2013 Report Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis includes: Bishop David L. Ricken (Chair), Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, Bishop Robert J. Baker, Bishop John O. Barres, Bishop Leonard P. Blair, Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, Bishop Sam G. Jacobs, Bishop Richard J. Malone, Bishop Mikaël A. Mouradian, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez.

Consultants to the Committee include: Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, Rev. John E. Hurley, CSP, Rev. Andrew Small, OMI, Rev. James A. Wehner, Ms. Julianne Donlon-Stanz; Mr. Leland Nagel, Mr. David D. Spesia, Ms. Gloria F. Zapiain

Staff: Peter Murphy, Michael Steier, Jeannine Marino, Carlos Taja, Alissa Thorell, Elizabeth Boylan, Rebecca Cohen

New Evangelization Toolkit Resources

In November 2012, the Catholic Bishops of the United States unanimously approved a strategic pastoral plan for their Conference, with the desired result being to assist the Church in its journey towards the New Evangelization. This plan has as its theme, Journey with Christ: Faith | Worship | Witness. It is proposed that resources for the implementation of this plan be integrated in a comprehensive resource package that would be promoted and marketed as the USCCB New Evangelization Toolkit. This USCCB Toolkit would be a practical way of coordinating, aligning, and branding the production and promotion of resources and services related to the implementation of the strategic plan on the New Evangelization that are available from USCCB committees and offices. The foundational documents for the toolkit include Evangelii Nuntiandi, Go and Make Disciples, Disciples Called to Witness (DCW), the forthcoming Apostolic Exhortation from the Synod on the New Evangelization, The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults and the 2013-2016 USCCB Strategic Pastoral Plan. The various resource guides in the toolkit seek to break open and provide a roadmap for diocesan and parish implementation of the USCCB strategic plan, using the document Disciples Called to Witness in an intentional and focused way over three years to support the theme, Journey with Christ: Faith-Worship-Witness. Each year of cycle will have a particular focus on one element of the theme (Faith, Worship, Witness) but also demonstrate how the others inform and relate to each other.

Committee Priority Activity on Catechesis/Catechist Formation

The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis has allotted significant time on its June 2013 agenda to explore catechist formation. They hope to address three related questions. 1) What does Catechist Formation look like today? 2) What are the core elements that must be addressed to enable catechists to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to hand on the faith? And 3) what are some of the resources that are available to provide quality Catechist Formation to a very diverse population of catechists, serving an even more diverse set of learners?

Catechetical Sunday

As approved by the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, the theme for its 2013 Catechetical Sunday materials is “Open the Door of Faith!” (Acts 14:27). The online materials for 2013 include sixteen English articles. 13 of these will be translated into Spanish. Three other articles originally written in Spanish will also be included. The resources are scheduled to be posted online in late-April early-May 2013. The Committee has approved the 2014 Catechetical Sunday theme: “Teaching About God’s Gift of Forgiveness.”

Leadership Institute

The Leadership Institute is designed to provide online professional development for new, nearly new and veteran diocesan educational and catechetical leaders through both webinars and Question-and-Answer sessions. It is also now offered to a wider audience, including parish educational and catechetical leaders, catechists and teachers, at no cost. A total of 30 webinars and 20 Q & A sessions have been recorded and are now available at http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catechesis/leadership- institute/index.cfm. The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis approved the theme (“Open the Door of Faith!” - Acts 14:27), topics and authors for the 2013 Leadership Institute. Among the webinars to be posted are: Dr. John C. Cavadini (Notre Dame) - “Professing the Creed”; Dr. Ralph Martin (Sacred Heart Major Seminary) - “The New Evangelization”; and Dr. Dianne M. Traflet (Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University) – “Praying the Lord’s Prayer”. A number of regional groups, diocesan secretariats, and parish staffs have been using one or more of the Leadership Institute materials to resource their groups. Dr. Lorraine S. DeLuca and Mr. Paul J. Thomas will offer a short webinar showcasing how they used Leadership Institute webinars on the New Evangelization (Track III) to resource various groups in the Diocese of Beaumont. A special listening session for Diocesan leaders will be hosted by Dr. Lori Dahlhoff, Mr. Lee Nagel, and Dr. Michael Steier during this year’s NCCL Annual Meeting in Cleveland. We hope to receive input on how the Leadership Institute might better support leaders with new topics, presenters and formats that serve their various constituencies. Please join us for this discussion. It’s listed in your program booklet as session #503 Diocesan Educational/ Catechetical Leadership Institute.

World Missions The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis along with the Committees on Cultural Diversity and Home Missions has been ask to assist the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in forming a delegation of bishops, staff, religious and lay missionaries and from the United States to attend the American Missionary Congress 4 (CAM 4). CAM 4 will take place in Maracaibo, Venezuela, from November 26 to December 1, 2013. CAM is an international missionary congress held every 3-4 years that brings together national delegations from North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean to foster collaborative relationships around the areas of evangelization and mission. The US delegation will be hosting a forum session on the topic, “Missionary Families: Ad Intra and Ad Extra.” --- Subcommittee on the Catechism

The Subcommittee on the Catechism includes: Bishop Leonard P. Blair (Chair), Archbishop George J. Lucas, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop Michael O. Jackels, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, and Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

Consultants: Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes Staff: Peter Murphy, Carlos Taja, Alissa Thorell, Rebecca Cohen

Review Process The Subcommittee on the Catechism continues to receive various texts for review in light of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Publishers submit their texts on a volunteer basis to undergo the conformity review process for religious education texts used in Catholic Schools and Religious Education Programs K-12. Texts undergo a consistency review when they cite 1,000 words or more from the Catechism. The number of consistency reviews has also increased. Recently, the number of texts submitted for translation verification has significantly increased due to a high demand for bi-lingual texts in different regions of the country, including regions that did not have a high number of Spanish speakers in recent years. These texts undergo a translation verification process after the original English text has undergone a conformity review and is translated into Spanish. The Spanish text is then submitted for translation verification.

Electronic Media The Subcommittee has observed the recent impact the proliferation of technological developments (such as the increased use of Ipads, Tablets and electronic platforms) has had on Catholic Schools, Religious Education programs and Catechetical Publishers. Many public schools have moved or are moving to electronic texts only (e-books and interactive platforms) and Catholic Schools are not far behind. While digital texts submitted in an inalterable format are currently being reviewed by the Subcommittee for conformity review, publishers have indicated that these e-books will eventually become more interactive, including videos, music and other features, which will eventually replace the current textbooks used in classrooms. Through ongoing dialogue with publishers, the Subcommittee continues to study the development of electronic texts and what that may mean for the future of catechesis and the review process at large.