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Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church Possess an Educational Function As a Formative Tool for Catholic Educators?

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Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church Possess an Educational Function As a Formative Tool for Catholic Educators? The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2019 Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church Possess an Educational Function as a Formative tool for Catholic Educators? Marlon De La Torre Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Education Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church Possess an Educational Function as a formative tool for Catholic Educators? Marlon De La Torre, MA, MEd. Ph.D. Candidate University of Notre Dame Australia September 1, 2019 De La Torre 1 To my wife, Amy Marie, your love, patience and devotion allowed us to serve Christ together and to experience things we never thought we would and to our children, Miguel, Gabriella, Maria and Gianna, who have taught us more than they know and are our greatest joy De La Torre 2 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................4 Glossary ...........................................................................................................................................6 Acknowledgement ...........................................................................................................................7 Declaration of Work ........................................................................................................................8 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................9 Chapter One: Our Christian anthropology and the relationship with Christ the Divine teacher. What constitutes a formal process of religious formation? ................................................................ 14 The schema of learning and the Kerygma. What place does the proclamation of the Gospel hold in the process of religious formation? .................................................................................... 27 Motives of credibility, and the development of faith. How does Scripture and Tradition impact the mystagogical process of religious formation? ....................................................................33 How does the Didache usher a language of faith in light of the Deposit of Faith? ................37 Chapter Two: The early Church experienced a tremendous growth in the instruction and development of Christian doctrine. What was the scheme of learning employed during this time? .................................................................................................................................................................... 43 The development of a Christian Creed served as a significant first step in the formation of the faithful. How was this process applied in early Christendom? ..................................................... 50 How did the development of the baptismal catechumenate serve the teaching function of the early Church? ...........................................................................................................................54 Christian education and the language of faith. Why was the Church so preoccupied with establishing an organized model of religious instruction? .......................................................59 Chapter Three: The Council of Trent sought to reaffirm and strengthen the process of religious formation and identity. How did the development of the Roman Catechism address and growing discontinuity of faith that continued into the twentieth century? ....................................................... 72 The renewal of the Deposit of Faith and our relationship with the Triune God. What role does the Trinitarian-Christocentric nature of the Creed play in the structure of the Roman Catechism? ................................................................................................................................89 In what way did the Roman Catechism provide a sense of catechetical continuity? ................94 With the development of the Church in the United States, how did the Baltimore catechism address the catechetical needs of the faithful at that time? ....................................................97 Chapter Four: Incarnational distinctives, the quieting of faith and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Does a hermeneutic of continuity exist in the teaching of religion? ............................... 102 De La Torre 3 The process of religious formation for both religious educators and the lay faithful took many avenues after the Second Vatican Council. Was the process of formation echoed by Dei Verbum, and Gravissimus Educationis? .................................................................................108 How did Credo, the General Catechetical Directory and Catehesi Tradendae set the stage for the development of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? ..................................................123 The continuity of catechetical instruction is a direct reflection on Christ the Master Teacher. Why is it important that a symphony of faith exist in the formation of Catholic educators? 130 Chapter Five: The four-pillar structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides the educator with a comprehensive catechetical process of formation. How would one initiate this process of learning? .............................................................................................................................. 136 Catholic educators benefit from a systematic process of learning. How does the General Directory for Catechesis unfold this approach in relation to the Catechism? ........................141 The Catechism speaks of the language of faith as a means for forming the soul in Christ. Does this language require a specific Trinitarian-Christocentric focus? ..............................147 The full of the Christian life leads to a life of holiness. How does the Catechism extrapolate this understanding in relation to its creedal structure? ...........................................................153 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................164 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................170 Appendix ......................................................................................................................................180 Dissertation Principles Chart .......................................................................................................186 Research Project...........................................................................................................................191 De La Torre 4 Abstract With the initial formal promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church by St. John Paul II (1992) the entire Christian world exercised a call to hope and at the same time despair. Hope in the continual fruitful understanding of Church doctrine presented in a clear and definitive way, a living resource that would provide the faithful since the development of the Roman Catechism a deeper understanding of the Mysteries of Christ and His Church. In concert with this is a clear systematic exposition of the faith rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition bringing to light the importance of Christ and His Church especially our own Christian anthropology. At the same time the advent of the Catechism brought a sense of despair especially in the areas of catholic schools, catholic institutions of higher learning and its educational faculties. The main reason being the negligent assumption that academic freedom would either be limited or stifled by the Catechism’s Creedal approach to the faith, one not employed by some in Catholic academic circles let alone in the catechetical field as a whole allowing for an incongruent understanding of the Deposit of Faith. If catechesis serves as an active pedagogy of the faith, then the Catechism is the natural instrument by which to expound the faith. In its purest form the Catechism provides the educator the ways and means of revealing the mysteries of Christ in a cogent and systematic manner. Upon further study and reflection, one may come to see that the Catechism presents us with a symphony of instruction fides quae rooted in the Revelation of Christ and delivered to the Apostles. The Catechism demonstrates the development of the Catholic faith that receives its source from the Word of God and this serves as a vital formative tool for Catholic educators, fides qua. The Catechism is not a compilation of doctrinal pluralities but instead the Catechism expresses the unique unified symphony of instruction in the Catholic faith as revealed by Christ De La Torre 5 and His Church. If we take the time to explicate the purpose of the Catechism in relation a catholic educator a catechetical characteristic that speaks to both areas is that of pedagogy. First the pedagogue
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