The Directory for Catechesis and The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

“What I received from the Lord I have handed on to you.”

1 Cor 11:23 

In 2020, as the world was entering into a global quarantine, the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization presented the Directory for Catechesis. This document sheds new light on the work of catechesis, and, even more importantly, on being a catechist.  Much attention is given to the formation of catechists because it “seems urgent to recover their ministry in the Christian community…only catechists who live out their ministry as a vocation can contribute to the efficacy of catechesis.” (Preface to the Directory of Catechesis)

This new document offers a reinterpretation of the nature, goals, criteria of the person, role, and formation of catechists. We hear in this document that being a catechist requires “a firm trust in the Holy Spirit, who is present and active in the Church, the world and the human heart.” (DC, 4)