God's
Pedagogy
Catechist Discusses Best Method for Faith Education
By Annamarie Adkins
BIRMINGHAM, England, JUNE 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The
Church has expectations not only concerning the content
of what we teach, but also how we teach it.
So says Petroc Willey, who co-authored “The Catechism of
the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis”
(Ignatius) with Pierre de Cointet and Barbara Morgan. He
is also the deputy director of the Maryvale Institute,
editor of the catechetical journal The Sower, and host
of the EWTN series “Handing on the Faith.”
Willey talks to ZENIT in this interview on why the
Church has certain teaching requirements, and how
catechesis should reflect the pedagogy of God.
Q: Why do you call catechesis a "craft"?
Willey: We use the term “craft” to describe the work of
catechesis in order to evoke the notion of working with
loving intelligence, uniting intellect, will and
practical skills in a patient work of drawing out the
very best and the most beautiful.
The ultimate craftsman in the work of catechesis is, of
course, the Holy Spirit, “the interior Master of life
according to Christ,” as it says in paragraph 1697 of
the Catechism of the Catholic Church; paragraph 721
states that Mary is his “Masterwork.”
In her -- and as her children -- we learn our craft and
we, too, can be crafted in the Lord, as it says in the
second chapter of Ephesians, verses 9 through 10, and
paragraph 1091 of the Catechism.
Appreciating catechesis as a craft, therefore, enables
us to bear in mind that it is a holistic understanding
and application that we are seeking, one that involves
the heart, the mind and the hand.
We are also reminded that we develop the skills of this
craft always as members of the Church, receiving and
participating in the work of grace in our lives. Mary is
our model and our mother in this, a “living catechism,”
as Pope John Paul II called her.
Q: Your book contends that the Catechism reflects the
"pedagogy of God." What do you mean, and how does the
Catechism accomplish such a feat?
Willey: That the faith has its own specific pedagogy may
perhaps be a new idea for us. Paragraph 31 in the
“General Directory for Catechesis,” however, calls upon
catechists to consider “the demands” and “the
originality” of “that pedagogy which is proper to the
faith.”
The Church, then, has certain “demands,” or
requirements, with regard to pedagogy. She has
expectations not only concerning the content of what we
teach, but also how we teach it.
This is the case because the faith generates its own
pedagogy. Our catechesis is to be inspired by this
pedagogy, the pedagogy of God.
We often think of the word “pedagogy” as more or less
synonymous with “teaching.” When the Church speaks of
the pedagogy of God she means something broader than
this. She means the whole of the work of God leading
people to share in his life, in and through Christ.
The transmission of dogmas are described in paragraph
1697 of the Catechism as "lights along the path of
faith," as the Holy Spirit, the “interior Master of
life,” disciples us in the Church.
How does the Catechism reflect this pedagogy of God? Our
book identifies 12 pedagogical principles drawn
concretely from the text and structure of the Catechism,
principles which have clear and significant implications
for our catechesis.
So, for instance, the Catechism invites catechists to
bear always in mind the four dimensions of the Christian
life, corresponding to the four "pillars" of the
Catechism, so as to foster a "holistic" catechesis in
which the reality of liturgical and sacramental grace,
the converting power of doctrine, the splendor of our
life in Christ and our prayerful relationship to the
blessed Trinity are all present.
Q: Many would say a crisis in catechesis has been one of
the main problems in the Church since the Second Vatican
Council. Yet apart from select bishops and the Pope, the
Catechism is seldom mentioned as an answer to this
crisis. Why not?
Willey: The Catechism is, beyond, doubt, an
extraordinary gift to assist in the renewal of
catechesis.
One reason for its continuing neglect is that people
simply have not taken up the keys provided for
understanding this gift; they do not realize how it has
been written precisely with a view to assisting
catechists in handing on the faith.
The Catechism is treated as a reference text, certainly,
but not as the aid offered to us in our time for
learning and teaching the faith.
Q: There are endless catechetical resources for young
people, yet few are based in any way on the Catechism
itself. What factors shaped this phenomenon?
Willey: A major factor lies in the use of alternative
pedagogies that are neither derived from, nor compatible
with, the faith.
Paragraph 149 in the “General Directory for Catechesis”
speaks of a “good catechetical method” as a “guarantee
of fidelity to content”; a poor method, on the other
hand, cannot deliver content faithfully.
These alternative pedagogies, for example, might be
based on secular or even Marxist educational theories,
or carry with them philosophical presumptions that are
incompatible with a realist Catholic philosophy.
Sister Johanna Paruch, from Franciscan University in
Steubenville, has recently completed significant
doctoral work at Maryvale Institute in England, where I
work, on these pedagogies.
Alongside these distorting influences we can see a
widespread minimalism in some resources, where very
little of the faith is presented, and also what Hans Urs
von Balthasar called an “Islamization” of the notion of
God, when he is seen in his unity, but no longer clearly
as Triune.
There have been significant moves, in the United States
in particular, to address this difficulty, especially
through the voluntary submission of catechetical
resources for an evaluation by the bishops concerning
the conformity of these texts with the Catechism.
We are also seeing resources in the United Kingdom such
as Echoes, published by the Catholic Truth Society,
which are formation programs for catechists rooted in
both the content and the pedagogy of the Catechism.
Q: In the book you discuss the false dichotomy between
the personal and propositional dimensions of revelation.
In that same context, you state that the goal of
doctrine is love. How can bishops, priests and
catechists recapture and present Christ's promise that
he is the truth, and the truth is life?
Willey: The Catechism makes it a priority from the
outset to exclude any thought of a separation between a
propositional and a personal understanding of
revelation. Rather than think of propositions as
detaching us from God, we need to be aware of their
absolute necessity in attaching us to him.
Maryvale Institute is the first Catholic home of the
Venerable John Henry Newman, and Newman can help us here
because he discovered what he called the “converting”
impact of doctrine.
We cannot love God if we know nothing about him. We
cannot worship Christ without knowing of his divinity.
And on the other hand, we shall never know God fully
unless we love him, and we shall never have a clear
understanding of Christ’s divinity unless we worship and
adore him.
Q: Is it too much to say that the personal encounter
with the Lord available to one who studies the Catechism
spawns a "catechetical spirituality”?
Willey: This question rightly presumes that a personal
encounter with the Lord is available to one who learns
and teaches from the Catechism.
The “Compendium of the Catechism” speaks of “the wisdom
of its presentation and the depth of its spirituality,”
and our book has grown out of an “amicitia catechistica”
between Notre Dame de Vie in France, Maryvale Institute
and Franciscan University in Steubenville -- three
institutions that have firsthand evidence of this
spirituality through their courses in theology and
catechesis.
Studying, and praying with, the Catechism leads to an
increased trust, joy and confidence in being able to
speak about the faith to others, adults and children
alike. One is immersed in a text that is precise,
gracious, elegant and deeply spiritual.
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On the Net:
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of
Catechesis”: www.ignatius.com
