AMERICA/MEXICO - Catechesis in times of pandemic: a new Pentecost

Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) - "With the Motu Proprio 'Antiquum Ministerium' published on May 10th, Pope Francis is kicking off a new Pentecost for the life of catechists and Christian communities. These brothers and sisters of ours, who throughout history have played a major role in the transmission of the faith and the Gospel, now through the establishment of this lay ministry of the catechist will become a true incense that will rise to God and fill the Church and society with their pleasant fragrance, giving new value to the arduous step of a ministry, which is not always valued or recognized, and which now makes it possible to assume a new leadership role in the parishes", said Mgr. Fidencio López Plaza, Bishop of Querétaro, head of the Commission for New Evangelization and Catechesis of the Mexican Bishops' Conference.
In a pastoral letter to catechists entitled "Catechesis and Pandemic", the Bishop underlines that in this moment of suffering due to the pandemic, which has also hit the Church, catechists are called to "become torches that light the way, the ones to show a path that goes beyond the pain we experience… For this reason, it is our task as missionary disciples to transform this dark scenario of history into a true time of grace".
The Bishop recalls that the prolongation of the measures taken to overcome the health crisis continues to raise concerns and challenges for evangelization and catechesis.
"Fortunately, innumerable pastoral initiatives and offers have emerged to make catechesis a reality, especially through the use of modern technologies and social media. Like a blessing, the dioceses have experienced an atmosphere of communion and synodality, so that today it is also common to share work experiences with catechists from other dioceses. The catechists themselves, mostly non-digital natives, have begun to migrate to digital platforms, in their pastoral zeal to continue to deal with evangelization and catechesis".
"This pandemic time made us aware that many pastoral forms were now out of date. A careful review of the situation and strategies are therefore necessary in order not to return to the same situation after the pandemic", said the Bishop. The first thing to do is to rethink the basic elements of methodology and practice in the transmission of the faith. A second aspect is also the need to "return to the true meaning of life experience in the transmission of the faith", and this requires prophetic, visionary catechists who are able to interpret God's way through people's lives. "The Church of Mexico, which has a surprisingly large number of evangelizers and catechists, must find in them the strength and the necessary conditions to become a 'field hospital', a 'Samaritan Church'", the Bishop continued
Therefore, although it is necessary to organize catechist groups prepared to offer catechesis through digital means, it is even more important to organize catechists to be part of this Samaritan Church".
The pandemic has made us better understand the role of the family as a domestic Church, and it would be necessary in the post-pandemic period to rethink the projects of evangelization and catechesis from this perspective as well. Now is the time to try new ways and dream of new ways to share the joy of the gospel. "The pandemic must not just be a time in which we mourn for what has been lost, because it is much more a time to collect and evaluate everything that has been acquired in formation and experience as a catechist and even more, the spirit to feel the new charisms that we need in these historical times".
"Given the pastoral and charitable emergencies that needed attention at these critical times, we suddenly found that we did not have enough strength to respond ... simply because not all of us were community. That is one of the great truths that the pandemic has shown us". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 1/6/2021)

Share:

catechists

---

---

coronavirus

---

---

pope francis

---

---

local churches

---

---