Bishops hear update on plans to implement ministry of lay catechist set forth by pope

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, updated his fellow bishops Nov. 13 in Baltimore on his committee’s plans to implement the ministry of the lay catechist, a ministry set forward by Pope Francis in his May 2021 apostolic letter “Antiquum Ministerium.”

Archbishop Thompson spoke to the bishops on the second daylong public session of the bishops’ Nov. 11-14 fall plenary assembly.

In his apostolic letter, Pope Francis wrote that “the reception of a lay ministry such as that of Catechist will emphasize even more the missionary commitment proper to every baptized person, a commitment that must however be carried out in a fully ‘secular’ manner, avoiding any form of clericalization.”

He emphasized that the work of catechesis by the laity — which has historical roots in the early church — is “all the more urgently needed today as a result of our increasing awareness of the need for evangelization in the contemporary world (cf. Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium,’ 163-168), and the rise of a globalized culture (cf. Encyclical Letter ‘Fratelli Tutti,’ 100, 138).”

Following the bishops’ approval to draft a document on the lay catechist during their June meeting, Archbishop Thompson said the committee received a “letter from brother bishops and from the Holy See, which has indicated a preference for our conference to present a national directory on all three instituted ministries: catechist, lector and acolyte at one time.”

In light of that development, the committee decided to rework its current document into a “guide for the formation of those who lead others in evangelizing catechesis” in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance.

The bishops had initially approved the creation of a National Directory for Instituted Ministries at their June meeting. In advancing that proposal for the creation of the directory, the USCCB’s president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, pointed to Pope Francis’ decision to permit women to be instituted acolytes and lectors, as well as his establishment of the office of catechist as an instituted lay ministry. He saw the creation of the directory as a needed step to help address the theological understanding of these vocations, the formation needed, age requirements, the duration of the ministry, their role in a parish and diocese, and other considerations.

As his committee prepares its guide for the formation of leaders in evangelizing catechesis, Archbishop Thompson said the work will be informed by “the call for ongoing missionary conversion from the recent Synod on Synodality.”

He quoted the words of Pope Francis in his 2013 apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”: “We have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the center of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal. … On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and over: ‘Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.'”

Based on this vision of catechesis, his committee has crafted a definition for evangelizing catechesis as one that “seeks to deepen a personal encounter with Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit” and “proclaims the core message of the Gospel of the kerygma.”

He said the committee’s document will “provide an explanation of how evangelizing catechesis addresses the catechetical needs of our day” and will also offer recommendations to the bishops for the identification and formation of “master evangelizing catechists” in their dioceses.

Prior to Archbishop Thompson’s remarks, Archbishop Broglio announced that Auxiliary Bishop Michael G. Woost of Cleveland will be the new chair of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis’ Task Force on Instituted Ministries, which is in the process of developing the National Directory for the Instituted Ministries of Lector, Acolyte and Catechist.

Earlier in the day, the bishops also approved a proposal from the bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth that it draft a succession document to “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord,” a 2005 resource for diocesan bishops and others responsible for the development of lay ecclesial ministry in the United States.

In his remarks on the need for this document, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., the committee chair, stated that “the rationale for a succession document is the significant changes over the past 20 years, including the experience of co-responsibility in the church, the evolving nature of parish and diocesan workplaces and above all the call to greater synodality.”

The committee is planning to craft the document after “an extensive, national synodal consultation with parish, diocesan and parochial leaders, Catholic organizations, institutes of formation, theological experts on lay ministry and the bishops themselves.”

In response to a question from Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston about how that proposal might work with the implementation of the ministry of lay catechist, Bishop Barron replied that he didn’t know at this point in the process, but agreed that “there is an overlap,” and said it will likely fall to “part of the consultation process to see how we fit together.”

The bishops approved the committee’s plan to draft the succession document with a vote of 223 in favor, nine opposed and six abstaining.

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