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JOINT LETTER OF THE EASTERN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF THE USA
ON CATECHESIS
September 2005
Dear Clergy, Religious and Faithful of our Churches,
Mindful of our role as chief catechists, we write to you not
as individual bishops but collectively as the Eastern
Catholic Bishops of the United States. This is the first
time we are writing a common letter to our faithful of the
Armenian, Byzantine and Syriac traditions, a ñfirstî but
hopefully not the last. It is in the field of Catechesis
that we have worked in common for almost thirty-five years.
So we thought it appropriate to address this subject in
unison. We look to more and more collaboration in all areas
of Church life as Eastern Catholics.
In the year 2000 all Catholic bishops of the United States
issued a short pastoral letter, In Support of Catechetical
Ministry. We speak in unison with them, ñWe write on this
occasion, not only to remember what has been accomplished
through this essential ministry of the Church and to
celebrate the present, but also to look with firm faith to
the future. In our roles as chief catechists, we affirm all
that is good in catechetical ministry, commit ourselves to
strengthening that which is weak, and look forward to
developing effective ways to reach all those who are in need
of GodÍs saving Word.î
The beginning of the calendar year is generally a time to
reflect on past events and affirm goals for the future. The
same is appropriate as we begin another season of activity
in our Churches, especially as it coincides with the
beginning of the school year. It is particularly timely to
reflect on the state of Christian education in our Churches
as most parishes renew their catechetical programs at this
time.
It is our firm belief that formation, particularly
catechesis, is one of the most important priorities of the
parish along with worship, which is truly possible only when
the parish is well instructed. ChristÍs commission to His
disciples is clear. They were instructed, ñGo, therefore,
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded youî
(Matthew 28:19). The Lord did not give them an option; they
were told both to baptize and to teach. He does not give us
an option either.
Thirty-five years have passed since members of the several
Eastern Catholic jurisdictions began meeting to reflect on
the status of religious education in our eparchies. Out of
these informal gatherings came a movement to establish
formal catechetical programs and eventually religious
education departments in a number of our eparchies. This
movement was marked by the commitment of several Churches to
work together in the production of common catechetical
materials, the first of which was the original God With Us
Series for the Byzantine Churches.
As the number of Churches with eparchial catechetical
ministries grew, a common organization – now called the
ñEastern Catholic Diocesan Directors of Religious Educationî
(ECDD) – was established to produce additional material such
as the three volume adult catechism for the Byzantine
Churches, Light for Life, and an ongoing series of adult
enrichment courses, numbering ten volumes to date. ECDD also
serves as a vehicle for sharing ideas and programs among the
participating eparches, as well as providing a common voice
for Eastern Catholics in relationship to the catechetical
bodies of other churches such as the ñNational Conference
for Catechetical Leadershipî (Roman Catholic) and the
ñOrthodox Christian Education Commission.î
The same period saw the spread of educational programs for
children, youth and adults in several eparchies as well as
the development of additional catechetical materials
designed to meet the particular needs of individual
jurisdictions. Several eparchial education offices developed
programs to prepare for the mysteries of Christian
Initiation and the mystery of Crowning. The Maronites
developed a catechetical series, Faith of the Mountain,
reflective of their particular tradition. The Melkite
Eparchy developed the Theosis Program for parish renewal.
Some of our catechetical personnel have also been able to
contribute to the ministry of religious education in our
Mother Churches and other eparchies throughout the world.
The Ukrainian Eparchies played an important role in the
production of the first Catechetical Directory for the
worldwide Ukrainian Catholic Church. A number of our
programs have been translated or adapted for use in Eastern
Europe, the Middle East and South America, contributing to
the shared experience of Eastern Catholics everywhere.
We extol the work of all those – clergy, religious and laity
– who have contributed to the development and enrichment of
these programs on national, eparchial or parish levels. Like
Saint Paul, we give thanks ñat every remembrance of youî and
ñpray always with joy, because of your partnership for the
Gospel from the first day until nowî (Philippians 1:3-5).
The abundance of programs developed by one or another of the
Eastern Churches in America has made it unnecessary to go
beyond these resources to find spiritual nourishment for our
people. We commend the use of this material and encourage
the continued collaboration of those working in this field
in our Churches.
At the same time we recognize that formation in our parishes
in not primarily a matter of the classroom or even of
specific catechetical programs. The way the parish lives out
is life is its most compelling ñcatechetical program.î The
way parishioners treat one another and look at the world,
the value that the parish places on the liturgical life, its
sense of ministry to the wider community, the way it gives
young people a sense that this is their parish – all these
ñteachî members and observers more about the Church than we
often imagine. Parish leaders must continually evaluate what
the lifestyle of their community is actually teaching.
In this, the ministry of the pastor is crucial. There will
be no vibrant, coherent Christian formation in a parish
without the presence, support and affirmation of the pastor.
It is vital that the pastor develops and communicates a
vision of the parish in which Christian formation is central
and informs the entire life of the community.
Saint Paul was ñconfident of this, that the One who began a
good work in you will continue to complete itî (Philippians
1:6). We recognize that, to further the continuance of our
ChurchesÍ formation work, we, as bishops, need to identify
the clergy, religious and laity in our communities who are
gifted to work in this field on the eparchial level. We must
commit the time and necessary resources to see that they are
trained both in catechetics and in the Eastern Tradition and
that they are given the assistance needed to facilitate
their ministry.
We affirm the need of every parish to support catechetical
programs for all ages, including adults, and to cooperate
with the eparchial offices in the training of parish
catechists. Several Eastern Catholic eparchies have
developed catechist certification programs and pastors
should encourage their members to participate in such
programs. In areas with several Eastern Catholic Churches,
similar programs may be available in the neighboring
communities and we urge our faithful to participate in these
programs. We encourage each eparchy to provide for the
training of ñmaster catechistsî who will be able to assist
the eparchial offices in this work to facilitate the
formation of catechists in parishes.
Some parishes or eparchies, either because of their size or
their status as new communities may not feel that they are
able to organize a catechetical program at this time.
Whenever possible, they should cooperate with neighboring
communities of the same or similar tradition to assure
effective religious education for their members. Where
geographical isolation does not permit this, the parish
should look to the eparchial office to implement programs.
As parents do not wait until they have three children before
they feed their firstborn, parishes cannot use their small
numbers to excuse the absence of spiritual enrichment for
those in their care.
In each of our eparchies there are parishes that have
developed strong formation programs. The results of such a
commitment include increased participation in worship, in
ministry, and even in financial support. These are the
parishes that nurture vocations to the priesthood, deaconate
and monastic or religious life. It is not unusual to find
people in these communities who seek personal spiritual
direction or who bring others to the faith by word or
example. We pray that the number of such communities
increase in all our eparchies that the ñlike living stones,
be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christî (1 Peter 2:5).
For thirty-five years we have drawn enormous support from
one another in our common catechetical efforts. We believe
ñthat God continues to grace the Church with challenges that
urge us to reach deep within our lived experience of Jesus
to find the practical means to introduce a whole new
generation into the knowledge of an encounter with the
living Jesus Christî (US Catholic Bishops, 2000). This is
our hope! This is our prayer! Together we can accomplish
this as long as each person in the pew, each catechist, each
pastor, each bishop holds catechesis in primary importance.
We thank you for your support and urge you to continue to be
the eyes, ears, heart and hands of Christ in our world that
needs to be transformed to the holy dwelling place of the
Lord.
With our prayers and blessings, we remain
Sincerely yours in Christ God,
Archbishop Basil Schott
Metroplitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh (Byzantine Ruthenian)
Archbishop Cyril S. Bustros
Bishop of Newton (Byzantine Melkite)
Bishop Manuel Batakian
Bishop of Armenian Exarchate (Armenian)
Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim
Bishop of St. Thomas the Apostle (Chaldean)
Bishop John Kudrick
Bishop of Parma (Byzantine Ruthenian)
Bishop Gregory Mansour
Bishop of St. Maron in Brooklyn (Maronite)
Bishop Andrew Pataki
Bishop of Passaic (Byzantine Ruthenian)
Bishop Richard Seminack
Bishop of St. Nicholas in Chicago (Byzantine Ukrainian)
Bishop William Skurla
Bishop of Van Nuys (Byzantine Ruthenian)
Archbishop Stefan Soroka
Metropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia (Byzantne Ukrainian)
Bishop Jacob Angadiath
Bishop of St. Thomas in Chicago (Syro-Malabar)
Bishop John Botean
Bishop of St. George in Canton (Byzantine Romanian)
Bishop Sarhad Jammo
Bishop of St. Peter the Apostle (Chaldean)
Bishop Basil Losten
Bishop of Stamford (Byzantine Ukrainian)
Bishop Robert M. Moskal
Bishop of St. Josaphat in Parma (Byzantine Ukrainian)
Bishop Nicholas Samra
Titular Bishop of Gerasa (Byzantine Melkite)
Bishop Robert Shaheen
Bishop of Our Lady of Lebanon (Maronite)
Bishop Joseph Younan
Bishop of Our Lady of Deliverance (Syriac)
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