Our Mission
The Catechetical Office
"Catechesis is so basic to the life of every particular Church, that no diocese can be without its own catechetical office." (GDC 267)
The Catechetical Office is "the means which the Bishop as head of the community and teacher of doctrine utilizes to direct and moderate all the catechetical activities of the diocese." (GDC 265)
The General Directory for Catechesis singles out the following ways in which the Catechetical Office exercises its competencies:
- by analyzing the state of catechesis in the Archdiocese and identifying the catechetical needs;
- by developing and implementing an effective plan of action to address these needs;
- by providing formation for catechists and setting up centers for this purpose;
- by providing to the parishes guidelines and materials for catechesis, and ongoing assistance in the choice of catechetical texts and materials;
- by organizing, establishing, and supporting the programs; structures, and groups which cause and direct effective catechesis in the Archdiocese;
- by collaborating closely with the Archdiocesan Offices of the Liturgy and the Catechumenate.
(GDC 266)
"To accomplish these responsibilities the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office should have a staff of persons who have special competence. The extent and the diversity of the problems which must be handled demand that the responsibilities be divided among a number of truly skilled people." (GDC 267)
The mission and mandate of the Catechetical Office is to provide the leadership, policy, guidelines and structures for Catechesis of the highest quality in every parish and to every parishioner of the Archdiocese -- adults, youth and children. This mission is conveyed through:
- the central Catechetical Office, which oversees total religious education in all parishes;
- the regional Catechetical Offices which extend the central office into the diverse areas of the Archdiocese and make its services immediately available to local parishes;
- the parish Directors/Coordinators of Religious Education to whom Pastors entrust responsibility for parish catechesis.
The Archdiocesan Catechetical Office works primarily with adults, providing catechetical formation and faith formation and collaborating in the work of handing on the faith.
In an Archdiocese gifted with a rich cultural diversity, the Catechetical Office strives, in all the dimensions of its ministry, to keep in mind the need for inculturation as explained by the General Catechetical Directory.
"With inculturation, evangelization encounters one of its greatest challenges. In the light of the Gospel, the Church must appropriate all the positive values of culture and of cultures and reject those elements which impede development of the true potential of persons and peoples." (GDC 21)
