CATECHETICS. - The science of catechesis; that is, the science which teaches that particular didactic method which, adapted to the spiritual mentality of the hearers, leads them to the knowledge and understanding of religious truths. Strictly speaking, it is therefore an "art of teaching"; however, the Church from the earliest times did not adhere to this rather limited concept, but rightly broadened its meaning, including within it also education, that is, the formation of the will and character of the catechumen and of the Christian. The catechumen, in fact, as he progressed in religious instruction, also passed through a process of purification and justification; and from the time when the baptism of children began, catechetical instruction aimed at making the supernatural life, received in germ in Baptism, conscious and freely willed. Precisely for this reason catechetics becomes an ecclesiastical, theological discipline, a branch of pastoral theology and not merely of current pedagogical science, although from the latter it will rightly appropriate the useful methods and genuine advances. And if at times, as for example in the times of the Enlightenment, the educational and formative purpose fell into second place and was reduced almost to the shadows, the Church reacted and always sought by every means to bring catechetics back to its original concept and practice.
THE LAWS OF CATECHETICS
Leaving aside here the norms that general methodology offers for teaching, we shall limit ourselves to indicating those that must be followed in particular in order to do justice to the dignity and the demands proper to the transmission of religious instruction.
1. The method in its characteristics
a) Naturalness. The method must be naturally suited to the nature of the hearers. Now, in children, intellectual life is more bound to the use of the senses, which are therefore called the gate of knowledge. It will accordingly be necessary to embrace all those means (similitudes, parables, examples, stories, images) that serve to make sensible the ideas and the abstract formulas with which religious truths are set forth in the catechism. For young people, on the other hand, in whom the intelligence is becoming more refined, and for adults, reasoning will be better used, and therefore those means that show the logical character of doctrine together with its exactness; b) unity. The topics must be well determined and logically coordinated so as to form a harmonious whole; c) clarity, for an exact understanding that generates no doubts or false ideas.
2. The method as regards the division of the material
It can be: a) cyclic, if one seeks to develop the whole material in a determined time, then taking it up again, even several times, but always with greater extent and depth; b) linear, if, the material having been divided according to a logical order, one treats it thoroughly once, without resumptions or returns.
3. The method as regards exposition
It can be: a) analytic, when it investigates all the particulars of a truth; b) synthetic, when it recalls, in its principles, what has been developed in particulars; c) inductive, if from a fact it ascends to the cause; d) deductive, if it seeks the principle actualized and alive in individual facts and phenomena; e) historical, if it deduces the truth from the exposition of ordered and interconnected facts; f) logical, if it rationally links two or more successive ideas or facts; g) abstract, if it expresses concepts and ideas without availing itself of facts; h) concrete, if it sets forth facts and things in demonstration and support of the ideas it wishes to clarify.
All these methods have their importance and usefulness; but, rather than rigidly embracing either one or the other, it will be useful to know how to alternate them or blend them harmoniously together, according to circumstances.
Much is said or written about the "active method," about "activism" which, as it is applied to other subjects, is also well applied in religious instruction. It is an ancient method, and always new, indeed always renewing itself according to the genius, the zeal, the activity of the teacher. It consists in applying the principle: the pupil does not only want to listen; the pupil must be spurred to take an interest in the subjects and, so to speak, to live them. Hence the many devices to which one usually has recourse in order to arouse interest and participation. The principal ones, shown to be of great efficacy: gathering around a truth or precept the observations derived from the environment or from the history unfolding before one's eyes; graphic representations, drawings; collecting poetry, clippings about what was said in the lesson; competitions; questionnaires, to which the pupil must respond in writing; "notebooks of life," where the pupil sets out his impressions and his resolutions on the truths he has heard. The efficacy, as regards the result, will depend on always keeping present the end that must be attained, which is the formation of the will and of character, and on not mistaking the means for the end.
4. Teaching aids
They are collateral means which, as they sharpen interest, so also help to fix the truth better in the mind, facilitate recollection and practice: artistic and religious illustrations (churches, cathedrals, paintings, statues, sanctuaries, famous pictures), geographical maps, still projections, short films, attendance at liturgical functions, accompanied by a clear explanation that makes participation in the rite more intimate and conscious (cf. L. Vigna, L'introduzione nella istruzione religiosa, Turin 1924; id., Ai maestri. Linee e indirizzi pratici di didattica catechistica, Milan 1931; both with ample catalogues of aids; as also see the appropriate catalogues, published by La Scuola of Brescia).
5. The catechism and didactics
The qualities of a good didactic method must also be reflected in the text of the catechism, which forms the first and most indispensable aid for instruction. Therefore the text must contain: a) sure doctrine, expressed in simple and clear forms, easy to retain; b) appropriate illustrations, well chosen and attractive. The same should be said of the other "religious texts," which must avoid digressions, superfluities, oratory, etc., so that the pupil can clearly discern what he must study and retain (from the illustrative point of view one may cite the publications of "Cultura religiosa popolare" of Viterbo, which embrace the subjects of the catechism, and furthermore the Sacred History and the history of the Church; and as a type, the texts for elementary schools: Il re dei libri, of the Salesians of Turin; the texts of Catholic Action for the different kinds of schools of religion).
6. Memorization
The tendency to eliminate it is not sound. Without reducing itself to a deplorable psittacism, one must admit that it is also necessary to know by heart the principal prayers for use in life; and also the principal formulas in order to avoid vague, unstable knowledge, which easily degenerates into arbitrary and erroneous interpretations. Memorization is moreover consonant with the nature of the child and traditional, especially from the 16th century, when Card. Bellarmine entitled his little catechism: Dottrina cristiana breve, so that it might be learned by heart. It is furthermore inculcated by Pius X in the Letter of 18 Oct. 1912, Fin dai primordi, prefaced to his catechism: "In the first five elementary classes the entire text in the catechetical part must be learned word for word, so that the fundamental truths of the Faith remain well impressed on the mind. It is however of the utmost importance that the pupil understand, in a manner suited to his age, what he learns; therefore a twofold explanation is necessary: that of the words, which might prove more obscure (as far as possible), and that of the content of the formulas to be studied. It is however always advantageous to oblige the pupils to express also in their own words the answers studied by heart."
7. Catechetical centers
The institution of international, national and diocesan catechetical centers, to which one may have recourse in order to have all the tasks of c. facilitated, has revealed itself of great utility for the didactic orientation of religious instruction. Noteworthy is the Centre international d'études de la formation religieuse, founded at Louvain (and now transferred to Brussels) through the work of the Jesuits in 1934; which has published since 1947 a quarterly review Lumen vitae, with formative articles, discussions, exposition of didactic methods; religion texts; Les dossiers «formation religieuse», synoptic tables, pamphlets; it organizes exhibitions, conferences, auditions, projections; and provides an extensive information service. In Italy the Centro catechistico salesiano was founded by d. Pietro Ricaldone, fourth successor of St. John Bosco, with the aim of promoting catechetical instruction in all classes; it consists of a Catechetical Office (1939) and of the publishing house "La Dottrina cristiana" (1941). Twenty-two Salesians attend to its direction and organization, spreading the catechetical idea by means of congresses, exhibitions, projections, propaganda in the dioceses, compilation and diffusion of texts and aids; the reviews that depend on it are: Catechesi (since 1931) now in two editions: for middle schools and for parishes and oratories; Teatro dei giovani (for youthful religious spectacle); Voci bianche (for sacred and recreational music); various periodical series: Lux (catechism in examples for all); Fidens fulgens, veritas (for educated persons).
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