Parish Catechetical Leaders enriched by presentation, new resources

“The new Directory addresses today’s need for a variety of methods of catechesis,” declared Loyola Press presenter Joseph Paprocki to a group of parish catechetical leaders of the Diocese of Metuchen during a March 21 workshop held in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway.

Speaking about the new Directory for Catechesis, published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2020, Paprocki stressed, “It is designed to change the culture of faith formation.”

The diocesan Office of Discipleship Formation for Children, headed by Jill Kerekes, hosted the event for its parish catechetical leaders to review new materials published by Loyola Press, a Jesuit ministry, for their programs. Educational Consultant Matthew DeCaux hosted the onsite event with a wealth of sample materials, assisted by John O’Connor, ministry consultant from St. Anselm Parish, Tinton Falls. Some three dozen PCLs and some of their catechists were in attendance.

Kerekes opened the event with a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom the Diocese was consecrated in 2019, asking for the graces needed for a New Evangelization by placing it under the patronage of Our Lady.

Following the prayer, she introduced Paprocki, a national consultant for faith formation for Loyola Press who has given presentations in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Paprocki joined the event via Zoom for his presentation, “How the New Directory for Catechesis Can and Should Be a Game Changer.”

This new directory serves as a follow-up to previous important documents, including the General Catechetical Directory, 1971; the General Directory for Catechesis, 1997, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992.

While all these documents share similar themes, including the process of evangelization, the goals and tasks of catechesis, changes in the global context and the implementation of evangelization and catechesis, the new Directory stresses the importance of kerygma, the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, within the mission of evangelization, as well as the varied and changing culture within which catechesis and evangelization must take place.

The new Directory, explained Paprocki, outlines today’s catechetical and evangelization journey in 12 chapters under three headings: Catechesis in the Church’s Mission of Evangelization, the Process of Catechesis and Catechesis in the Particular Churches.

In reviewing the focus of some of the chapters Paprocki noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “an indispensable resource,” contrasting the Catechism, which is the basis of Catholic belief, with the Directory, which is a guide to how faith is taught, but in broad strokes: it is not in a step-by-step manual.                               

Also, during the workshop, Parish Giving, a business specializing in helping parishes with software to manage donations, introduced a new platform to manage catechetical class registration, promising to provide improved data management compared to current systems. Peter Vyzaniaris, IT director, and Jill Roggio, operations director, walked through the on-screen program demonstration for attendees, answering multiple questions about how the system functions.

Reactions from attendees were positive. Coleen D’Amato, the PCL at Immaculate Conception Parish, Annandale, said she was favorably impressed with the demo, as well as by Loyola Press’s materials. Another PCL, Harry De Freitas from St. Ambrose Parish, Old Bridge, was very impressed by the presentation and the new resources.

Tara Vigario, PCL at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Monroe Twp., attended with three of her catechists. She liked the new ideas and approaches of the new Directory, while Mickey Indyk appreciated the relevancy of the new material. Susan Yates thought the material was “awesome,” and Tara Iannelli felt there were many great ideas.