Doctor Walter Krieger

The need for the enculturation of catechesis for an effective integration of faith and life

Hello from Vienna!

Your Eminence

Dear participants and viewers of this videoconference!

I wish to thank you for having given me the opportunity to cooperate and I greet you all warmly.

I will discuss the subject of the need for the enculturation of catechesis for an effective integration of faith and life.

Austria is traditionally a Catholic country. Its history, culture, the landscape, legislation, social traditions all show the influence of the Christian legacy, although nowadays these Christian roots are no longer so obvious.

73% of the population is Catholic. About 15% of Catholics regularly take part in ecclesial life. In Austria we speak of a “Church belonging to everyone”, which is however undergoing change because traditions are becoming increasingly less obvious. Faith needs greater resolve. We are moving towards a “decision making Church”.

Over 90% of young people attend lessons on religion also provided in state schools. Almost all children baptised as Catholics prepare for First Communion in the parishes and the vast majority of young people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

It is not only the young and children who in a sense have been in contact with the faith, who attend lessons on religion and catechesis for preparing for the Sacraments in parishes. In fact, 90% of the young present has never had any contact with religious life.

In what way can catechesis at the service of the Gospel reach those who acknowledge the importance of faith in their lives?

A first reflection: the correlation

Correlation involves linking faith to life, starting with life, hence seizing the existential issues and then interpreting and understanding them within the faith. So that this interpretation based on faith is also adopted, sincerity and motivation are required, as well as the catechists’ valid arguments and credibility!

A life opposed to correlation lead from faith to life: a content of faith is explained in such a way that its meaning becomes clear for the loves of all men here and now. It is, as the General Directory for Catechesis observed in no. 205, not only a rational acknowledgement of the contents of faith, but also of the fact that it moves the heart and changes behaviour. However, it is the profoundness of the catechetic process that is decisive, not quantity of the contents.

In our society, the main contents of faith appear to be of little interest to many pragmatic people wishing to exploit their opportunities here and now. So, as warned by the General Directory in no. 204, catechesis does not have the task of representing the faith as a decorative element, as “enrichment”, but to penetrate profoundly in the hearts of people with vital strength .

How can this be achieved?

To reach peoples’ hearts, the catechist must have great sensitivity for life’s realities.

- It is necessary to see below the surface of a pragmatic lifestyle, there where the evangelical message resounds.

- It is necessary to pay attention to the experienced values of people and the distinction between what, in the evangelical sense, promotes life and what hinders it.

- It is necessary for people to understand these matters and see for themselves their own realities and their own possibilities.

- Finally, it is necessary to provoke a desire for the possibilities of life offered by the Gospel.

It is a dynamic process requiring openness, dialogue, patience, precision, and being open to change.

This process becomes evident above all in the catechumenate of adults.

Second reflection: catechesis in religious groups

It is wonderful to commit oneself to groups of faith, to read the Bible, to pray and be in spiritual community. Openness to the issues of faith is great, interest for catechesis inexhaustible. As far as correlation is concerned, with all this enthusiasm, what matters is not to lose sight of the duties of life. In fact, an enthusiastic religious group would provide a bad example if its member were to forget to live the faith in daily life, hence family life, life with one’s neighbours, in the workplace, during one’s free time. Even commitments within the Church do not replace the challenges of daily life.

In catechesis with religious groups it is important not only to analyse in-depth the contents of faith, but also to provide suggestions for faith becoming rooted in life, for enculturing faith in life. The spiritual dimension of catechesis plays a decisive role here.

Third reflection: faith means relationship

In the general plan for evangelisation, catechesis occupies a position that presupposes faith or a desire for it. This means that humankind wishes to live in a relationship with God. A positive experience of relations of faith with God, and with other Christians, is fundamental for catechesis and there is nothing that can replace it.

Catechesis will help people establish and deepen these relationships and turn constantly to God.

The extent of these relations becomes of particular importance when one meets people with contents of faith that are not so easy to understand, perhaps because coming from a different temporal situation, perhaps because not correctly explained, perhaps because they are so exacting and require a change in life. Generally speaking, these contents represent a test of faith.

These tests can be more easily overcome if supported by steadfast relation of faith. Thos experiencing a lively relationship with God, those seeking the community of faith, those bound to the Church with their hearts, will find it easier to believe the truth and the evangelical messages doubted by the schools of thought present in society. Therefore, with the help of catechesis, it is question of bearing witness to the evangelical message, not against the times, but in these times and in this world.

A last reflection

Having faith means following a path and not only agreeing with some contents. Along the way, through the landscape of out present, out culture, one comes across many paths and events worthy of notice. Catechesis is needed to provide reference points, to give instruction or to explain what one sees, like a poster. And as happens when travelling normally, those who travel with open hearts and minds, discover may more things than those thinking only of themselves and their own interests.

Catechesis is an invitation to study the faith in greater depth, here and now, hence progressing towards God’s love.

Thank you all for your attention