Catechesis in the New Evangelization (IMCA-680)

Course Number: IMCA-680-01

Course Title: Catechesis in the New Evangelization

Instructor: Fr. Cassian Edwards, OSB.

Number of Credits: 2

Course Date: Thursdays 8:00-9:15pm ET from Jan 13 to May 8, 2025

Registration deadline: Dec 20, 2024

Registration will be limited to 30 students per course.

IMCA 680 – CATECHESIS IN THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

The 2020 Directory for Catechesis shifts the emphasis for catechetics to a missionary key for this era of the New Evangelization.  This is the third phase in a documentary tradition of Directories for Catechesis since Vatican II. The first included the Second Vatican Council’s shift in approach to teaching the faith and the second made adjustments for incorporating the new Catechism of the Catholic Church.  During this sixty-year process, apostolic exhortations such as Evangelii Nuntiandi and Catechesi Tradendae provided important theological and pastoral insights. 

When presented in a missionary key, catechesis focuses renewed attention on the formation of adults by working with processes of conversion and growth for the development of an intentional discipleship and committed path of faith.  In this course we will learn about catechesis from the documentary tradition by focusing particular attention on the 2020 Directory for Catechesis, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Evangelii Gaudium, and other relevant magisterial documents.  We will explore the latest developments, programs and processes for conversion and growth including the thresholds of intentional discipleship made popular by the Siena Institute.  We will also look closely at the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults which incorporates these insights and turns them into concrete steps for adult converts to the faith.

This course will highlight topics from the Directory for Catechesis and show how, for example, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd fulfills much of this framework. Students will be challenged to apply the same “criteria” to measure and evaluate their current or future catechetical programs.

This course is conducted online through a combination of synchronous, interactive, online video-conferenced meetings in the evening, reading assignments, and asynchronous online discussions and videos through the Schoology educational software platform. Like all IMF courses, it will follow the Saint Vincent academic calendar.

Note: While this course is available to anyone, it is a required course for the Catechetics program and will be taught with Catechetics students specifically in mind. All are welcome to take this course for credit or to audit.

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