The baptismal catechumenate: structure and progression

88. Faith, moved by divine grace and cultivated by the action of the Church, undergoes a process of maturation. Catechesis, which is at the service of this growth, is also a gradual activity. "Good catechesis is always done in steps". (²⁷⁹) In the baptismal catechumenate, formation is articulated in four stages:

– the pre-catechumenate, (²⁸⁰) characterized as the locus of first evangelization leading to conversion and where the kerygma of the primary proclamation is explained;

– the catechumenate, (²⁸¹) properly speaking, the context of integral catechesis beginning with "the handing on of the Gospels"; (²⁸²)

– a time of purification and illumination (²⁸³) which affords a more intense preparation for the sacraments of initiation and in which the "the handing on of the Creed" (²⁸⁴) and "the handing on of the Lord's Prayer" take place; (²⁸⁵)

– a time of mystagogy, (²⁸⁶) characterized by the experience of the sacraments and entry into the community.

89. These stages, which reflect the wisdom of the great catechumenal tradition, also inspire the gradual nature of catechesis. (²⁸⁷) In the patristic period properly, catechumenal formation was realized through biblical catechesis, based on recounting the history of salvation; immediate preparation for Baptism by doctrinal catechesis, explaining the Creed and the Our Father which had just been handed on, together with their moral implications; and through the phase following the sacraments of initiation, a period of mystagogical catechesis which help the newly baptized to interiorize these sacraments and incorporate themselves into the community. This patristic concept continues to illuminate the present catechumenate and initiatory catechesis itself. This latter, in so far as it accompanies the process of conversion, is essentially gradual and, in so far as it is at the service of one who has decided to follow Christ, it is eminently christocentric.