2. CATECHETICAL APOSTOLATE

Pius IX called Bishop Scalabrini the "Apostle of the Catechism."  Bishop Scalabrini's first concern as pastor and bishop was the religious instruction of young people in the catechism, for the catechism is the first, natural instruction, the complete synthesis of Catholic teaching, and the source of Christian life.  The bishop devoted the First National Congress in 1889 to a catechetical renaissance.

The catechism must be taught "everywhere and always," from the pulpit and in school, in the family and in special schools of Christian Doctrine.  The teaching must be gradual and cyclical and take in the whole formation period, from childhood to adulthood.  It is vital teaching because it provides training in the faith, as long as the teachers pattern themselves after the "first catechist," Jesus Christ, and imitate his zeal and love.

Catechesis is eminently Christological: to make Jesus the Savior known and loved. Catechetical pedagogy is the most difficult of arts: it must be studied, tried, and refined according to the methodology best suited to those being catechized, who must apply their minds and wills, their hearts and senses.  Catechesis is the most effective apostolate because it aims at forming Christ in the faithful,

The inadequate educational preparation of the people of his time made Scalabrini opt for a single catechism: "a handbook of the faith that is the same for all" Catholics and for all countries, so that geographic mobility will not jeopardize the certainty of the rule of faith and morals.