a) THE PRIMACY OF CATECHESIS

"The Apostle of the Catechism"

It breaks my heart to see so many young students getting lost, whereas we could so easily save them!... We must focus our most pressing and loving attention on them, my brothers.  Let us save these poor young students.  Let us save them, and we will have saved everything else!... It is not just because I am so fond of these young people that I dare set this challenge before you once more but also because I want to fulfill a promise I made to Pius IX of holy memory.  One day he told me, in that typically fatherly way of his: "Your Excellency, continue to be the Apostle of the Catechism."  As he said these words, perhaps so that I would never forget his exhortation, he presented me with this pectoral cross in the presence of several bishops.... 

Flustered by such unexpected and undeserved condescension, I do not remember what I answered.  However, I remember this most vividly: that I resolved then and there to put those words into practice, as best I could, and also to repeat them to my confreres in the ministry every chance I had.  So, let those of us here who are pastors and priests, let us arm ourselves with an undaunted, enlightened, and steady zeal.  Let us become Apostles of the Catechism.¹

Though light years away from the zeal of St. Charles Borromeo, of St. Francis De Sales, of my glorious predecessor Blessed Paolo Burali, of the Venerable Robert Bellarmine and of other illustrious living shepherds, I am nonetheless burning with a passionate desire to follow, at least from afar, in their footsteps in carrying out this salutary catechetical work.  I will never, never cease praying, working, and exhorting in season and out of season, with all patience, until I see this work perfectly achieved, so that our beloved Diocese will become, in this matter, an example and inspiration to other dioceses.²

"My first concern was with the young people"

As soon as the Holy Father appointed me to govern this noble and illustrious diocese, my first concern was with the young people (...). In the name of God I implore you to keep careful watch over the religious instruction of children, to stoop down to their level and never lose sight of them, to work with their parents in leading them to piety, to teach them all the points of Christian Doctrine, and to root them firmly in the Catholic faith.

I see that my words on the teaching of catechism were received by you with approval.  On my part, I am pleased to pay public tribute to your zeal and trust that the ardent desires of my heart regarding the catechism will be fulfilled.³

"The catechism is the most natural and most basic teaching"

Though young, children ‑- if well instructed in the catechism ‑- do feel their God within themselves and turn to him with enthusiasm.  They love him and adore him in the beauty that adorns the universe.  Anyone with some experience in this field does not need

to be convinced of this.

Talk to children about God in ways that suit their age and mentality, and they will show you that you are not speaking of a Being alien to their nature.  The Supreme Being has made his existence felt in the depths of their souls at the very dawn of their lives.  As this precious seed grows gradually with age through the catechism, God reveals to them the most beautiful and sublime part of themselves.

The idea of God emerges at the very dawn of human reason.  The foolish theories of schools without catechism are refuted every day by mothers who speak to their little ones about the heavenly Father.  To this Father in heaven the little ones offer their prayers.  With their hands folded, their eyes raised to heaven, their voices trembling with emotion, they repeat the sacred words mother pronounces and their little hearts beat in unison with the heart of her who inspires them (...).

Train a youngster religiously and you will see that, as he grows up, he will still utter the name of God with respect, and, almost unknowingly, will make the principles of faith the basic law of his mind, of his spirit which is just beginning to become conscious of itself.  As he listens with awe to the miracles of creation and to the stupendous blessings of redemption, he will understand with sheer joy the bond that unites heaven and earth, God and man.  He will feel awakening in his heart love and gratitude for his Creator; and he will pray with love and faith.  All this will powerfully influence his future, his spirit, his conscience, his character, and maybe the outcome of his whole life (...).

And so, while society has rightly awakened with real enthusiasm to the need for giving children the best possible physical and moral training, why can people not understand the even greater need for teaching them, early on, those rudiments of the faith that are the basis for the great work of Christian education, the foundation and base of their whole life?  Without question, the teaching of catechism must be the first instruction children should receive.⁴

"The catechism is the summary of all the Catholic Church's teachings on faith and morals"

In general terms, the Catholic catechism is simply a brief summary of all the Catholic Church's teachings on faith and morals.  It is a marvelous summary that satisfies all the desires of the human faculties,

all the needs of the soul; for the catechism illustrates and explains to the human soul the most difficult and profound questions affecting it.

Hence, the catechism is a book that guides consciences and teaches people about God, about the noble destiny of human beings and the sacred bonds that unite them with their Creator, their fellow human beings and themselves.  It is a concise but comprehensive treatise on our faith.  All the words in the catechism were weighed with such care that someone beautifully defined the catechism as "the pure essence of Christianity's teachings on faith and morals." It is elementary theology, a theology that is nonetheless deep, tailored to the intelligence of each one and very positive; for every formula in the catechism encloses a precise truth, which is expressed and sculpted with exact and clear words (...).

The catechism contains teachings that are utterly divine, where God himself is the teacher (...). The catechism raises human beings above all created things, leads them to the very throne of the Eternal Father, and reveals to them the generation of the divine Word and the procession of the Holy Spirit.  In that ocean of marvels, it discloses to them infinite perfections, myriads of infinite perfections, ineffable mercies and stupendous mysteries: the Incarnation, the Cross, the sacraments, and many other truths that reveal to us the deepest mysteries of God.

 Based entirely on the word revealed by God to his Church and, in embryo, wholly contained in the divine Master's command to his apostles: "Go forth and teach all nations," the catechism is a book that takes the place of all other books and all human wisdom, a book for the big and the small, for the learned and the unlearned (...).  So, after Holy Scripture, there is no book that is more sacred, no book that can and should be of greater interest to society than the Catholic catechism.⁵

"A real source of Christian life"

The catechesis of the primitive Church was a real source of Christian life, for through catechism the Christian life matured and flourished.  Catechesis was not seen as a mere school of religion but as a family in which souls were brought to maturity for God, for the Church, and for Heaven (...).  In this school the spirit of the listeners became attuned to Christian thoughts.  Here the mind was

trained to understand and judge things no longer according to the standards of pagan wisdom but according to the standards of the faith of the Gospel.  With great love and generosity, catechists worked hard to form in those souls, still young in the faith, the spirit of Jesus Christ, nay, Jesus Christ himself: "Until Christ be formed in you."⁶

"The fruits of the First Catechetical Congress have already been partially achieved"

Dear confreres, I cannot find words to express the deep emotions of my heart at this moment.  The eloquent words expressed in this hall from the very first day, the many beautiful and consoling things heard here, the many useful proposals discussed, the many precious and timely considerations just applauded, have brought our work to a worthy conclusion and have shown how much your hearts are on fire with love for him who said: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" So to him, to him alone be all honor and glory.  To him on this day be all our praise and thanksgiving.

Yes, let us thank him for not having brought us here in vain.  We can say that the fruits of the First Catechetical Congress have already been partially achieved.  Our people, in fact, could not be indifferent to our work.

What an extraordinary thing the catechism must be, someone recently exclaimed, if so many distinguished personalities have come together in this place for the sole purpose of making the catechism better known; if one of the most learned Princes of the Church, if so many illustrious bishops, if so many zealous shepherds of souls, if so many learned writers have come here from all corners of Italy despite sacrifice and inconvenience, if all these people have spent all their time during these days to give new life to the study and practice of the catechism!  Do you not think, venerable confreres, that the discussions held here, and surely also in all the countries you come from, have not done a lot of good?  Do you not believe that they are the seed of good and holy undertakings in the future?  But we all know that "neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth." To him, once again, be all honor and glory.⁷

"Promote religious instruction with zeal and love"

With all my heart I urge you to promote religious instruction with passion and love and to ensure that it is regularly carried out in the Catechetical Schools.  I beg you, beloved pastors and priests, arouse enthusiasm in all good and sincere people for this work of God.  Shake up the sluggish, give confidence to the timid, encourage the hard-working.  What joy you will bring to the angels! what edification to the faithful! what consolation to my fatherly heart, if you were to gather around you a select group of young boys and girls and teach them, with the love that only charity can inspire, to know, love, and serve the Lord.  I will soon be able to see the results with my own eyes, when, with warm pleasure, I get to visit the Catechism Schools in every single parish.  I want you to know that I fully expect to receive the sweetest and dearest consolations from these meetings.  I will rejoice in the Lord with you and heartily congratulate the real shepherds.  But I will not be able to hide, not even in public, my deep disappointment at those who have not done their duty, as best they could, in such a supremely important matter.⁸