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PROPOSED PROCESS OF RECOGNITION OF CATECHETICAL CENTERS
AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES
AND COLLEGES OFFERING FORMATION PROGRAM FOR CATECHISTS
AND RELIGION TEACHERS
1. ECCCE’s Journey: A Quick Recall
- 1990 National Catechetical Year – “Every
Christian a catechist”
- 1991 First National Convention of Catechetical
Formators = Catechists’ Basic Formation Program
- 1992 – National Convention in Jaro – Launching
of CFC and CBFP
- 1993 – 1995 – Regional Meetings for
CBFP
- 1997 – Approval of CFC as first adult catechism
approved by Congregation of Clergy and Congregation
of Doctrine and Faith
- 1998 till present – dissemination and seminar
on the use of CFC
- 2000 – Jubilee Congress for Catechesis
and Catholic Education
- 2001 – Initial Work for the revision of
the National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines
- 2004 – Initial Work of Process of Recognition
for Catechetical Centers and Religious Education
Department of Catholic colleges and universities
offering Formation Program for Religion Teachers
and Catechists
Through all these years, diocesan catechetical centers
and congregational/diocesan colleges and universities
offering formation program for religion teachers and
catechists have multiplied.
Through all these past 14 years ECCCE produced various
documents on the ministry of catechesis (NCDP) in general
to formation of catechists (CBFP) and to content of
catechesis (CFC.
Thus today ECCCE is moving towards helping the formation
centers develop quality formation centers that not
only study the documents on catechesis but also apply
them so as to ensure the Church in the Philippines
effective catechists and religion teachers responsive
of the times we are in.
To achieve this, ECCCE proposes a process of Recognition
for the catechetical centers and Religious Education
Department of colleges and universities offering formation
program for religion teachers and catechists.
This process takes inspiration in the process of accreditation
done in the academe (PAASCU)as well as in the corporate
world (ISO).
KNOW WHAT - Concept of Accreditation/Recognition
According to PAASCU
Accreditation is the recognition of an educational
institution as possessing certain standards of quality
or excellence.
Accreditation is:
- a concept based on self-regulation which focuses
on evaluation and the continuing improvement of
educational quality.
- a process by which institutions
or programs continuously upgrade their educational
quality and services through self-evaluation and
the judgment of peers.
- a status granted to an educational
institution or program that meets commonly accepted
standards of quality or excellence.
An accredited school is not a perfect school but it
is a genuinely good school. It is effectively doing
what it says it should be doing according to its stated
purposes and objectives.
The basic characteristics of accreditation are:
- its prevailing sense of volunteerism;
- its strong tradition of self-regulation;
- its reliance on evaluation techniques;
- its primary concern with quality.
According to ECCCE
Recognition is a voluntary process through
which a diocesan catechetical center [DCC] / religious
education department [RED] is able to measure the
quality of its services and performance against nationally
recognized standards set up by ECCCE. The accreditation
process involves self-assessment by the DCC/RED ,
as well as a thorough review by the ECCCE’s expert
surveyors.
The Recognition certificate is a symbol that
the DCC/RED is committed to providing high-quality
service and that it has demonstrated that
commitment by measuring up to the ECCCE’s high
standards.
KNOW HOW - Procedure for Accreditation Process
The effectiveness of self-regulatory accreditation
depends upon an institution’s acceptance of certain
responsibilities, including involvement in and commitment
to the accreditation process. An institution is required
to conduct a self-study at the interval specified by
the Commission and, at the conclusion of the self-
study, accept an honest and forthright peer assessment
of institutional strengths and weaknesses. The Commission
requires that the self-study assess every aspect of
the institution; involve personnel from all segments
of the institution, including faculty, staff, students,
administration and governing boards; and provide a
comprehensive analysis of the institution, identifying
strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the Commission
requires an adequate institutional follow-up plan to
address issues identified in the self-study.
Procedure for Recognition of DCC/RED by ECCCE
Steps for Recognition
- ECCCE proposes to the local Ordinary to conduct
process of recognition to the catechetical centers
and religious education departments in his diocese.
- Once
the local Ordinary agrees, ECCCE approaches the
Director of the catechetical center or President
/ Religious Education Department Head of the
university offering religious education.
- Upon
agreement of the Director or President or Department
Head, ECCCE sends Recognition team to the Center
or university concerned and conduct orientation
to the administrative staff, students and faculty.
- After
the orientation, the Center uses the Instrument
and does self-evaluation or self-survey.
- When
the Center is done with self-evaluation and
has submitted a written report of its self-evaluation,
Recognition Team visits the Center/Religious
Education Department for ECCCE’s evaluation
and assessment.
- ECCCE through the Recognition
Team makes a final report based on the Center’s
self-evaluation and the Team evaluation. This
final report is confidential and only for the
local Ordinary. It
is the local Ordinary who will decide whether
to release the final report to the Center concerned
and act upon the recommendations of the Team.
- Once
the local Ordinary agrees to act upon the recommendations
of the final report, ECCCE meets with the Director
of the CatecheticalCenter and
key persons of the Center/Department to discuss
the final report and recommendations and schedule
the next visit.
KNOW WHY - Drivers
to Recognition of DCC/RED
1. Process Drivers
1.1. Catechesis in the process of evangelization
The GDC aims to balance two aspects: to contextualize
catechesis in evangelization as proposed by Paul VI
in Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in
the Modern World) and to appropriate the content of
the faith as presented in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church [GDC 7].
In the GDC, evangelization is the umbrella or organizing
principle. It permeates all the aspects of the document….
In the GDC, catechesis is described as “a moment,
an essential moment in the process of evangelization.” Evangelization
is the heart of the document. All of the themes on
which the GDC is based are interrelated with evangelization.
Made possible only by initial conversion and the pursuit
of lifelong conversion, catechesis was seen as an activity
done in the context of worship and the search for deeper
faith.
1.2. Inculturation
In one sense the concept of inculturation is the “new
kid on the catechetical block.” For though it
was already the talk of the town in recent years, we
have not yet effectively integrated it into catechesis.
Now GDC brought it to the forefront as an integral
and very important aspect of our catechesis.
Inculturation is not simply an external adaptation
designed to make the Christian message more attractive.
On the contrary it means penetration of the strate
of persons and peoples by the gospel which touches
them deeply, going to the very center and roots of
their cultures. This
implies that inculturation is also an important agenda
in the formation of the catechists and religion teachers.
1.3. Contextualization
Corollary to inculturation is contextualization. As
we admit that all authentic faith formation includes
information, we also affirm that information needs
to be within the context of a community, celebrated
in liturgical ritual and relevant to the life of a
Christian. GDC points out that catechists and religion
teachers become aware of the fact that the life and
faith of the catechized are in continuous change.
GDC states that the formation of catechists (and religion
teachers) requires that they have a sufficient knowledge
of the message that they transmit, of those to whom
they hand on the message and of the social context
in which they live (GDC 238). Teachers/catechists need
to interact with the broad social situation in which
catechesis and religious instruction takes place.
Thus the GDC includes in the formation of the catechists
today
sufficient use not only of theological principles
but also secular findings, especially in the fields
of psychology and sociology…. The social sciences
provide an awareness of the socio-cultural context
in which man lives and by which he is strongly influenced.
It is therefore necessary that in the formation of
catechists that there take place “an analysis
of the religious situation as well as of the sociological,
cultural and economic conditions to the extent that
these facts of collective life can greatly influence
the success of evangelization (GDC 242).
1.4. Interdisciplinary Approach
With inculturation and contextualization catechesis
today requires that it becomes interdisciplinary in
approach. An interdisciplinary approach presupposes
the concept of culture. Consequently, the formation
of catechists demands the need for interdisciplinary
education that includes an ecumenical and interreligious
(interfaith) content and methodology.
2. Personnel-Focused Drivers
2.1. Some Personal observations
- formation program similar to the formation of
seminarians or candidates for religious life (Stay-in
Popularized Theology formation model);
- formation program that tends to come out with
graduates who are good teachers of religion as an
academic subject (Lived out Popularized Theology
formation model);
- formation program that stresses techniques of
animation and forms catechists and religion teachers
with capacity for relationships and management, but
tends to neglect contents and objectives (Operative
or technical Training Model)
2.2. New image – new competencies of
catechists/religion teachers
The current existential demands call for catechists,
who are convinced and convincing, and who possess significant
qualities both from the human and faith standpoints.
Catechists need to be fully inserted in time and space,
identified completely with their people, open to the
real problems and with cultural, social and political
sensibilities…. Only catechists truly inserted
in the reality of the world can imagine a catechesis
that is in agreement and suitable to the current demands.
Nowadays catechetical work cannot be based on good
will or improvisation.
3. Organizational Structure-Based Drivers
3.1. Pluralistic Post Modern Society
In a complex pluralistic society, we are offered with
a variety of products, old and new, attractive and
ambiguous. Without an exclusive monopoly that the Church
possessed earlier, Christian faith turns out to be
one product among many and competition sets in when
alternatives exist. (Just note the Sunday homilies
and talk shows.) The Christian option is no longer
the only possible and hence it is forced to win its
clientele. And in a certain sense, the Catholic “product” is
disadvantaged, since all believe that they know a lot
about it or that the Church can not give a really convincing
answer about the issue.
In the post-modern culture, society is dominated by
many fragmentary aspects and by a crisis of strong
values, such that religion becomes fragmented and is
perceived in a contradictory manner. (Take note of
the criticism against the images and the proliferation
of the images of angels with personal names whose origins
we are not certain of.) Post-modern culture leads today’s
Christians to redefine religion and morality.
3.2. Economic – moral crisis
While the first two phenomena are universal yet affecting
us locally as a nation and as Church, in our own islands,
in our own dioceses and parishes and Christian communities,
we are facing the worst ever economic crisis that is
in reality rooted in a moral crisis that kept worsening.
4. Technology Driver - Mass Media and New
Media
Communicating faith is difficult
in a time when vivid and compelling narratives are
electronically communicated in an endless stream designed
to be entertaining. An ethos of entertainment is unable
to tolerate the kinds of troubling questions about
the purposes of life posed by Jesus of Nazareth.
Within the dominant system
of social communication and the new media, religious
experience is frequently reduced to a marginal, insignificant
proposal jammed by a potent socializing machine. In
this open market of cultural offers, religion runs
the risk of appearing as a showy, a spectacular product
of something fleeting….
Media usually generate a fragmentary superficial culture.
The power of today’s communication media to
shape our worldview and values according to the interest
of consumerism is alarming to many of us.
In short, catechesis
today is undergoing paradigm shift at various levels,
hence catechetical centers responsible for catechetical
formation must gear themselves to journey with the
catechists towards these various moves.
*Catechesis pre-occupied with teaching to catechesis
at the service of Christian initiation (GDC 65-68)
Catechesis as preparation for the sacraments to a
catechesis as education in the faith (GDC 84)
Catechesis of truths of faith to catechesis of meaning
(GDC 116-117)
Catechesis as transmission of knowledge of to catechesis
as education of internalized attitudes of faith (GDC
85-86)
Catechesis of simple assimilation to catechesis of
creativity and co-responsibility (GDC 157)
*Appreciation of Family Catechesis as well as the
emergence of Basic ecclesial communities
Configuring formation to trans-formation
*Catechists are prepared to move from a conservation
catechesis that perpetuates the existing ecclesial
situation to a catechesis that transforms, that is
at the service of a Church of communion and service.
KNOW HOW - Instrument for Recognition of DCC/RED
Sources of Principles to be used for Recognition of
DCC/RED
- GDC General Directory for Catechesis (1997)
- GC Guide for Catechists (1993)
- ExC Ex Corde Ecclesiae (1990)
- NCDP National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines
(1983)
- CIC Code of Canon Law (1983)
- Norms and Guidelines for the Ministry of Catechesis – CBCP
(1980)
- CS The Catholic School (1977)
- GCD General Catechetical Directory (1971)
- PAAASCU Manual of Accreditation
It has to be noted that in constructing the instrument
for the process of recognition of DCC/RED, while the
sources of principles are documents pertinent to the
ministry of catechesis, the focus and context are not
the ministry in general nor the program of formation
in particular but the diocesan catechetical center
or religious education department of colleges and universities
offering formation program for religion teachers and
catechists.
For this reason, areas for evaluation or assessment
of the DCC/RED have to be identified. Here the PAASCU
Manual of Accreditation was used as a basis. Thus for
the instrument of Recognition, the following areas
are proposed:
- Vision-mission-aim-objectives
- formators-teachers-faculty
- catechists-students
- formation program – curriculum
- community involvement
- physical plant
Using these areas as parameters in reading the various
documents mentioned above, the instrument is constructed
in form of a grid containing principles or standards
expected for the different areas. The second element
of the grid is the list of behavioral indicators that
translate the principles into minimum level of performance
or actualization to maximum level of performance actualization.
CARE WHY
This is the task of the workshop
this afternoon and will lead us to determine the last
element of the task of framing the process of Recognition.
That is Care Why. This refers to the self-motivated
creativity that exists in us involved in the formation
of catechists and religion teachers. It refers to the
degree of our acceptance, participation and ownership
of the process of recognition of DCC/RED.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude this presentation with words
from a fellow catechists-formator in Latin America.
After twenty-nine years of contact with thousands
of catechists from all over Latin America, the following
conclusion strikes me on my face: they, the true inculcators
of faith, men and women who withstand the ‘rigour
and heat of the day’ are the last at the table.
And once seated they frequently receive only the crumbs.
His observation is saddening. But we in the Philippines
are very hopeful to give our catechists who “are
among the most faithful servants of the Lord and of
the Church in the Philippines” (PCP II 647) a
suitable formation environment and experience as we
take up the challenge of drawing up the process of
recognition of our catechetical centers.
Workshop Questions
On the concept of Recognition (20 minutes)
- How do you feel about self-regulating your Catechetical
Center/Religious Education Department and given Recognition?
- What benefits do you think will your Center/Department
get from the process of Recognition?
- What difficulties do you think will the Center/Department
face in undergoing the process of Recognition?
On the Procedure for Recognition (20 minutes)
- How do I find the procedure for Recognition? Do
I agree or disagree with the steps? If agree, why?
If no, why disagree?
- What other steps do you suggest for the procedure
for Recognition?
On the Instrument for Recognition (60 minutes
or 1 hour)
- Does it cover all the areas in the catechetical
formation or religious education curriculum? If not,
what else do you think should be included?
- How would you simplify the principles stated in
the instrument?
- After simplifying the principles, list as many
observable behavioral indicators that manifest or
express the principles
- Catherine
Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” Religious
Education as Practical Theology. Essays
in Honour of Professor Herman Lombaerts,
edited by Bert Roebben and Michael Warren,
Leuven: Uitgeverij, 2001, p. 175.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” p.
177.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” pp.
178-179.
- Michael
Warren, “Catechesis
and (or) Religious Education,” Religious
Education as Practical Theology. Essays in Honour
of Professor Herman Lombaerts, edited by Bert
Roebben and Michael Warren, Leuven: Uitgeverij,
2001, p. 137.
- Richard Reichert, Renewing
Catechetical Ministry. A Future Agenda.
New York: Paulist Press, 2002, p. 141.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” p.
181.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” pp.
184-185.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” p.
188.
- Dooley, “Catechesis
and Religious Instruction in Schools.
Perspectives of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997),” pp.
186-187.
- Emilio
Alberich and Jerome Vallabaraj, Communicating A
Faith that Transforms. A Handbook of Fundamental Catechetics,
Rome:2004, pp. 221-222.
- Emilio
Alberich and Jerome Vallabaraj, Communicating A
Faith that Transforms. A Handbook of Fundamental Catechetics,
p. 14.
- Emilio
Alberich and Jerome Vallabaraj, pp. 15-16.
- Warren, “Catechesis
and (or) Religious Education,” p. 126.
- Emilio
Alberich and Jerome Vallabaraj, pp. 16-17.
- Warren, “Catechesis
and (or) Religious Education,” p. 143.
- The following
shifts are taken from Emilio Alberich and
Jerome Vallabaraj, pp. 225-229.
- Emilio
Alberich and Jerome Vallabaraj, pp.218-219.
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