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A l l W h o A r e C a p a b l e , M i o u l d 

TEACH A N D FOSTER 
THE CATECHISM 

M o s t R e v e r e n d 

A m l e t o G i o v a n n i C i c o g n a n i , D . D . 

A R C H B I S H O P O F LAODICEA 

A P O S T O L I C D E L E G A T E T O T H E 

U N I T E D STATES O F A M E R I C A 

AN ADDRESS 
delivered to 

The National Catechetical Congress 
of the 

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine 
New York City 

October 3-6, 1936 



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All Who Are Capable Should Teach 

and Poster the Catechism 

( C f j Decree Provido sane consilio^ 

m m of the purposes of this National 
Catechetical Congress, and without 

doubt extremely important amongst its aims, 
w the desire to increase the number of those 
who work for the Gospel of Christ in the 
teaching of Catechism. "Going teach ye all 
nations" (Matt. 28:19); "Go ye into the 
whole world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature" (Mark 16:15). This is the man-
date given by Christ to His Apostles, to 
His Bishops: and on them rests the respon-
sibility for religious teaching. 

A G E N E R A L INVITATION 

Nevertheless, the honor of participating 
in that labor, of co-operating with it, of aid-
ing and assisting it, particularly in the form 

January 12, 1935) 

1 



of catechetical instruction, has been exten-
sively and repeatedly offered to the faithful 
men and women of every age and of every 
condition of life. Only a little more than a 
year ago the latest ; fervent appeal of the 
Church for such co-operation was spoken in 
the Decree Provido sane consilio issued by 
the Sacred Congregation of the Council on 
January 12, 1935: "In places where on ac-
count of the scarcity of priests the clergy 
themselves cannot sufficiently perform the 
work of teaching Christian Doctrine, let the 
Bishops take active steps to supply capable 
catechists of both sexes to help the pastors. 
Let them teach religion in the parochial or 
in the public school, even in the most re-
mote parts of the parish" (Decree Provido 
sane consilio, No. 4 ) . The Code of Canon 
Law had previously commanded that, where 
needed, efforts should be encouraged on the 
part of "devout lay people, especially those 
who have been enrolled in the Confraternity 
of Christian Doctrine" (Canon 1333). Now, 
the new Decree of the Holy See makes us 
understand that there should be associated 
together in this Confraternity "omnes quot 
sunt idonei catechismo edocendo et fovendo" 

2 



— "all who are capable of teaching and en-
kindling love for the Catechism" (Decree 
Provido sane consilio No. 1). I t is an urgent 
appeal, and today the National Catechetical 
Congress sounds it forth again to American 
Catholics. 

There is no question here of an instruction 
in which the truths of faith are to be ex-
pounded with learned comments or scientific 
study, with philosophic proofs or controver-
sial arguments. W e are thinking only of a 
simple colloquy between teacher and pupil. 
W e are considering an echo, as the deriva-
tion of the word "catechism" indicates —¡jj 
the echo of those clear and plain assertions 
of the Divine Master which are spoken for 
the instruction and edification of those who 
desire to hear the word of God. 

Saint Paul, writing to the Corinthians, 
sets forth a beautiful concept of catechetical 
instruction. The Apostle and teacher of the 
Gentiles had received a special privilege from 
God of mastering languages, the charisma 
known as the gift of tongues. H e did not 
neglect it. Rather, he declared: " I thank 
my God I speak with all your tongues" 
(I Cor. 14:18). But he went on to add 

3 



that in the assemblage of the faithful he 
preferred to speak five words in his own 
way — that is adapting them to the condi-
tions of those who would hear them, that 
they might understand them and be in-
structed by them :— rather thah to speak 
ten thousand words with his gift of tongues, 
when the people, might not understand. 

The ideal instruction, therefore, does not 
point out many things nor insist on what is 
extraordinary. Instead it dwells upon a few 
sound principles, those which give direction 
to life and gilide our steps along the path-
ways of righteousness. W i t h this simple 
method the Church has changed the customs 
of whole nations and of great peoples. W i t h 
it she has given education and formation to 
youth, and with it she conducts her missions 
and carries 6n her work today. Thousands 
of women have dedicated themselves in our 
Sisterhoods to forming Christ in the souls 
of children. How much of good they have 
done is ignored by the world! They deserve 
our deepest gratitude. Under the direction 
of the Church many Orders and religious 
Institutes have risen with the chief task of 
teaching the Catechism, as for example those 

4 



of Saint Jerome Aemilian, Saint Philip Neri, 
Saint Joseph Calasanctius and Saint John 
Baptist de la Salle. The Church has en-
couraged the drawing tip in writing of cate-. 
chetical instruction ever since the earliest 
ages of Christian history, and more especially 
since the Council of Trent and the marvel-
ous work done by Saint Peter Canisius, 
Saint Robert Bellarmine and many others. 
I t was on October 6, 1571, that the Sover-
eign Pontiff Saint Pius the Fifth gave ap-
proval at Rome of the Confraternity of 
Christian Doctrine; and now it is the law 
of the Church that this Confraternity be 
established in every parish (Canon 711, 
No. 2 ) . 

T H E V A L U E OF T H E CATECHISM 

The Catechism is a small book, but it sets 
forth the Gospel in brief formulas which can 
be readily understood. Through the Cate-
chism children of every age in the history 
of the Church have become strong in faith, 
sincere and veritable theologians. From it 
the young have received a formative influence 
in every field of activity and in every social 



environment. I t is a tiny book, but it is the 
fountain-head of the Universal science which 
touches upon all divine and human knowl-
edge. I t is a true fountain of life in the 
fullest sense of the word, pouring forth 
rivers of living water in all directions. 

In the terrible trials with which countries 
are now afflicted, their rulers are trying anx-
iously every remedy proposed for our great 
social evils. More than anything else the 
nations have need of God. There is urgent 
and supreme need for the truths of faith. 
Souls have need of life; and the soul is 
truly and fully alive when it keeps up con-
tact with God; when it recognizes Him as 
the Author and Creator of life; when it 
knows that the Eternal Word became man 
to be our Master, Redeemer and Saviour; 
when it receives the gifts of the Holy Ghost 
and His grace; when it stands secure in the 
knowledge that the Church is the continua-
tion of the Incarnation and of the teaching 
of Jesus Christ; when it exercises active 
membership in the Church, militant in piety 
and the reception of the Sacraments^ through 
which true peace of soul and sanctity of life 
are attained; when it looks with firm hope 

6 



to life eternal and lays up for itself not 
treasures of this earth but of heaven. These 
are the contents of the Catechism,, a com-
pendium of Divine Revelation. 

• T H E GREATEST EVIL OF O U R T I M E 

T o have forgotten or neglected these 
things, or perhaps never to have known 
them, is the greatest evil of our time. The 
Holy Pontiff Pope Pius X , in his Encyclical 
Acer bo nimis of April 15, 1905, making a 
diagnosis of the evils which afflict society, 
declared that the greatest misfortune and 
the greatest disaster was "ignorance of di-
vine things." I n his zeal as supreme shep-
herd of souls he pointed out to the Bishops 
and parish priests that it is their first duty 
to instruct the people in religion. H e com-
manded that everywhere the Confraternity 
of Christian Doctrine should be organized, 
H e laid down rules for the teaching of 
Catechism to children and adults, and he 
warmly recommended the selection of "able-
co-workers amongst devout lay people to 
assist in this salutary work." 

7 



Ignorance of the things of God is fatal 
both for the individual and for society. I t 
tends naturally to intellectual and moral sui-
cide. Human respect and the passions claim 
many victims; but ignorance has many more, 
because it takes away the light from our 
eyes, and blinds both the great and the 
lowly. Reason is a guide to faith, and the 
human mind is as it were naturally Chris-
tian; but with doubt and préjudice and in-
difference, this power is destroyed. 

Visit the prisons and you Will see that 
the greater part of their unhappy inmates 
have neglected its lessons or never knew 
their Catechism at all. Enter into the fam-
ilies where there are moral disorders, and 
you will find lack of attention to the Cate-
chism. T o save the World from many crimes 
and social maladies, to save many poor mis-
guided souls from the misery of their state, 
the short lessons of the Catechism would 
suffice. Where this instruction is lacking, it 
is easy to lead into evil ways those who are 
ignorant of the things of God, to bring about 
the acceptance of theories that are perverse 
and horrible, even to take man back to a 
state which borders on savagery. I t is a fact 

8 



that the most fertile field for the cultivation 
of wickedness is ignorance of the doctrines 
of Christ, and that irreligion and contempt 
for the things of God grow best in such 
a soil. 

I t is of suprême importance to the nations 
themselves that Catechism be taught when 
human nature is the more genuine and sin-
cère, and that mankind be given then the 
spiritual food which by nature it was de-
signed to receive. Childhood is the strategic 
point of greatest importance in the life of 
man, and even more is this true when we 
consider the public weal and the advancer 
ment of civilization. I t is in childhood, when 
the soul is a stranger to corruption, devoid 
of préjudice, and not yet seized upon by the 
artifices and deceits of the world, that the 
moral precepts and die postulates of virtue 
make us hear their voice the more readily. 
I t is then that souls are more willing to 
tread the pathways of virtue, and conscience 
is more prompt to mold itself according to 
the dictates of eternal truth. But it is neces-
sary that there be someone to set forth 
these truths of God and give these divine 
directions of life. 

9 



W H O S H O U L D H E E D T H I S A P P E A L ? 

I n the face of this extreme and compelling 
need, the Church places before our eyes a 
picture of the Divine Saviour going about 
through the cities and towns, teaching and 
preaching to the people: "And seeing the 
multitudes, H e had compassion on them: 
because they were distressed, and lying like 
sheep that have no shepherd. Then H e saith 
to His disciples: The harvest indeed is great, 
but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, 
the Lord of the harvest, that H e send forth 
laborers into His harvest" (Matt. 9:36-38). 

T o every upright soul who lives the re-
ligion of Christ, it can well be said in the 
name of the selfsame Saviour: "Go you also 
into My vineyard" (Matt. 20:4). If you are 
united to God, and religion is the bond with 
God, you Will readily understand the ques-
tions and answers of the Catechism, and it 
will not be too difficult for you to repeat 
them to others and to impress them upon 
the minds and hearts of children. 

10 



M E T H O D OF T E A C H I N G 

Teaching the Catechism is indeed directed 
to enlightenment of the mind, but substanti-
ally it is the purpose of Christian education 
to incline the will toward good and to direct 
the pupil toward a spiritual life arid the 
acceptance of the sweet yoke of the Divine 
Saviour. The great masters of the Cate-
chism have been those who, expressing the 
truth in simplest fashion, have succeeded in 
Conducting their students to the practical ap-
plication of their religious training in a life 
marked by the harmonious blending of 
knowledge and virtue. 

A certain deacon at Carthage asked Saint 
Augustine for practical directions in the 
teaching of Christian Doctrine, and the holy 
doctor answered him with a book entitled 
De Catechizandis Rudibus. There are applied 
in it the best principles of pedagogy and 
psychology: do not confound the young with 
too many facts, nor even the others who 
may be being catechised; do not tire the 
memory; insist on what is substantial or im-
portant, and omit the rest, or at least pass 
over it lightly; present the truth clearly and 

11 



entirely, but adapt your presentation to the 
intelligence of your listeners, and with the 
slower ones make use of many comparisons 
and illustrations; put foward the love of 
God as your principal theme and central 
purpose; aim above all at purity of heart; 
proceed with that charity which made Saint 
Paul write to the Galatians: "My little chil-
dren, of whom I am in labor again, until 
Christ be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19). 
These are not difficult rules. All who are 
animated by love of God and neighbor may 
well render themselves capable of teaching 
and enkindling love for the Catechism if 
they take these suggestions to heart. I t is 
not ai passing philosophy the Catechism con-
tains, but the eternal truth, easy to impart 
if it is lived, and so easy to understand that 
the Apostle compares it with milk, a mate-
rial food which can be assimilated at any age. 

W E M U S T LIVE T H E CATECHISM 

Our Holy Father Pope Pius X I has re-
peated many times that the Catechisni needs 
not only to be known but to be lived, and 
that we ought so to live it as to conform 

12 



our whole life to its teaching. In fact our 
lives reflect our viewpoints and our ideals. 
If these be harmful or godless, our lives will 
be godless and harmful. If our views are 
Christian, our life will be Christian. Saint 
Paul could say, " T o me, to live is Christ" 
(Phil. 1:21), because his doctrine was that 
of Christ. With the external work of the 
teacher the inner working of grace will be 
in agreement, and with faithfulness to grace 
there cannot but be perseverance in godli-
ness. I Even with the passing years good 
habits will be more firmly rooted, religious 
principles will extend their influehce over 
every activity, and both the individual and 
human society will profit immensely. 

U R G E N T A P P E A L 

As many of you, therefore, as love Christ 
and His Gospel, as many of you as are 
capable or can render yourselves capable 
of teaching and fostering the Catechism, 
as many of you as love honesty^ propriety 
and uprightness of life, as many of you as 
are persuaded that the family is a sanctuary 
and that marriage is and ought to be a holy 

13 



union whose sublime aim is the procreation 
and education of children J— every one of 
you therefore, take an interest in the teach-
ing of Catechism. As many of you as love 
your country, its laws, its prosperity and its 
progress, as many of you as have at heart 
the interests of civilization — all of you, 
therefore, foster, sustain and spread abroad 
the doctrine of Christ, help to carry it into 
every parish and mission, into every angle 
and corner of this great nation. Through 
these efforts, honesty, sobriety and industry 
will be increased amongst the citizens of the 
land, the moral treasury of die nation will 
grow larger and larger, and you will secure 
for those whom you influence both choicest 
blessings here and eternal life hereafter. 

14 
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( / . » A - F R A N C I S C A N MONASTERY PATERSON,