The Holy See Press Office announced that on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, the text of the Motu Proprio Antiquum Ministerium will be presented to the media, with which Pope Francis will institute the ministry for catechists.
It is a document that will establish formally the catechist’s ministry, developing the evangelizing dimension of the laity expressed by Vatican Council II.
To Be a Catechist Is a Vocation
In the Video-Message, which the Pope sent to the participants in the International Congress entitled “The Catechist, Witness of the Mystery,” organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (Paul VI Hall, September 20-23, 2018), the Holy Father indicated precisely that being a catechist “must be recognized as a true and genuine ministry of the Church, which we very much need.”
The Pontiff encourages to “be a catechist,” not to work as a catechist, as “to be a catechist is a vocation: to be a catechist: this is the vocation, not to work as a catechist.” “I often think of catechists as those that have put themselves at the service of the Word of God, who frequent that Word daily to make of it their food and to share it with others with efficacy and credibility.
The catechist knows that that Word is ‘alive’ (Hebrews 4:12), because it constitutes the rule of faith of the Church (see Vatican Council II , Dei Verbum, 21, Lumen Gentium, 15),’ he adds.
First Proclamation
Consequently, “the catechist cannot forget — especially today, in a context of religious indifference –, that his word is always the first proclamation. Think about it well: in this world, in this area of so much indifference, your word will always be a first proclamation, which is able to touch the heart and mind of many people that are awaiting an encounter with Christ, even without knowing it, but they are waiting. And when I say the first proclamation I don’t say it only in the temporal sense. This, of course, is important, but it’s not always so.”
“The first proclamation equals underscoring that Jesus Christ Dead and Risen for love of the Father, gives His forgiveness to all without distinction of persons, if they but open their hearts to allow themselves to convert,” noted the Holy Father in his message.
Testimony of Faith
In this connection, he added that often “we do not perceive the power of grace that, through our words, reaches our interlocutors profoundly and molds them so that they can discover the love of God.” The catechist “is not a teacher or a professor who thinks he gives a lesson. Catechesis isn’t a lesson. Catechesis is the communication of an experience and the testimony of a faith that kindles hearts because it introduces the desire to encounter Christ. This proclamation is always, in various ways and with different languages, the ‘first’ that the catechist is called to give!” he exclaimed.
The press conference will be attended by Monsignor Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, and Franz-Peter Tebartz-van-Elst, Delegate for catechesis of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. It will be broadcast live in the original language on the “Vatican News” YouTube channel.
