Catechism in Australian Catholic Schools Essay

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At the time, the question-and-response format seemed an ideal way of instructing converts and children 'correctly.' The text originally began as a preacher's reference, rather than was intended as a pedagogical instrument (25). As pointed out by Herbert Lombaerts, the catechism arose as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation -- as a way of purifying the new Catholic faith, and distilling its very essence from the trappings of the cult of the saints and papal authority. The catechism itself, however, became a kind of holy relic, and the words and structure of the text took on symbolic value, beyond their actual meaning (Lombaerts 1986: 5).

Studying a mid-1970s classroom text for use in Australian Catholic entitled Here and now reflects a far different concept of the student than the rote repeater of dogma of the pre-Vatican II era. In the textbook, the student is asked to make a list of all personal characteristics, secular as well as sacred, and compare his 'I am' list with such 'I am' statements as made by Christ in the Bible (4). As noted by Lombaerts, as much as this may seem to be a product of the 'Me Generation' era, it is also a reflection of a desire to continue the transmission of timeless truths in an effective fashion. While faith and the truth of Christ's teaching may be eternal, the essence of free will is understanding this to be the case and receiving it within one's heart.

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This is of far greater importance than merely memorizing answers (Lombaerts 1986: 14).

Berard Marthaler has argued that the earlier generation of Catholics feared talking about their faith to their non-Catholic friends, given that non-Catholics might probe them about esoteric notions of the Godhead they did not understand. Many Catholics could not explain their beliefs, or feared articulating them because doubts might arise in their minds -- they could only parrot the words of the earlier catechism. As the Good News was spread to developing nations, and challenged by individuals who had grown upon within non-Christian faith communities, there was further demand for an understanding of the faith tradition to be articulated in an intelligent and intelligible manner (Marthaler 1978: 277; 280). And Australian Catholic schools were under new pressures to modernize as the number of lay teachers had dramatically increased who were schooled in educational theory.

The earlier catechism may have served a practical social function at one point in the history of Catholicism, but it is difficult to imagine students accepting its format today. Rather than encourage doctrinal adherence, it would be more apt to provoke resistance to rather than acceptance of the tenants it was designed to teach. To open a student's heart to the truth, a teacher must give the student a right to question, not merely tell the child what to think......

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