In Chapter 5 of The Smoke of Satan, I wrote:
I am one of the
generational Catholics schooled in the Faith by the teaching of the Baltimore
Catechism prior to Vatican II, which the postconciliar religious education
establishment had branded as defective pedagogy; my quarrel with them is not
over their contention concerning the style
of teaching, but rather their view that the truths of the Catholic faith on the
existence and nature of God, the creation and Fall, the Incarnation and Redemption,
and the Church set down in the Baltimore Catechism were defective as well.
Vatican II’s
Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church mandated for the
future that a “directory should be composed concerning the catechetical instruction
of the Christian people; this directory will consider the fundamental
principles of such instruction, its disposition and the composition of books on
the subject,” taking care that particular attention should be given to the
views expressed by the council Fathers. The mandate was fulfilled in 1971 with
the publication of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy’s papally-approved
General Catechetical Directory, which marked an abandonment of the Church’s
usual practice. Nevertheless, the
Directory was an orthodox document, approved by Paul VI and stressing the
importance of doctrinal propositions and cognitive learning after Vatican II. The
intent of the Directory was to provide basic principles taken from the
Magisterium and from the Second General Vatican Council — “by which pastoral
action in the ministry of the word can be more fittingly directed and
governed.” Most telling was the Congregation’s explanation for the need for the
Directory:
[1971] Such a course of action was adopted especially
for the following reason: the errors
which are not infrequently noted in catechetics today can be avoided only
if one starts with the correct way of understanding the nature and purposes of
catechesis and also the truths which are to be taught by it, with due account
being taken of those to whom catechesis is directed and of the conditions in
which they live.
The errors referred to in the General Catechetical Directory
originated in a turning away from the teaching of Catholic doctrine in favor of
experimental liturgical activity and social protest. This prepared the way for
the application to catechesis of the malevolent concept of “ongoing revelation”
under the leadership of Gabriel Moran. For disciples of Moran, God was to be
sought in the modern world, from which it follows that catechesis should be
centered on finding meaning in one’s lived experience, an approach which was
said to be authoritative following Vatican II.
How nice to see that in the Philippines the chief shepherds are not afraid to take an action long overdue at many nominally Catholic institutions in the United States....
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