I'm not sure whether I'm more excited or nervous at this announcement, so I'll start with intrigued. According to CNA, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will next week release a document on evangelization and catechesis. As a catechist for our RCIA program I think I can use all the help I can get.
The cynic in me wonders just how much play this will get, however, since Dominus Iesus seems to be by-and-large an unknown document. That not withstanding, however, the optimist in me thinks that if properly written without gaping holes the reinforcement of Dominus Iesus with a subsequent document might finally spur some people on. For my part, I'll work for the latter and do what I can to prevent the former. I await in hopeful anticipation any document whose goal is "to bring back the centrality of Jesus to the programs aimed at transmitting the faith to future generations". If nothing else, it gives me good reason to sit down and read Dominus Iesus from end to end over the next week. Care to join me?
.- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), headed by Cardinal William Joseph Levada, is about to release an important document on evangelization and catechesis, Vatican sources told CNA this week.According to the Vatican sources, the document, which could be made public this Advent, “can be regarded as an application of the principles of the document “Dominus Iesus” to the way evangelization is transmitted and catechesis is taught within the Catholic Church.”
In “Dominus Iesus” the CDF, then under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, clearly established the differences between the Catholic Church and other religions including other Christian denominations. “Dominus Iesus” states that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the Christian faith.
The intention of the document, according to the source, is “to bring back the centrality of Jesus to the programs aimed at transmitting the faith to future generations, since several of these programs are centered on feelings or confused ideas about the teachings of the Church on the nature of Jesus.”
According to sources consulted by CNA, the new document on evangelization will stress the need to make the person of Jesus Christ, in his role as God incarnated to bring the full revelation of God’s plans through the Catholic Church, the corner stone and center of every program of evangelization and catechesis.
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