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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2024
Those of us who are called upon from time to time to teach the faith to children are often perplexed about what we should in fact teach. The Catholic faith, of course; the catechism seems the obvious choice, it is clear and easy to learn. But then what are we to do about the scriptures? It is not always very clear how we can combine the two, they follow their own rhythms.
When I was sent to teach at a Catechism Camp last summer the problem Was very much in my mind—the very name ‘Catechism Camp’ seemed to indicate the method; and yet I had found, the previous year, that catechism teaching is far from satisfactory in itself. The children know the answers on the whole, and the meaning behind the answers tends to confine one to the logical steps of a remote theology.
1 For example, Gerald Vann, O.P., in The Paradise Tree
2 This is not to say that the catechism we use in this country is beyond discussion. The trouble with the present form is that it is rather remote from a teachable scripture. The revised catechisms which have come into circulation in the last few years, show that the Church is aware of this deficiency. This whole subject is developed most interestingly in the last chapter of Joseph Jungmann's Handing on the Faith (Herder).
3 The basis of this approach was suggested by articles in Lumière et Vie, February 1957.