On 22 April in Faenza, meeting on the catechumenate with Don Gianandrea Di Donna

«We are not in Christianity, not anymore! Today we are no longer the only ones who produce culture, nor the first, nor the most listened to. […] We are no longer in a regime of Christianity because Lfaith no longer constitutes an obvious prerequisite for common lifeindeed it is often even denied, derided, marginalized and ridiculed” (Pope Francis, Audience at the Roman Curia on the occasion of the presentation of Christmas greetings, 21 December 2019). In this changing era, our communities are called to respond daily to a society increasingly distant from faith. Even if in the registers the majority of the population is baptized, the celebration of this sacrament, the insertion into the body of Christ which is the Church, is not effective. In short, yeswe experience that the sacraments and the life of the Church are not automatic (Cf. CTI, The reciprocity between faith and sacramentsn.1) but require a journey of faith, a vital insertion into a community, an authentic relationship with the Lord.

A path to come into contact with Jesus Christ

Since the first centuries, the faithful have been prepared, welcomed, accompanied and introduced to Christian life in all its aspects, through the catechumenate. This difficult word (literally from Greek catechesis/education) means nothing other than this path codified by the Church, summarized in the Lenten Season, composed of four times and many gradual rites of passage. The purpose is to put men in contact with Jesus Christ, immerse them (baptize them) in his Easter, which is death and resurrection, which is rebirth to a truly new life. It is immediately clear that this path is not a simple exposition of dogmatic truths and moral norms: it is an initiation, a gradual insertionthrough some thresholds, to Christian life in its entirety.

The meetings promoted by the Catechumenate sector

To delve deeper into this fundamental dimension that our diocesan Church can no longer leave to chance or to the laudable and creative initiative of the parish priests, the SHector Catechumenate proposed two meetings with experts on the topic. The first meeting, which was held on Monday 8 April, thanks to the intervention of Don Stefano Borghi, was an introduction to the general composition of this ecclesial journey: four times marked by some rites of passage. A phase of first announcement, a phase of catechesis and more concrete service, the phase of the celebration of the sacraments and the mystagogical phase of accompaniment in the new life reborn from Baptism.

The second meeting is scheduled for Monday 22 Aprilin the diocesan seminary (S. Pier Damiani room, Viale Stradone 30) at 8.30 pm, with Don Gianandrea Di Donna, responsible for the Catechumenate for the Diocese of Padua. If you are people convinced that being Christian makes the difference and are eager to discover this treasure that the Church possesses, you are warmly invited to participate in this second meeting!

Don Matteo Babini, in charge of the Catechumenate Sector