Formed In Faith

In light of the new COVID safety guidelines from the CDC, local government, and the Archdiocese, the Office of Faith Formation has changed some of our participant guidelines for our summer classes.

Below is an updated copy of the guidelines.  The big change is the ease of mask wearing for persons who are fully vaccinated two weeks prior to class.

CNA Staff, May 11, 2021 / 03:35 am America/Denver (CNA).

Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter Tuesday formally instituting the new lay ministry of catechist.

The Vatican released the papal letter, Antiquum ministerium (“Ancient ministry”), on May 11 in eight languages, including Italian Sign Language.

The pope said that the institution of the new lay ministry would “emphasize even more the missionary commitment proper to every baptized person, a commitment that must however be carried out in a fully ‘secular’ manner, avoiding any form of clericalization.”

The letter, issued motu proprio (“on his own impulse”), is dated May 10, the feast of the 16th-century Spanish Doctor of the Church St. John of Avila.

In the apostolic letter, the pope recalled the role of catechists in Church history, beginning with the New Testament’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, which refers to “teachers” within the early Christian community.

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Click here to go directly to the document on the Vatican’s website.

CNA Staff, May 5, 2021 / 06:20 am America/Denver (CNA).

Pope Francis will issue an apostolic letter next week on the ministry of catechist.

The Holy See press office said May 5 that the papal letter, issued motu proprio (“on his own impulse”), would be presented at a press conference on May 11.

It described the apostolic letter, Antiquum ministerium, as the means “by which the ministry of catechist is instituted.”

The Italian section of the Vatican News website said: “The motu proprio therefore will formally establish the ministry of catechist, developing that evangelizing dimension of the laity called for by Vatican II.”

It noted that in a 2018 video message, Pope Francis said that the vocation of catechist “demands to be recognized as a true and genuine ministry of the Church, which we particularly need.”

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