Articles Under: Pedagogy & Methodology

In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis speaks of two necessary “arts” for evangelization: the “art of accompaniment” and the “art of listening.” The Holy Father stresses that these intrinsically linked arts should mainly focus on the persons being evangelized, by truly seeking to know them and binding ourselves to walk with them wherever they are at in life: The Church will have to initiate everyone – priests, religious and laity – into this “art of accompaniment” … The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates and encourages growth... Read more

The Sacrament of Confirmation is often referred to as “a sacrament in search of a theology” or “a sacrament in search of meaning” among pastoral ministers. Even though the catechetical documents present a consistent theology of confirmation, the diversity in pastoral practice from diocese to diocese, and even from parish to parish within the same diocese, would suggest that the Sacrament of Confirmation has different meanings and even different theologies. Instead, I propose that the diversity in praxis is not the result of a variant theology, but rather of different pastoral approaches. In his book, Confirmation: The Baby in Solomon's... Read more

El autismo ha captado la atención de muchas personas gracias a los medios masivos de la comunicación, mas sin embargo, perdura mucha ignorancia sobre el tema. La organización, Habla el Autismo ( Autism Speaks ), afirma: Trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) y autismo son ambos términos generales para referirse a un grupo de complejos trastornos del desarrollo cerebral. Estos trastornos son caracterizados, en grados variables, por dificultades en la interacción social, la comunicación verbal y no-verbal y comportamientos repetitivos. [1] Para algunos, su conocimiento del autismo proviene de las películas y de la televisión. En 1988, Dustin Hoffman y Tom... Read more

In this series of articles concerning catechesis for persons with disabilities, we have been looking to St. Paul who told us that our attitude must be that of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5). In this last article of the series, [i] we will look at a wide variety of disabling conditions that may be affecting adults we catechize or with whom we share a pew at Mass. The key response in every circumstance is continuing, authentic, and heart-felt respect. Pope Francis says, “In an age when care for one’s body has become an obsession and a big business, anything imperfect has... Read more