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Staff Resources

Religious Education
 

Catholic educators recognize that parents are the primary educators of their children in the areas of faith and morality. Faith formation begins very early in a child’s life through the experiences and life lessons that are taught at home, as well as through the local parish faith community. As educators within Catholic schools, we have the privilege of supporting and complementing this formation through daily religious education classes designed to develop the child’s understanding of our Catholic faith and provide experiences of prayer and celebration which foster a growing awareness of God’s loving presence and action in our lives.

In an Apostolic Letter about Catechesis, Pope John Paul II expresses the essence of all religious instruction within our Catholic schools:

 

At the heart of our catechesis we find, in essence, a Person,
the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of the Father....
full of grace and truth", who suffered and died for us
and who now, after rising is living with us forever....
We must therefore say that in catechesis it is Christ,
the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught
- everything else is taught with reference to him
- and it is Christ alone who teaches...."

Catechesi Tradendae (5-6)
Pope John Paul II 1979

 

All of our religion programs, therefore, center ultimately, on the person of Jesus, who is for us, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14.6)