Greetings from Helsinki! Eurocat Bureau Meeting
Martin Foster and I are in Helsinki, attending the Eurocat Bureau meeting - 22 people representing 22 countries, all engaged in Christian Initiation of Adults. The task of the Bureau meeting is to review the last Eurocat Conference (Vienna 2009: 'Integration') and to consult together on the themes emerging for the next Conference (Ghent/Belgium 2011: 'Liturgy & Catechesis in RCIA').
The Bureau is being hosted this time by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
We are staying in a retreat centre in Lohja Vivavum on one of the country's 190,000 lakes (into which some of us have plunged during the Finnish 'saunas' in the evenings - putting a whole new slant on the initiation experience!) We have had a very warm welcome - in writing from the Bishop of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku, Kari Makinen, and in person, from Maria and Sennika, and a number of their Lutheran colleagues who planned & prayed liturgy for and with us, sang songs, and BBQ's sides of salmon around a campfire - first sign of Finnish summer is when the BBQ's begin - in 4 degrees celsius, but at least the snow has melted!
Joining us on the first evening was Bishop Teemu Sippo, RC Bishop of Helsinki. Bishop Teemu told us that the Bishops' Conference of the Nordic Countries had recently published a joint pastoral letter on the Adult Catechumenate (and Reception into Full Communion of the Catholic Church). The letter begins:
'Where is the entrance? If someone needs to ask this question, the architect has probably made a mistake. Entrances need to be recognisable and inviting, unless one wants to keep away uninvited guests......it is not enough that we guide them to priests or others working in pastoral tasks. Parishioners are needed... offering a kind and friendly reception, willing to share their own faith'
Further, the letter speaks of the opportunities that the restoration of the adult catechumenate offers, not only for evangelisation of those who are searching, but for those already in the church, causing them to reflect on their own Baptism, their own faith, their own sense of belonging, rediscovering the rich nourishment in the liturgy, and the very nature of the Church as 'missionary'. United as a body, the Nordic Bishops are strongly encouraging all the faithful, priests, parish councils, pastoral councils, and religious orders to discuss and ponder... and one step at a time, for parishes to engage with the different phases and rights Catechumenate (RCIA), convinced that in so doing
'the consciousness of the mission of the parish and of the whole Church would grow, and the connection between faith and life would become clearer. The parishes would gain an attractive and radiant power... beginning the Catechumenate aids the renewal of the whole parish!'
These hopes will echo with the memories and experience of all of us involved in RCIA, for however many months or years. What was particularly impressive was the Bishops writing together, united in their commitment to RCIA, leading from the front!
The rest of the weekend was engaged in bureau members sharing their experiences of the catechumenate (in Europe RCIA is referred to as 'The Catechumenate'). It was interesting to note the variations in emphases/styles between the different countries, the 'old hands' and the new (including Orthodox engaged in catechumenate in Finland) The consistency emerging, as ever, in shared passion for initiation.
Challenges? For practice of RCIA and for Eurocat
- Our diversity - in culture, experience, in approaches, interpretation of the Rite, theological views
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Increasing size of Eurocat - more member countries: how to develop structures that support/develop/sustain warm friendship as well as share experience and learn from one another - finding the best process/way of facilitating the meetings to be as inclusive as possible
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How to develop/engage with the ecumenical dimension of Eurocat - ecumenical sensitivities
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Initiation as a process of 'being' and 'becoming' - the symbiosis of community/liturgy/initiation
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Context of 'church in crisis' - community initiates, and yet there is a sense/reality that communities are 'disintegrating' rather than growing?
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Seeking and sharing best practice
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Use of Lectionary
It has been a good weekend in Helsinki, connecting with the broader European picture . Perhaps one or two European friends will join us in Manchester for our Conference 'Bridging the Gap'? (30th June - 2nd July: Book on-line at www.rcia.org.uk ) The Nordic Bishops' encouragement for (us) to be missionary and help those seeking to join us on 'the Way' offers inspiration us as we move towards our Conference together, exploring what it is to be missionary, sponsoring communities. Places at Manchester are limited, so please do Book now to avoid disappointment!
EuroCat 09: Integration
We met in Vienna over the bank holiday weekend. As Caroline previously reported there were over 70 participants from 22 countries stretching from Moldovia on the Black Sea coast to Portugal on the Atlantic; Sweden in the north to Sicily in the south. It was the first EuroCat meeting that participants from England and Wales had participated in for a number of years and we were welcomed back prodigally.
The Conference was well run by the Austrian team in a good venue and a timetable that mixed input, reflection, visits and prayer, The liturgies were generally short and simple focusing on a symbol from the Rite. The use of the different languages was well handled.
The languages of the Conference were German, French and English and in our reflection group were Swedes, Lithuanians, Italians etc. It meant that communication had to be measured. One of my first insights into the theme of integration was to realise that to achieve common dialogue the native speakers might have to think a bit more before speaking and to give up some of the nuances of one's own languages so that others might understand.
For the main inputs there were summary papers as well as simultaneous translation. The various papers and reports can be found on the website of the Austrian Pastoral Institute under Eurocat. The theme of the meeting was Integration and this was explored from a number of angles: psychological, theological, and sociological. This may sound dry but each speaker illustrated their ideas from experience and were thought provoking. A significant insight for me was how the place of church and religion in society affected the understanding and practice of the catechumenate. Austria has been a Catholic country with the vast majority who are born there baptised. This means that the catechumenate is nascent and tiny. Only in Vienna diocese was there a Rite of Election and this involved 15 catechumens. Many of those who come for baptism would be immigrants. This meant that RCIA was outside the experience of the speakers; we had to do the work applying their insights to our experience. This did not hamper the usefulness of what they said though, for example, there was perhaps a confusion about whether integration was a matter for catechumens and neophytes. A further application of this insight was to realise that our greater experience with Receptions was a fruit of our particular demographic situation. Though in our preparation we looked at the figures given in the Tablet for the diocesan Rite of Elections and saw that in every diocese the number of upbaptised was about a third of the total.
As is often the case with such meetings it is the visits to the local church that can be the most memorable. We had two opportunities the first to parishes in the Vienna area that had experience of the catechumenate, the second to places of integration. The parish was in the suburbs of Vienna, near the airport. The parish priest had had a couple of experiences of initiation of adults. One, a young girl of 19, also came to talk the group. Hers was a most moving story. She had lost her parents when she was 12 and had gone to live with aunt — no one in her family had been interested in religion and she had never been baptised. A school friend had invited her to come with her to church and when she was 14 to join the preparation group for confirmation. When it was realised she had not been baptised it was proposed that as the confirmation preparation took 2 years she would be baptised at the intervening Easter Vigil. The pastor celebrated all the rites at the main parish liturgies and she received a lot of support from the parish - the confirmation group formed a team. One moving moment was that she sang the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil the year after her baptism. In her own words she only became interested and engaged in her faith after her baptism. It was an interesting reminder that integration into a community can precede faith and the process of initiation. This would often be our experience where spouses accompany their families to Mass over many years before deciding to take the plunge.
The second visit was to church that had been built as part of a new office and housing development. Even though the diocese was not planning a church in the area they decided it was not an offer to turn down. The design of the church was very striking — black on the outside, light beech on the inside it was based on a cube with the lower third providing meeting spaces. Like many churches situated near offices there was a different weekday and Sunday congregation. 10am Sunday Mass was the most diverse — the pastor explained that people came who were attracted by the simplicity of the architecture and the liturgy. The church also provided a gathering point for different ethnic groups in the city where they could celebrate Mass and socialise afterwards.
A recurring theme of the five days was what does it mean to integrate? Is it assimilation where we expect people to become like us or accommodation where we adapt to them. Integration was recognised to be a two way street where the community has to be open and welcoming to newcomers. Our openness may even require us to change, adjust and adapt. Like all good reflections on RCIA the content and the process worked together. Just as we were given much content to stimulate our thought; the team made sure that we were integrated into a Eurocat community. Now the rich time of mystagogy as we reflect on what we have heard and integrate the new thoughts and ideas into our lives.
RCIA – Burkinabé-style
It was an interesting conversation in a small parish office - talking about RCIA - initiating adults - how challenging it could be to sort out irregularities in marriages of people coming forward to join the Church- the process of ensuring that people had begun to conform their lives to Christ - marking the journey to Baptism with various rites and making sure that the new Catholics were well-supported during the period of mystagogia.
We are all familiar with the process - but this was somewhat different as the office was in the parish of St Vincent de Paul, Koko, Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. (If you’re not sure where Burkina is or what it is like, click this link to see what Wikipedia says about on Burkina Faso). I had gone out for the ordination of a new Missionary of Africa (White Father), Anselme Tarpaga, in the cathedral there and the opportunity to chat to people about the inculturation of liturgy and Christian Initiation was irresistible.
Pere Albert with young women from a local village in Konadougou parish
Among those who spoke of the culture in which the White Fathers and Sisters were evangelising was Père Albert, a German priest with 37 years experience of living and working among the peoples of Africa. He invited me to spend a few days out in the mission station of Konadougou in the south-west in the Diocese of Banfora. This is pretty remote and Père Albert said that when he first came people hid behind trees as he passed in his truck… now they clamour for a lift as he passes at the end of the day! In such a place, evening meetings are impossible – people are understandably reluctant to risk meeting snakes on the way home! So much of the catechesis is done in basic Christian communities with leaders coming together for formation and to discuss how their catechumens are progressing. As the leaders can travel up to 20 km, meetings take place during the day and the people obviously need to be fed before returning home. Catechumens are brought together for a 7-day retreat each year with a two-week one during the Lent before their baptism – a chance to reflect together and deepen their spiritual lives... and a hefty commitment of time for subsistence farmers at the hottest time of year. Each week in Lent has its own rite – but given the distance between the Mass centres, not all can happen in every centre every week (as indeed Mass does not always happen).
A family's fetish in the village
The process takes 3-4 years – a one year pre-catechumenate and three year catechumenate – though this can be slightly less where candidates are literate and can undertake study and reflection at home.
Most of the people coming forward are animists, brought up with fetishes and animal sacrifices – and polygamy. It is the latter that often exercises the catechists and clergy and questions about the marital status of the catechumen form a significant part of the questionnaire the leader of the Basic Christian Community fills in to state the readiness of any given candidate. Where a man or woman is in a polygamous marriage, they cannot be baptised but, after their four years of formation receive a blessing during Eastertime. Where the marriage is to one other person, it is regularised as a religious marriage (to go along with the traditional and civil ceremonies that most people also have).
In the town, catechist Georges described a very similar process with candidates following a course of books which opens with the very simple question – who/ what is a catechist? (It prompts the thought about whether people coming to our sessions actually know who or what a catechist might be!) At the end of each year, the prospective new Catholic receives a small token to make the stage in their journey:
End of pre-catechumenate – a miraculous medal
Year 1 of catechumenate – a rosary
Year 2 – medaille croix – a cross with small images of the miraculous medal, St Christopher, the Holy Spirit, Christ and a Madonna
Year 3 – a crucifix
The main responsibility for the formation of the new Christian rests with the Basic Christian Community.
Lent is again marked by rites for each week – and, being in a town, means that people are more able to participate. Week 1 is the call of the candidate who seeks baptism and the vouching for them of the Base Community, catechists and clergy.
Week 2 is the formal renunciation of animistic practices and an exorcism of “esprits mauvaises”.
Week 3 is the giving of and recitation of the Creed by the catechumens.
Week 4 has the “Rite du Sel” – where candidates take salt as a sign of being salt of the earth. There is also the signing of the senses.
Week 5 is the choice of Christian name – where the catechumens give the name they have chosen and why.
The catechumens stay in Mass throughout their catechumenate – there is no dismissal after the Liturgy of the Word – and take full part in the liturgies of Holy Week.
The Easter Vigil starts at 21.00 with the Liturgy of Light and of the Word – and is timed so that the baptisms take place at midnight. There is then a thanksgiving Mass for the newly-baptised on Easter Monday with a blessing for those whose polygamous marriage prevents their being baptised.
Confirmation is deferred for a year and further instruction continues, reinforcing the new way of life the Christian is establishing. Various pictures are used for discussion and particularly significant seemed to be the emphasis on Christ as the perfect sacrifice and the need for the new Christian not to revert back to the sacrifice of chickens, sheep or goats of their animist past. There was also the interesting picture of a man beating a woman – with the explanation that this behaviour too is something that is not appropriate in a Christian marriage.
Of necessity, this really is just a brief summary of the conversations and experience of the Church in Burkina Faso – a country in Africa that prides itself on being an integrated nation where Moslems. Christians and animists live side by side. More snippets can be found on the blog I kept during my time there… including the experience of going to a place sacred to animists. Click here to read more: http://www.bilbosjourneys.blogspot.com/
The Word of God – blessing and task
A little late this week 3 members write from an international conference in Chile.
Martin writes
The International Forum on Adult Religious Education holds a consultation every two years. The theme of this year's consultation is The Word of God: blessing and task for catechesis today and it is being held in Santiago, Chile over this last week. The invitation to attends goes to Bishops' Conferences around the world and It is a privilege to be part of a small group from England and Wales.
The Forum is 20 years old this year and it began as an initiative from England and Wales. The first meeting was organised by Paddy Purnell, Anne McDowell and Margaret Foley and held at St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill. Each meeting takes a similar format: reflection and discussion on a theme, generally inspired by a Church document or initiative, and country sharing. What can be fascinating is the interplay between the familiar and the unknown — the similarities and difficulties we hold in common and differences that can be beyond our experience.
Two highlights for me have hearing about the meeting of Latin American bishops - CELAM - at Aparaceido in Brazil last year. Their reflections on catechesis, the need for bishops and their agencies to have an examination of conscience as to where they have failed to be the Church and the importance of the catechumenal model for all catechesis.
On Sunday morning we visited local parishes to look at family catechesis. We met families from the parish who spoke to us about their involvement. What was moving was the sense that the parish and the catechesis was responsibility of the community and that the involvement in family catechesis had strengthened relationships.
Paula writes
It has been a real privilege to take part in this international consultation. Throughout the process there have been opportunities to hear from countries around the world about the joys and challenges of adult religious education and also our hopes for this ministry in the future.
For me the most striking experience was the visit to a local parish for Sunday Eucharist and sharing with parish catechists. The welcome and hospitality was overwhelming and humbling at the same time. We were welcomed into two local parishes and met those involved in family catechesis. The parish and community structures are very different to those in the UK and the numbers of catechists quite astonishing. Catechists undertake formation provided by the archdiocese, and this is a serious undertaking for the catechists and the whole family of the catechist. Married couples are catechists together and as one man commented, although this interfered with his football team it was important for him and his wife to undertake this ministry together. The ministry of catechesis is described with great enthusiasm and commitment as a lifelong ministry in the parish community, catechists are called to live their lives as witnesses to the Word of God that they share. This was not undertaken lightly, and in the people we met, it was clear that their lives, in mind heart and action was shot through with the Word of God.
A last thing that struck me was the role of the godparent. In family catechesis, all families need a father in those instances where a woman may be widowed or divorced and Godfather becomes the father in the family. In our own situation in the RCIA and RCIC in England and Wales, maybe there is something to be learned from this idea.
Linda writes
A key moving experience for the group was the visit to the Sanctuary of Fr Alberto Hurtado.
Fr Hurtado was canonized by Pope Benedict in 2005 and is the third saint for Chile. Born in 1901 he died of cancer at the age of 51 in 1952.
His ministry as a priest focussed much on the young and the poor. The dvd clip we saw showed a warm and ever-present smile.
The Sanctuary includes a museum reflecting his life and work, a beautiful garden including a wall where people's prayer petitions and thanksgiving for prayer are placed and a chapel where the saint's tomb forms the altar. It is a place of grate peace which celebrates the life Fr Hurtado and which offers the opportunity for reflection and prayer.