By John Fencik

For centuries prior to compulsory education, parents were, de facto, the primary educators of their children. Children learned their faith and their prayers at home. They learned social virtues—how to act in society with good manners. They learned necessary life skills and trades, often including reading and writing.

But with compulsory education, parents entrusted much of a child’s education to the public, private or parochial school systems. In the United States, many of the Catholic immigrant families of the 20th century were fortunate to have dedicated religious sisters and brothers provide an outstanding overall education to their children, for little or no cost. Vatican II reemphasized parents’ primary role, especially in the religious and moral education of their children.

In Gravissimum Educationis (Declaration of Christian Education1965) we read:

“Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking.”

The Church also spoke of this role in the rite of baptism in the blessing of the father: “He and his wife will be the first teachers of their child in the ways of faith.”

For more than 40 years, we have heard about this role of parents. Yet anyone involved in the faith and spiritual formation of today’s young people is keenly aware that many of our parents (and the general Catholic adult population) may feel inadequate in fulfilling the role as teachers of the faith. Note the struggle that many parishes have in finding volunteers for religious education and youth ministry programs. Why? Throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, there was too much instability and lack of direction in many religious education and youth ministry programs. That left the Church with a generation of young people (now adults) without a firm foundation in the Catholic faith. Many of the people in that generation lack a working knowledge of Scripture and tradition—our sources of God’s revelation.

The late Cardinal Avery Dulles spoke of a “pendulum” swing in catechesis over a 50-year span. Prior to the Council, emphasis tended to be on the “mind,” exemplified by the question-and-answer memorization expected of Baltimore Catechism readers. Then, after the Council, we saw a shift to the “heart,” leaving many young people without a firm knowledge of the Catholic faith. Cardinal Dulles said that what we need is to address both the mind and the heart, perhaps through the simple question, “What does it really mean to be Catholic?”

In 1985, the Synod of Bishops, also noting the confusion in current catechesis, reported: “Very many have expressed the desire that a catechism or compendium of all Catholic doctrine regarding both faith and morals be composed, that it might be, as it were, a point of reference for the catechisms that are prepared for the various regions. The presentation of doctrine must be biblical and liturgical. It must be sound doctrine suited to the present life of Christians.” The result was the Catechism of the Catholic Church, its first edition in 1992. Since then, most of the publishers of religious education materials have made a sincere effort to have their programs be in conformance with the new catechism and reflect the twofold foundation of revelation (scriptural and tradition) as the basis for the Church’s teachings.

Blessed John Paul II said that a vibrant program of adult faith formation in a parish would have an impact on every other aspect of parish life. The “handing on” of the faith is essential to our mission and to any evangelization projects. Realizing the busyness of parish life, this may be an aspect overlooked too often, making opportunities for our adults to grow in their knowledge of the faith. Yet at the same time, we cannot expect our parents to be “primary” educators without the encouragement and opportunity to enhance their own intellectual and spiritual lives. Investing time, energy and resources in adult faith-formation programs will indeed reap great benefits for the adults (parents), their children and the parish community.


John Fencik is the director of Catholic Faith Formation Services for the Diocese of Helena. He may be reached at jfencik@diocesehelena.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 27, No. 9, September 16, 2011.