About |  Parish Religious Educators |  Resources

Catechist Formation

Many women and men in Catholic parishes and schools throughout New York state are engaged in passing on faith to children, teens, and adults. "All share the challenge of echoing the word of God faithfully and authentically in this place and time," the bishops of our state said in foreword to The Catechist in the Third Millennium: Call, Mission and Formation.

The word catechesis comes from an ancient word meaning to echo the word of God. The people of our Diocese who teach religion to our people of all ages, are called to "echo the word of God." We call them "catechists."

Because catechesis is a life-long process of initial conversion, formation, education, and ongoing conversion, our Diocese’s formation of catechists is also ongoing. First, the catechist is called – either as ministry as a teacher in one of our Catholic schools or as a parish volunteer catechist.

Our parish catechists receive forty hours of Faith Formation in Theology and Methodology  on a basic level, in order to be certified to teach our children.  Theology is taught in three modules of ten hours each in The Foundations of the Creed, Revelation and The Church and its Sacraments.  The last module of ten hours is in Methodology.

Catechists are encouraged to achieve greater understanding and depth in our Intermediate and Advanced certificate program.

More than a thousand catechists are at work in the Brooklyn Diocese at any one time, encouraging, enlightening, empowering, and endeavoring people of all ages to enliven and enact their faith in every day and every way.