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 A
passionate lover of the Gospel and its undying message of hope, Tonino
Lasconi, was ordained priest on 29th June 1967. He was
straightaway introduced to the pastoral activities in the area of the
Catholic Action, where he dedicated himself to the knowledge of the boys
and of modern forms of communication, such as cinema, theatre, TV,
photography, publicity, songs, theatre and journalism. In the year 1969,
together with a group of persons, he was entrusted with the task of
constituting the Catholic Action of Boys (ACR), for which, in the
successive years, he prepared the means for a journey of faith. He has
been holding seminars for catechists and pastoral workers all over Italy
for many years; he is a journalist for articles of Catholic interest and
has been sending to the press a series of publications adopted in many
Italian parishes for the catechesis of children, boys and adolescents,
as well as for the formation of catechists, utilised by parish-priests
in search of a new language, thanks to his marked sensitivity in seeking
languages apt to communicate faith today, to youths as well as to
adults. Many of these publications have been translated into Spanish,
Portuguese, Slovene and Polish. They have been published also abroad. He
states that, to communicate the Gospel in the 2000 we need to abandon
definitely the old methods of Pius X catechisms and to find new agile
and light forms, starting from the language used by the mass media. In
one of his prayers he states, “Lord, I praise the publicity, not for
what it says, but for the way it says it, (…) because it does it with
the investment of money and the commitment of brains, fantasies,
artistic inclinations (…); because of its guilefulness, which we, too,
should have, for You”. At present he carries on his service as Parish
Priest in the Parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Fabriano. He is a
diocesan assistant of the Catholic Action and director of the catechetic
Office in the diocese of Fabriano-Matelica.
We
have addressed to him some questions on the catechesis today and
tomorrow.
Catechesis has always had an exceptional importance. We think of the
Didaché, of St. Augustine’s text The catechesis for beginners,
and many more writings in the history of man and of the Church, together
with the last exhortation of John Paul II Catechesi tradendae
(1979). Catechesis is effectively the very essence of the Magisterium of
the Church. However, what can we say of today’s catechesis? Would you,
please, speak to us about the problems that are arising in various areas
of catechesis today: adults, children, youths, family…
“Out
of the many problems of catechesis today there is one at the basis of
them all. It consists in two main difficulties: the difficulty of the
adult faithful to understand the exigency of catechesis, and that of the
clergy (with annexed and connected…) to do catechesis for the adults.
For many decenniums we have combined catechesis with the children
getting ready for the First Holy Communion and Confirmation (not
Baptism) and this has caused the fact that the adults (starting from the
boys and girls soon after Confirmation) do no longer understand the need
of catechesis for a mature and responsible faith.
The
praxis of doing the catechesis only for children has made the clergy
less able to substitute the catechesis as a “lesson” with a different
modality, capable of arousing the interest of the adults. This
difficulty, hardly glimpsed until the “Christian” society has been able
to transmit the truth and values of Christianity through the family and
tradition, is becoming a very serious problem with the deep and very
rapid change of society”.
Which responsibility does the catechesis assume in welcoming the new
exigencies and in facing today’s new problems of the world? (How to
conciliate the basic theological lines with the new demands and
situations of our daily life?).
“It
is a must to elaborate a catechesis that, without taking for granted the
adult and responsible adhesion to the Christian faith, -often absent
even from those who practise it- may be able to stimulate and motivate
men and women, by proposing the Christian message as a response to the
demands, the problems, the aspirations and values of today’s people,
with a language comprehensible for today’s persons. Trained as they are
by the media to discuss and to dialogue on everything, today’s men do no
longer accept ideas and messages coming from the other, not even those
coming down from Above”.
At present, which prerogatives and abilities are requested by the
Catholic Church to carry on the ministry of a catechist?
“The
prerogatives and abilities asked by the Church from the catechists are
listed very clearly and exhaustively in the document of the National
Catechetical Office: “The formation of catechists in the Christian
community” (2006)), Nos. 19-33. I herewith mention some of them:
relational competence, capacity of proclaiming and narrating, capacity
of educating others to read the signs of God, capacity of introducing
people into the life of the community. No. 21 of the same document
states that the catechist must be: a witness, exemplar, a friend of
children, a master capable of transmitting the Word with a
comprehensible language, an educator, a builder of communion. These
are all true, beautiful and important things.
In
reality, rarely the catechists possess these requisites fully, mainly
because many of them are “enrolled” due to necessity. However, this does
not judge “the complaint on the catechists”, often raised by those who
do not live near them. In fact, there are very many lay catechists, more
and more young adults (above all, mothers) who, once they are
“enrolled”, commit themselves to carry on their task with noteworthy
generosity. Not even the usual singers of the past are justified, if we
think that forty years ago the only existing catechesis consisted in a
few months of lessons before the reception of the sacraments, a time
dedicated to let the children learn by heart the answers to the
questions of Pius X’s catechism; nobody ever thought about the
participation of the families, today so much (rightly) deprecated. There
is, instead, the recrimination of the fact that the priests themselves,
even the young ones, do not encourage the catechists desirous of
newness, thus retarding the catechetic renewal.
The Catechesi tradendae spoke of the ecumenical dimension of
catechesis (No. 32) and of the ecumenical co-operation in the field of
catechesis (No. 33). Benedict XVI also hopes in an ecumenical commitment
of his pontificate. Does he find
a real factor of dialogues and communion
in the present catechetical lay out?
“From
what I have been able to notice during my going through the Italian
dioceses, I think that the ecumenical dimension is paid only a marginal
attention by our catechesis, above all that of the children, boys and
girls. At the most they may organise some meetings with a representative
of some other religion during the days for the unity of the
Christians”.
How do you judge the actual “catechetical production” (papery and
eventual complementary products)
“The
catechetical production can be divided distinctly into two groups. One
of them tries to facilitate the work of the catechists, by offering a
“ready-made material” to them, namely small lessons without any personal
mediation: unluckily it seems that this type of production goes on
increasing, both at national and (above all) at diocesan level. Then,
there is another sector, perhaps of the minority, which offers subsidies
to stimulate the creativity of the catechists and their formation.
However, we do hope that these “stimulating” subsidies may go on
acquiring importance. This happens thanks to the fact that the children
boys and girls (as well as adults) keep on being not available and
refractory to a catechesis such as: little prayers, explanation, little
designs. Many serious and responsible catechists, once assumed the
service of catechesis, find no pleasure in wasting time with children,
boys and girls who do not want to listen to, or with adults who presume
to busy themselves with the sacraments of their children, thus seeking
adequate subsidies”.
To you, does the catechumenate journey answer the demands of the sacred
for those who land in the Catholic Church? Is there any more attention
to be set into action?
“The
journey of catechumenal type is very important for the adults who wish
to join the Catholic Church, provided it is not an “archaeological”
repetition of the old catechumenate, but rather an intelligent
re-proposal adapted to today’s people.
It is
dangerous when it is applied to the catechesis for children, boys and
girls, but only in a nominalistical way, in other words, by proposing traditio
et redditio,a handing over of the “Our Father” and something more,
without the commitment to provoke the interest for Jesus and the Church,
that must be at the very beginning of every true catechumenal
journey. Attention! We, Italian, are specialised in changing names
without changing the reality. Now handicapped persons exist no more.
Once we had the disabled, now the differently able persons are not
better off than the handicapped of the past”.
Internet and the digital technologies are determining a new culture and
a new anthropology; what has the catechist to do in order to relate
adequately with the “multi-medial boys and girls and to foster journeys
of faith?
“The
catechist must know and help others to know these realities, their
culture and their languages. The CEI Directory, communication and
Mission,
says, “The minimum expected from a good catechist is that he knows how
to read and to use adequately the instruments of communication” (57. It
is not possible that many catechists, in many parishes, do not confront
themselves with these new worlds, which the children know from the time
they attended the nursery school. This is a very serious problem,
because the children, boys and girls are not willing to stay in the
attitude of listening to adults who know these things less than they do.
We can just imagine the results which catechists can hope for, if they
reveal themselves to be ignorant of these new worlds.
However, we conclude: away with pessimism and complaints! Today, the lay
catechists, adults and young adults (no longer the once little girls)
are more than three hundred thousand. It is an enormous resource to be
encouraged, helped, cultivated and made responsible. As well as to be
thanked! |
