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Teaching Variations: How Catechesis Changes in Each of the Four Periods

Image of a coupe praying in church pews with bibles and rosariesThe catechetical aspect of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) is inseparable from the practical reality it seeks to inform. It is the work of teaching the faith so as to empower people to truly live it in their daily experience.

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Dr. Bill Keimig is Deputy Director of the Catechetical Institute (CI) at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. For 15 years, he served as Director of Religious Education at St. Mary’s of Piscataway Catholic Church in Clinton, Maryland. Along with this work, Dr. Keimig served as a master catechist in the Hearts Aflame and Faith Foundations catechist formation programs for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Dr. Keimig has served as a speaker in many other settings, including at the annual St. John Bosco Conference in Steubenville for over two decades, and at major venues in over 85 dioceses. He served for nine years as Director of the Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM) for many years, which assists dioceses in training clergy and laity to do RCIA ministry, and was the managing editor of ACM’s series of RCIA texts currently used in thousands of U.S. parishes and in many other countries. He also served for nine years as a volunteer counselor for a local crisis pregnancy center. Dr. Keimig holds a Doctorate in Ministry from the Catholic University of America, and Master’s Degree in Theology and Christian Ministry with a Certification in Catechetics from Franciscan University. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Management from the University of Maryland in environmental policy. He and his wife, Heather, have six children running around: Rose, William, Julianna, Theodore, Elizabeth, and Gregory.

Notes

[1] Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1998), cited as GDC in text.

[2] See Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, General Catechetical Directory (1971), nos. 18, 24.          

[3] See The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (International Commission on English in the Liturgy, 2022), cited as OCIA in text.

[4] See Didache 1:1; CCC 1696; Aidan Kavanagh, The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation (Liturgical Press, 1978), 36.

[5] See Pope John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae, no. 28.

[6] OCIA, Appendix III; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Statutes for the Catechumenate, norm 6.

[7] John Paul II, Catechesi Trandendae, 20.

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This article is from The Catechetical Review (Online Edition ISSN 2379-6324) and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of The Catechetical Review by contacting [email protected]

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