Our parish Catechists, whether they be parents motivated to assist their children to grow in their Catholic faith, or experienced teachers called to be evangelists of the Word, are the Church’s witnesses to God’s existence, message, and loving presence. As they lead those growing in our faith, whether they are elementary, middle school, high school students, adults completing RCIA or confirmed adults, they need support and guidance from both their Pastor and Parish Catechetical Leaders (PCLs). This endeavor requires cultivation and maturation of human gifts and talents, deepening spirituality, faith knowledge, and catechetical skills, and a passion for living and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with people of all ages and circumstances. In confirming their call, our diocese is committed to ongoing support for catechists by providing training to help them grow as disciples called to catechize.
In his apostolic exhortation, On Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI articulated an important principle for the renewal of catechesis when he described catechesis as a work of evangelization in the context of the mission of the Church. This understanding clarified that catechesis is “a fundamental element of evangelization through all its stages and that both those who evangelize and those who are evangelized need to be nourished by the word of God.”. Further, Pope Francis stated that we should “find ways to spread the Word of God to every corner of the world”.
In our diocesan commitment to nourish those willing to help our faithful grow in their love of God, we are providing a basic Catechist Certification Program for all parish level catechists. This on-line course combines the complete review of the foundations of the Catholic faith combined with a series of lessons on catechetical pedagogy. This certification program is at no-cost to either the parish or catechist and is 100% on-line.
We encourage all PCLs and catechists to participate in this program and earn their basic Diocesan Catechist Certificate. This program is available now. Please ask your pastor or parish catechetical leader for enrollment information.
Contact: CatechistCertificationProgram@diocs.org
FAQs Regarding Catechists Certification Programs
Thank you for your interest in the recently announced Catechist Certification program for our diocese. We have had over ten parishes signup with Augustine Institute in the last week and we expect many more in the coming weeks.
We have had several questions regarding the program and below are responses to those inquiries:
- Is this certification required for all catechists within the diocese? – The Diocese of Colorado Springs greatly encourages all catechists to complete this program.
- Does this certification process supersede the legacy process that had been in place at the diocese? In other words, are past certificates null and void and need to be updated? - The simple answer is No. Certificates that have been earned are still valid. Moreover, we encourage those catechists that have earned a certificate to consider completing this program. All of us can use review of our core faith.
- Will this program be self-paced? Are there start and finish dates? This program is completely self-paced and there are no start and finish dates. Through a dashboard, each Parish Catechetical Leaders (PCLs) will have the ability to review each catechist’s progress in the course and can contact them regarding their status.
- What is the approximate weekly commitment? There are 26 lessons. Each lesson is about an hour and is followed by a quiz. Once one successfully completes the quiz, they are able to move on to the next session. Depending on how quickly one wants to complete the course, the weekly commitment will vary.
- Will it be just watching the videos or are there interactive sessions with professors and fellow students similar to a college online course? This course is 100% on-line with no interactive sessions with professors. However, we encourage PCLs to hold parish level sessions to review content with their team. Also, if you would like somebody from the diocese to meet with you team, please let us know and we will provide the appropriate resource.
- Will there be assignments with due dates? Quizzes? Exams? No. This is 100% self-paced.