CO_Mar17_WEB

CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
Taking the Gospel to the
wider world
Cecilia Zammit, CCD Director
AT EACH OF THE WEEKEND
Masses we are dismissed with the
command to ‘share the good news
of Jesus Christ’. Armed with the necessary
authorisation cards, their teaching manuals,
music, craft and a smile some 900 women
and men from our 47 parishes have returned
to their local state primary and secondary
schools to do just that!
Priests, religious and laypeople throughout
the world have been going into parishes and
schools as catechists for centuries. In 1896,
the Australian bishops expressed their
concern for families in remote areas in WA:
“children in our country are growing up a
godless race”.
By 1923, a team of three religious sisters
set up the Catholic Bush Mission and as they
received the names and location of Catholic
families, these sisters wrote monthly,
personal letters to the children on the faithdoctrine
and sacraments.
This Religion by Post program grew
from 270 children in 1923 to 1093 children
in 1926. It was found that these pastoral
letters helped not only the children but the
parents who were living distant from towns.
Summer school camps were successful in
bringing these children into parishes for
‘faith and fun’.
By 1935, the Bush Mission program had
spread to the eastern states as they worked
with volunteers from Church sodalities such
as the Legion of Mary, the Theresians and
St Vincent de Paul Society to teach ‘sound
doctrine in simple language’.
With post-World War II migration into
Australia, it became evident that Catholic
schools could not accommodate all the
Catholic children. The Motor Mission
reached hundreds of families in the
Archdiocese of Sydney, which included
Western Sydney.
Eventually, CCD Offices were established
in Sydney and the dioceses of Parramatta,
Broken Bay and Wollongong as well as
other dioceses to meet the growing need
for training and resourcing of catechists
who are Special Religious Educators in
state schools.
This brief history gives an indication of
the dedication of the many men and women
Meet the SRE team at St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish in Parramatta.
who with very little training or resources
went out to catechise about Jesus Christ.
These are the shoulders the current
catechists stand on today and we give thanks
for their pioneering spirit and for setting
down the path we now follow.
In the Diocese of Parramatta we continue
to have the support of our Bishop as well
as our Parish Priests in this important
ministry, and with your help we look
forward to reaching students in more state
schools in 2017.
Regional Masses are under way in the
Diocese and training courses commenced
on 20 February. Caritas lessons that relate
to the season of Lent have been distributed
and support for combined end-of-term
seminars is available.
Senior students from 20 Catholic high
schools are also preparing lessons to go into
local state primary schools as part of our
diocesan SRE team.
It is not too late for you to join the CCD
family of catechists.
Catechists often comment how much they
receive from being in the special religious
classroom as they share their faith and pray
with the children. Your faith will grow by
becoming an SRE teacher. Training and
resources are provided and you will start by
being a helper with an experienced SRE.
If you can see yourself taking part in this
great ministry as an SRE/catechist, contact
your parish office or Maree Collis in the
Parramatta CCD Office tel (02) 9890 4731
or send an email to mcollis@ccdparramatta.
com.au We look forward to hearing from
you soon.
Follow our
greatest example
Love your neighbour
Empower our most vulnerable people
around the world.
Support Project
Compassion
Donate today 1800 024 413
or caritas.org.au
10 CatholicOutlook MARCH 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org