BEIJING (CNS) The Catholic diocese of Beijing has run its first training course for lay catechists, introducing them to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other reference books to help them with lesson plans. The 10-day intensive course in late July attracted more than 120 laypeople from more than 20 parishes, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Many participants had experience teaching catechumens and evangelizing to non-Catholics. Participants were mostly middle-aged laywomen, UCA News reported.
Helene Reichl, a German laywoman who has worked with Taiwan’s bishops and has nearly 50 years of experience in evangelization, conducted the course at Savior Church (North Church) in downtown Beijing.
Reichl told UCA News she spoke about the sacraments of initiation — baptism, confirmation and Communion — and the various stages of the catechumenate, the period of preparation for being received into the Catholic faith.
"Participating catechists had no idea about the stage of inquiry" prior to the catechumenate process, she said. "They used to admit someone as a catechumen merely by asking a question — if he or she is interested in knowing Jesus and the Catholic faith."
Catechism classes in Beijing parishes usually last for three months, and catechumens need not undergo a series of preparatory rites before baptism, she said. Baptisms are often administered once the three-month cycle of catechism classes ends, and the catechists had no idea of the significance of matching the catechumenate process with the seasons in the church’s liturgical year, she said.
Participants were enthusiastic to learn and eager to ask questions, Reichl said. However, she said, the outcome of her course depends on whether parish priests are cooperative in standardizing catechism classes.
Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing told participants at the start of the course that the diocese normally baptizes about 2,000 people annually and has plans to build six churches in 2010 to meet increasing pastoral needs.
"The duty of evangelization is upon each of us, especially parish priests and catechists," he stressed.
A priest who serves at a parish in downtown Beijing said parishes generally do not set any requirements for parishioners willing to teach catechism, although they will provide some formation. This training course was a new undertaking at the diocesan level, he said.
Since the 1980s, when China’s Catholic Church began emerging from decades of communist suppression, its leaders have worked to facilitate education and spiritual formation for its young priests and nuns, many of whom have gone abroad to study. At least one former seminary official has said that an increased role for the laity could help Chinese priests, who often are isolated socially and spiritually and face a variety of pressures.