Why Catholic?
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger 

Part One of a five-part series 

Historical Perspective 

My childhood and that of my siblings spanned the 1930s and 1940s. We grew up on a farm and
did not have access to Catholic schools. Our parish of St. Bernard in Frenchtown, Ind., was founded in 1849.
It once had enjoyed a school but it had already closed by the time we came along. 
Our religious education program was CCD, short for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.   

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) was a response to the need for passing on the
faith to all members of the Catholic Church. The Confraternity was founded in 1592 in Rome.

The bishops of the United States throughout the nineteenth century tried repeatedly to provide
a uniform textbook of Christian Doctrine to be used by all Catholics.  

Shortly before the foundation of the Diocese of Vincennes in 1834, the bishops of the United States
addressed the issue of a common text. In 1829, the bishops meeting in the First Provincial Council
of Baltimore decreed:

 “A catechism shall be written which is better adapted to the circumstances of the Province;
it shall give he Christian Doctrine as explained in Cardinal Bellarmine’s Catechism (1597),
and when approved by the Holy See, it shall be published for the common use of Catholics.” (Decree xxxiii)

 It didn’t happen. The rapidly expanding Church in the United States into the vast
western expanses highlighted the need even more. Bishop Simon Bruté was appointed the first
Bishop of Vincennes in 1834. In response to his urgent plea for help in passing on the faith
to young people in his diocese, a Sister of Providence from Brittany in France arrived in the
United States in 1840 to establish a community in Terre Haute. She is now known as St. Theodora Guerin, S.P.

 Bishop Bruté died in 1839 shortly before St. Mother Theodore Guerin arrived.
He was succeeded by Bishop Celestine de la Hailandiére.

St. Joseph Church in Jasper had been founded in 1837. It was the site of the first
Catholic School established by St. Mother Theodore in our diocese. As there was no established
uniform text for religious education, one can only assume that she brought with her the
pedagogical approach to religious education used in her native France.

St. Mother Theodore carried out the mission to proclaim the Gospel to the young ever so
faithfully in our diocese and beyond. She and her Sisters were not able to keep up with the
demand for teachers of religion. One needs only to reflect on the “Memorable Dates” in our
diocesan yearbook to recognize the fast expansion and new parishes.

 After her heroic and courageous commitment to fulfilling the mission of the Gospel,
St. Mother Theodore died in 1856.

 Mother Theodore Guerin S.P. was canonized a Saint in October 2006.
She is the first canonized saint in the State of Indiana.

 Next week: “The Baltimore Catechism”

WHY CATHOLIC?
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger

 Part Two of Five: The Baltimore Catechism 

My siblings and I grew up on the farm in rural southern Indiana. We were members of
St. Bernard Parish in Frenchtown just up the hill from DePauw, Ind., on State Road 64. The eight of us
received our primary religious education from our parents with the aid of The Baltimore Catechism.

We attended religious education at the parish church either on Sunday mornings or all day on the first
Saturday of each month except in the summer. In those days of the 1940s the school year ended on April 30th.

Two weeks in the middle of May were set aside from farm work to attend two weeks of Catechism
taught by Benedictine Sisters who had finished the school year in our neighboring St. Michaels Parish
 in Bradford, Ind. The two weeks climaxed with the celebration of Solemn Communion for the
eighth grade graduates when we formally repeated our baptismal commitment while holding a lighted candle,
recalling the one presented to our godparents at our baptism.

While our parents disciplined us to study, they formed us in our consciences and fidelity to our Catholic faith.
The reality is that we cut our teeth on Catholic teaching by chewing on the formulas of The Baltimore Catechism.
It employed the method of a simple “question and answer” format. Its pedagogical approach was rote learning.

The memorization of the questions and answers in The Baltimore Catechism was secured by repetition.
Our parents insisted that we prepare ourselves well by patiently listening to and complimenting us for
our prowess in memorizing the answers to the predictable questions. We sibs listened to and corrected
each other in this repetition as well.

The Baltimore Catechism was written with “age appropriateness” in mind. You may recall that the books
were “color coded.” I remember the blue and green editions. As a boy it felt good to graduate to the
next level of religious education.

Throughout my years as both a student and a practitioner of religious education I have come to
appreciate more and more the success of The Baltimore Catechism. To date it is unparalleled. 
It remained the official text for religious education in the United States until 1960. 
(Incidentally, I was ordained a priest in 1961.)

For what The Baltimore Catechism lacked in depth, it certainly provided a framework to which we
faithful could attach our experiential learning throughout the developmental stages of life, even to death.
As a seminarian and priest, I consider myself greatly privileged to have been able to study philosophy and theology. Throughout those classes I remember how often I was able to say to myself:  “Oh, now I understand!”
Even today, I cherish its simplicity in presenting deep theological realities even to the youngest believers.

Was it time for a change? Absolutely!

 Next week: The 1960’s from the eye of the storm!

WHY CATHOLIC?
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger

Part Three of Five

 The 1960s from the eye of the storm!

Ordained as a priest on May 7, 1961,  I was assigned as an assistant pastor and to begin as a
teacher of religion in the new Bishop Chatard Catholic High School that fall. My priesthood, even from
that moment, was hyphenated: one foot in parish life and one in specialized ministry.

As a neophyte priest, I did not recognize that the transition from a catechism-based religious education
had already begun, nor was I prepared for it. First of all, I probably did not comprehend the words.

As the new assistant Pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Indianapolis, I was assigned to be the
teacher of high school CCD for kids not in Catholic school.

There was no standard text for a priest to follow. I was left with “Hi-Time.” It was a
contemporary approach to religious education. It lacked substance. It tended to draw upon the
students’ personal experience relating to life issues while feebly drawing upon tenets of the faith.

In the same letter of appointment to St. Matthew, I was also assigned to teach religion at
Bishop Chatard High School, a brand new high school opening in the fall of 1961. It began with freshman only. 

The “Quest for Happiness,” a contemporary religion series adopted by Bishop Chatard High School,
was one required by the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education. It was very sound.
It had the character of a combination course in church history and theology.
But it was no more appealing to high school students than CCD classes were for those not in Catholic Schools.

Unfortunately, the sheer heavily academic approach of that series left the teacher to his or her
imagination to make it “relevant” to what was happening in the nation and the world:
Pope John XXIII convening the Second Vatican Council; the Vietnam War; the assassinations of
President John F. Kennedy, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy.
Soon to follow were the external and cataclysmic changes emanating from the Second Vatican Council. 

Some teachers of religion tried to make it relevant by going to extremes with bizarre suggestions:
e.g. coke and potato chips for the elements of the Eucharist instead of bread and wine.
Married priests, in the minds of many, would be a certainty within days, they thought.
Optional celibacy always sparked great discussions in my high school classrooms.

In short, those were wild days. “Relevancy” became the code word for the next decade.
Is the church relevant or not? Too many thought not.

The “unchanging church” was in the throes of change even though the tenets of faith remained fully intact. 
The approach to religious education was not exempt from the tortures of change. It too had to be relevant.
What that meant seemed to follow the whim of the person defining the word.

The first Catholic school in the United States was founded by a lay woman, Elizabeth Ann Seton,
who later was to become St. Elizabeth Ann Seton — the first American to be canonized. But over many decades, the Catholic faithful had come to identify Catholic schools with the presence of priests and religious.
Compounding the tenor of change, many priests and religious men and women fled the classrooms of our
Catholic schools, and the Catholic faithful were in for a most unwelcome return to earlier times.
Would they continue to support Catholic schools that no longer had religious and priests as teachers?

 Next Week: 1970s: Butterflies and Collages

WHY CATHOLIC?
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger

 Part Four of Five

 Butterflies and Collages

 The pendulum had swung. The “free fall” of the 1960s resulted in a change from the sheer
academic approach to religious education to the opposite extreme: from the seemingly solely
intellectual to the seemingly solely formational or experiential.

 For the typical parish staff, a “new kid” arrived on the block: Director of Religious Education.
That parish employee was to be the peer to the principal of a Catholic school.
Many religious who had left Catholic schools applied for that as-of-yet undefined role for which
they were not prepared. At the diocesan and archdiocesan level, the change spawned a new
department of Religious Education. For the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, it was housed in
the Office of Catholic Education.

 The Office of Catholic Education of the Archdiocese at that point had two departments:
one for Religious Education and one for Schools. They worked side-by-side which did not always
translate to “working together.”  Parallelism did not translate to integration of effort and common mission.

 In the spring of 1970 Archbishop George Biskup had asked me to become Superintendent
of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. 

 In 1974, after the priest-director of the Department of Religious Education left the active ministry
of the priesthood, Archbishop Biskup asked me to unify the office of Catholic Education.
I was to be the Superintendent of Catholic Education with the directions to “unify” the office.

 Tragically, the former staid texts of the Religion series, the ones that seemed solely intellectual,
were totally abandoned. They were replaced by what seemed to be the solely formational or experiential,
the ones that contained nothing that presented the substance of the Catholic faith in a consistent way.
That was left to parents and teachers of religious education.

 The extreme of “relevancy” prevailed. The experiential representation of the faith was in vogue.
Depictions of the faith seemed to come alive with the fabrication of collages of pictures.
Butterflies were an expression of hope for the future, a symbol of resurrection and eternal happiness.

 While this approach was helping young people to experience their faith, it lacked substance.
Why they should be Catholic came into question. Their peers in public schools seemed no different.

 One needs only to recall a most memorable parable that Jesus used. It depicts all the levels of faith commitment. Butterflies and collages of themselves relate to the seeds falling on shallow soil.
They flourish for a time and die. The shallow soil does not allow for roots of faith to go deeper.  

Another code word that arose during this period was “formation” in the faith. One may interchange that
word with experiential if there is substance. One cannot form or be formed without information.
Lack of information is the fatal flaw for the solely experiential approach to religious education.

 In spite of the landmark document of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1972,
“To Teach as Jesus Did,” and the publication of the National Catechetical Directory,
there was a great gap in how the Church passed on the faith following the Second Vatican Council.
The outcome could have been predicted. There is now a generation and a half of Catholics
who have no memory of the tenets of the Catholic faith as taught when we were using the Baltimore Catechism.

 Why is this matter a critical issue?  Because the Church insists that parents are the primary
teachers of their children. Parents are to pass on the substance of faith to their children
while living it as personal examples. 

 Through no fault of their own, there is now a generation and a half of parents whose religious training
is represented by the era of “Butterflies and Collages.” They did not learn the substance in bare form
that previously had been presented by the Baltimore Catechism, nor did they learn the theological depth
of a religion series of the 1960s.

 I dare to use another earthy image, the tundra of the frozen north, to make my point. 
In my judgment the Church is asking too much of our parents of the modern era without providing
assistance to them.  The tundra is in a deep freeze. During the brief arctic summer the topmost surface melts.
Should one walk on it, it slips away. So it is with a faith that is not rooted below the surface.
When challenged, a shallow faith can succumb easily to the sway of personal, communal difficulties.
Feel-good churches become most attractive. The spirit of indifferentism gets into one’s psyche and
even into one’s  conscience. 

 Parents whose tap-roots do not sink into the depths of faith must find it most difficult to be
confident in passing on the faith to their children even though it is their responsibility.
They, too, struggle with a fragile faith.

 Next week: Why not Catholic?

Why Catholic? Why not Catholic?
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger

Part five of the series

Great developments have taken place in our Church to assist in passing on the faith to
all our people, especially the young.

The publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the National Catechism of the Catholic Church
provide the substance that is filling the gaps caused by the “free fall” following the Second Vatican Council.
The marvelous thing is that these are available using modern technology via the internet.

From the extreme of rote learning of the tenets of the Catholic faith to solely experiential learning
with shallow substance, a blend has emerged. Thanks be to God!

Within the Church there have been multiple movements that have arisen to bridge this gap. For adults
they include the Cursillo Movement and the Charismatic Renewal Movement.

The Catholic Diocese of Evansville has long been a participant of the “Christ Renews His Parish Movement.”
It remains strong today.

The leadership of the Christian Family Movement is housed in the Catholic Center of the Diocese of Evansville.
It is a beacon of hope to all married couples. It complements our participation in Community Marriage Builders.

For young people in the Diocese of Evansville, we have a very vibrant “Teens Encounter Christ” movement.

Specifically focused on both the understanding and the celebration of Eucharist we have identified the
former “Youth 2000” as the new “Source and Summit.”

In our diocese we celebrate the presence of the “Communion and Liberation Movement” known as CL.
It challenges young adults from 18-35 and beyond to live the faith as the incarnate Jesus to the world
 in which they live. CL goes far deeper than the shallow question of “What would Jesus do?”
There is also a component for high-school aged members.

“Theology on Tap” is yet another popular avenue for young people to ask questions and challenge
their faith in a safe haven. It is fleeting however.

“Why not Catholic?” is the basic question that serious seekers must address if they hope to
find peace of soul in the face of the accountability assumed at Baptism and renewed at Confirmation.

Lastly, if I was not convinced that our Catholic schools, when available, are the best possible way to pass
on the faith to our young, I would close them instantly! We do not need to duplicate what public education can do.

Next Week: Why Catholic? The Program

WHY CATHOLIC?   
by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger

The Program

Are you able to talk intelligently about what you believe?

Should you feel offended or insulted by that question, it is important to know that a recent study
including Roman Catholic youth between 13 and 19 years of age provides some very tell-tale information.

 Those youth professing the Roman Catholic faith failed miserably in comparison to their peers of other
faiths when it came to expressing to others what they believe and why they believe it.

If you are chafing at that unpleasant information, please stop and reflect for a moment.
These are your children.

So, continuing with my bluntness, I must ask you parents why they can’t express themselves.
Why are your children incapable of articulating what they believe? And, why can’t they express to
others what they do hold in faith and why they believe it? 

Recall that you as parents are the primary teachers of the faith to your children. You cannot abdicate that responsibility. You cannot expect anyone else to do it for you.

Oh, yes, you parents have a right to expect the Church community to assist you in carrying out
your responsibility. You have no right however to dump that responsibility onto others, expecting that your
children will learn the tenets of the faith and be formed in it by others. Parental instruction by word
and example is essential. If you parents are not committed to the faith, your children are left to the
whims of society. Catechists are powerless.

 Are you up to fulfilling your parental obligation to instruct and form your children in the Faith
both by word and example? Are you doing it? Do you need help?

It has been encouraging to me that 49 of our 70 parishes have signed up to participate in WHY CATHOLIC?

It is a great disappointment, however, that 21 parishes have chosen not to offer this opportunity
to you parents, grandparents, godparents, sponsors, and volunteer catechists.  That troubles me!
Ask your pastor why not! 

Are you able to talk intelligently about what you believe? Are you able to defend it?
If you can’t, don’t expect your children to do better!