1966 and all that

The other day I came across an excellent article on-line about how problems arose at the time of the inauguration of the New Catechetics and the influence which Corpus Christi Catechetical College had.

This is the link to the article: http://www.churchinhistory.org/s3-gospels/(g311)-new-catechetics.htm (The first part narrates what took place in England, the second part speaks about what happened in the USA.)

I don't know who wrote the article but the author is to be commended on presenting this matter with such clarity.

The article is very helpful in enabling the reader to understand some of the circumstances which led to the collapse of the teaching of the faith in Catholic Schools in the latter part of the previous century. The author throws light on these points:

1. The social and cultural changes which affected the teaching of the Faith, and the reason why there was a need to adapt our methods.

2. The goodness of the first new resources to be presented by priests such as Canons Ripley and Drinkwater.

3. The responsibility of Cardinal Heenan for not appointing them to lead the newly founded Corpus Christi College, and his responsibility for appointing Richards and de Rosa to lead it. (Why were such wacky priests holding teaching posts in the Westminster seminary to begin with?)

4. The problem with Corpus Christi flowed out of erroneous opinions about the Sacred Scriptures held by the founding staff members. This is perhaps the most important point which this article makes: from an erroneous understanding of Scripture flowed an erroneous catechetics.

5. The way in which the teaching of the faith was affected nationally by these new ideas.

6. The need that existed then, and which still exists, to nurture skills-based learning, together with the need to catechise children in the content of the faith.

Corpus Christi College existed for only nine years, 1966-1975, but when it closed it closed finally, never to arise from the ashes like the phoenix. I recommend this article to you.