Synodal Office of The Orthodox Church of Finland Sirpa Okulov, Coordinator of Education http://www.ort.fi/en
Catechumenate groups are the main form of adult catechesis in parishes. The group members gather together monthly to attend lectures during one year. The lectures can be open or angled only to Catechumens. The most common day to Church initiation is Holy Saturday: this year 150 were initiated into Church. The guidelines for catechesis were accepted in 2003 in the form of curriculum. A book for catechumens is under way.
Statistics Members of the Orthodox Church in Finland: ca 61 000 (in 2011)
FINNLAND (lutherisch)
In Finland adult catechumenate started in 2006 according to the model of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden.
Training The training courses for group leaders also started in 2006. There have been 200 participants so far (parishioners, pastors, other church workers). The feed-back from the introduction course is good. But the three-step - training model as a whole doesn’t function very well. It is hard to find participants to the advanced courses, because the financial resources of the parishes have been diminished during the past few years. Instead we are planning to start network meetings in dioceses, so that the group leaders and companions could participate more easily.
Adult catechumenate groups There are now groups in every 9 diocese. Most of the participants (seekers) are baptized church members that want to find a place to reflect spiritual questions. It’s still very rare that someone gets baptized during catechumenate period, but we assume that its a growing trend in the future.
In 2011 there were 860 adults baptized. The adult catechumenate is one form; the adult confirmation training is the other form of catechesis for adults.
We are planning to start adult catechumenate groups to serve Finnish parishes abroad.
Adult confirmation In our confirmation training curriculum are guidelines to confirmation training for adults. The length of the adult confirmation training is 20 h. Participation in adult catechumenate group can be part of confirmation training process. In the autumn 2012 will start online e-learning environment for the adult confirmation training.
Statistics - Members of the Lutheran Church: 4 170 800 (77 % of all inhabitants in 2011). - Parishes: 449 (in 2011) - Baptized as a child: 46 700 (77,9 %of children born in 2011). The rate has lowered (dramatically) in recent years. - Participants of Confirmation training: 86,2 % of all 15-year-olds (in 2011) - Participants of adult confirmation training: 1000 (in 2011) (in groups 220, private 780) - Immigrants in Finland: 170 000 (in 2010); 60 % of immigrants are Christians - Finns abroad: More than a million people of Finnish origin live outside Finland. 183 000 of them are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
Marja Pesonen Associate Secretary for Adult Education Office of the Church Council The Evangelical Lutheran Church of FinlandLUXEMBURG
Im Jahr 2012 gab es 8 Taufen (alles Personen mit Migrationshintergrund), zusätzlich 15 Taufen von Erwachsenen in der lateinamerikanischen Gemeinde. Geplant ist die Ausarbeitung eines Curriculums für den Katechumenat.
POLEN
Poland seems to be more and more interested and involved in catechumenate. Since 1989, when the RCIA was edited in Polish and introduced into the universal application, and since 1990, when the first catechumenate in Krakow started its activity, more places have joined this new path and pastoral challenge with more or less success.
1. Catechumenal map Now there are 15 cities (mainly the capitals of the dioceses from various regions of the country) where catechumenate functions according to the new postconciliar Ritual. a) In some cities there are more than one catechumenal centre. To these belong: Warsaw (3), Krakow (2), Lublin (2), Lódz (2), Szczecin (1). b) Those most experienced are: Krakow, Sandomierz, Warsaw, Lublin, Poznan, Lodz c) The younger centres: Czestochova, Vroclav, Siedlce, Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, Gdansk, Sosnowiec, Rzeszów, Opole.
2. Formation context Catechumenate formation process is accompanied mostly by the religious. The closest environment is created by various groups of the faithful and religous, who actually arrange catechumenate work: the Dominicans, Jesuits, Sisters of Queen Hedvig (our charism is liturgical initiation and catechumenate), neocatechumenal groups, "oasis" pastoral program based on Christian initiation, parish communities.
3. Ways of starting catechumenate In the first centres catechumenate is carried on by the religious (Franciscan friers, sisters of St. Hedvig, the Dominicans), who initiate catechumenate and elaborate methods in the places of their service. In few centres the bishop directs a priest to be responsible for this kind of pastoral care, but in such cases it functions artificially, normally its limited to several catecheses, accomplishing the school catechesis before confirmation.
4. Numbers There are no precise statistics about the baptised adults in Poland. We can obtain the rough number from these centres directly. This year around 500 adults were baptised in Poland during the Easter Vigil. We have to add another 500 of those adults, who are being baptised throughout the year. So the avarage number is about 1000 baptisms of the adults during a year. The number of nonbaptised is still growing, due to secularisation process, which embraces various phenomena. The process of secularisation increases and is fortunately paralell to the increase of the interest in catechumenate in our country.
5. Methods: - group and individual formation - Krakow, Sandomierz, Szczecin - group meetings - in most of the centres - formation materials for Christian initiation have been elaborated and edited in Krakow. They have been also translated into Russian, published in St. Petersbourg and distributed to the Russian parishes. Each of the centres in Poland has own experience and elaborates its own method, but not yet written materials.
6. Quasi catechumenate Some towns dont have a typical catechumenate and identify the word "catechumenate" with "postbaptismal formation" (deuterocatechumenate). They develop catechesis before confirmation, and for those who prepare to the first confession and Communion. In some places, which consider themselves as well organised, they practice only the programme of 10 lectures concerning main topics in dogmatics, liturgy and morality (Opole, Katowice, Tarnow, Gniezno, Lowicz, Lomza, Drohiczyn).
7. Formation of the catechists: - formation meetings every second month - lectures, exchange, prayer (Kraków) - studies in the theology and methodology of Christian initiation within the liturgical specialisation of Theological Faculty in the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow) for those who are interested and have studied theology before.
8. Tasks: - to make the priests (and bishops) aware of the necessity of Christian initiation (within their seminarian years and further studies, lectures, symposia, writings). Much depends on the hierarchy in Poland. They organise parish life and pastoral care. - to organise the course for catechists (after several years break we need to revive the course). - to arrange Polish area of exchange for those dealing with catechumenate (at least once a year). It will be more possible now, because there are already many centres dealing with catechumenate, so they will be naturally eager to share and to learn, as they often ask for help and for the pastoral materials.
9. The expected and already received support: - some bishops support and invite the communites to arrange catechumenate in their dioceses. They really understand the problem, as they are noticing the growing number of people, who dont know Christ. - Theological faculties (educational branch) appreciate this area of research in connection with eccumenism, misiology, evangelisation, liturgy.
sr. Adelajda Sielepin CHR
PORTUGAL
Secretariado Nacional da Educação Cristã Departamento de Catequese
Le catéchuménat: la situation au Portugal
Les donnés que rapportent a lannée 2009 montre qu au Portugal se sont registré 67.009 baptêmes pour enfants de 0 a 7 ans et 5.199 baptêmes de baptisés de plus de 7 ans, environ 7% du total.
Au Portugal (environ 90% de catholiques déclarés, 96% a 98% dans les diocèses du nord, 80% a 85% au sud) n existent pas des études approfondis des chiffres concernant le catéchuménat et, pour le moment, nous ne connaissons que des chiffres générales du baptême, par diocèse.
Ont a l impression que les jeunes et adultes chercheurs d une initiation chrétienne se trouvent surtout dans les grands milieux urbains (Lisboa et Porto ; Porto a organisée un service, Centre de Catéchuménat, en 1995, avec d expériences sur le terrain, lorsque Lisboa a laissé la plus part de l incitative aux paroisses : 50 de 400 paroisses ont un service organisée/ en organisation) et aussi dans le sud du Portugal par comparaison avec le Nord du pays, plus conservateur et traditionnelle, dans un pays où plus de 80% de la population se considère catholique (sondage de 2010). Les «pertes» de pratiquants sont plus accentuées au sud de Lisboa (Beja, Évora, Setúbal et Algarve), régions où la pénétration des idéologies de gauche a était plus prononcée dans les premiers décennies après la révolution politique de 1974. Mais c est aussi dans ces diocèses où s observe une plus intéressante récupération de la taxe de participation dominicale et de demande des sacrements. La situation de Angra peuvent peut-être s expliquer par la très haute taxe d immigration (surtout aux Etats Unis d Amérique), signifiant que les familles attendre l arrivé du père et de la famille pour baptisé les enfants.
Chez le Bureau National d Education Chrétienne, des Services de la Conférence Episcopal Portugaise, nous n avons pas un Département de Catéchuménat ni d Adultes (existant dans environ 40% des diocèses). Mais toute la catéchèse des enfants et des adolescents est très clairement inspiré dans le cheminement cathéchúmenal. Et, reconnaissaient l important numéro d enfants et familles que cherchent le baptême pour des enfants dans le groupe d âge de la catéchèse (initiation chrétienne des enfants : 7 a 12 ans), nous préparons une dizaine de catéchèses pour ceux qui sont intégrées dans les groupes 1 a 3 (7 a 9 ans, préparation pour la première communion) et que visent la participation aux rites cathechumenals, car le travaille de préparation a la réception des sacrements et déjà consacré dans l itinéraire et les catéchismes 1,2 et 3 et pour toutes les enfants. Nous préparons aussi un itinéraire de deux ans, qui adapte et développe les contenus et activités des catéchismes 1 a 3 pour des enfants catéchumènes de 9 a 12 ans, et que envisage une préparation spéciale, dans un groupe de catéchuménat, suivi où accompagné de leur intégration dans leur groupe d âge, option dépendent du nombre d enfants qui ne sont pas baptisés dans chaque paroisse.
SCHWEDEN (katholisch)
In der Diözese Stockholm gibt es zwischen 150 000 - 200 000 Katholiken. Jährlich finden 30 bis 40 Taufen und ca. 100 Konversionen statt. Den Katechumenat gibt es in zwei Pfarren. Im Jahr 2009 haben die skandinavischen Bischöfe einen Brief zum Katechumenat geschrieben, jetzt gibt es ein neues katechetisches Direktorium für Schweden, wo der Katechumenat als Modell für jede Katechese vorgestellt wird. In der Diözese Stockholm gibt es eine Kommission für Evangelisation (seit 2006), die u.a. noch zuständig ist für den Katechumenat.
