| dc.description.abstract | This research is a result of wonder and worry of the increasing number of Christians nowadays
who are lukewarm, have lost the faith, hardly consider themselves members of the Church, and
live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel, while others are leaving the Catholic faith and
trekking to new religious movements or sects and Islam. This could be attributed to a weakened
catechesis. Such a situation calls for a new evangelisation- one geared towards re-awakening and
deepening of faith. However, given that catechesis participates in the efforts of evangelisation,
such that faith may be supported by an ongoing maturation, and express itself in a way of life of a
Christian, the researcher was motivated to undertake a study on the topic: Catechesis: an
indispensable strategy in the new evangelisation of Yerya Parish in light of Catechesi Tradendae.
The objectives of the study were: To identify the challenges and gaps in contemporary catechesis;
to identify solutions to these challenges, and to establish other strategies to employ in a new
evangelisation for the purpose of re-wakening the faith of Christians, lead them to practice the
faith as mature Christians, with the ability of defending what they believe in. The study was
conducted from October 2021 to May 2022, a qualitative research design was employed to probe
into the problem, and through the use of questionnaire responses from 100 respondents, interview
responses of 40 respondents, and direct observation, data was collected from the field. This data
was presented and analysed; summarised and discussed and conclusions and recommendations
were made. The researcher found out that there are a number of gaps and challenges in
contemporary catechesis which must be addressed and bridged for the effectiveness of catechesis
in the new evangelisation of Yerya Parish. These include but not limited to: Inadequate training
of catechists; failure of priests, religious and parents to do their catechetical mandate; over-reliance
on the memorisation method among others. Other supplementary strategies were identified for use
in the new evangelisation such as: rejuvenating Small Christian Communities; promoting and
regulating lay apostolate movements; regular pastoral home to home visitations; to mention a few.
All the same, these must be preceded by and imbued with catechesis. It is on this basis that one
can conclude that catechesis is indispensable in the new evangelisation of Yerya Parish. Therefore
the Church should take catechesis as a priority in her endeavour to re-awaken the faith of
Christians, enable them put their faith into action and be able to give the reason for their belief.
With this, St. Paul’s words may suffice to keep resounding in the ears of the all faithful; to remain
firm in the faith that we were taught, ‘‘you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walked in him, rooted
in him, built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught.’’ (Col 2:6-7 NAB), and
elsewhere that, ‘‘Continue in what you have learnt and have firmly believed.’’ (1Tm 3:14 NAB). | en_US |
