By Linda Busetti
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/21/02)
"We tried to provide an outline so parents would have a sense of the [religion] themes or topics as they progress from kindergarten and eventually get more involved in terms of details as they move up the grades," Sister Karl Ann said.
Founding Arlington Bishop Thomas Welsh established core religion guidelines in 1974. Curriculum guidelines are usually revised about every five years. A committee met periodically beginning in the 1995-96 school year to revise elementary school religion curriculum. "The committee reflected a great deal of collective knowledge… of a caliber that we knew, especially with Father Paul [deLadurantaye, diocesan secretary for religious education and sacred liturgy] on the committee, the guidelines were thoroughly reviewed…" Sister Karl Ann said.
Elementary level guidelines are aligned with the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s four pillars — the Creed, Sacraments, Commandments and the Moral Life, and Christian prayer. "Core content did not change. Format changed in terms of trying to categorize information according to the pillars of the Church," Sister Karl Ann said. A "Virtues Segment" and a list of prayers students should know at each grade level were added.
"Parents seemed to be quite happy to hear about how the guidelines were developed and to have an outline to give them a better sense of what’s taught at grade levels," Sister Karl Ann said.
Sister Karl Ann hopes the guidelines will be published on a diocesan Web site some time in the future.
"The religion curriculum guidelines for secondary education are arranged by topical themes, themes by age group and a glossary of terms," Sister Patricia said. "Those three sections address the content of faith. A fourth section addresses the experience of faith." They build on the four pillars.
Father deLadurantaye and Sister Patricia gathered high school religion department chairs, some parish directors of religious education (DREs) and a few youth ministers who met periodically over a year and a half. They created a document applicable to the diocesan and private high schools as well as useable by religious education and youth ministry.
Father deLadurantaye took themes proposed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and "fleshed them out as they would apply and be useful for religious education," Sister Patricia said. "We took the exact same content that is in the section arranged by themes by age group and rearranged it according to topical themes" such as Search for God, Jesus: God’s Self-Revelation, the Church and Prayer, Sacraments, Catholic Morality and Lifestyles and Vocation, she said.
"The teacher who is teaching Sacraments is able to go to that section and find the core content that is to be taught, so the one document is useful to both religious education and teachers in diocesan high schools," she said. "It’s then up to a teacher, with the religion department, to attempt to find the series, all of which must have an imprimatur, that best addresses these themes," Sister Patricia said.
Sister Patricia also discussed diocesan catechesis in human sexuality, the Vocation to Love, which is not a mandated program. The diocese provides guidelines for schools to create the program. Parents decide whether to "opt in" to the program on behalf of their children.
After an introduction on Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio, emphasizing the importance of the family and reflecting on the truth and meaning of human sexuality, the first part of the document provides a synopsis of the U.S. Bishops’ "Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality" (1995). A discussion of the 10 underlying theological principles that are the foundation for the guidelines follows. The diocesan guidelines for Vocation to Love recognize "parents’ having the right and duty to teach in the light of the Gospel the truth and the demands and responsibilities of human sexuality to their children," Sister Patricia said.
"The next thing that we did, which I think surprised parents, was, in addition to requiring our teachers to have Virginia state licensure and academic credentials, we ask all of our teachers of religion — pre-K through high school — to work on obtaining the diocesan catechist’s certification. That includes three levels requiring hours in Scripture, Theology and Methods. It’s approximately 40 hours for each level and each level is on a three-year cycle."
High school religion teachers are required to have either a major in theology or a minimum of 24 credits in religious studies or theology.
The Schools Office has initiated two programs to help diocesan teachers with their ongoing formation, a two-day summer seminar on Catholic Virtues: Nurturing the Inner Life and a four-week seminar, Tips for Spirituality, which is presented at various locations in the diocese. Sister Patricia emphasizes in the seminars that "the Paschal Mystery is at the heart of our spirituality — that we are rooted in Christ." An examination of individual spirituality follows. "You cannot give what you do not have," Sister Patricia said about teaching the Faith.
Jim McAndrews, vice president of the Council of PTOs, said this was one of the better attended council meetings. "People were very attentive, interested and curious" about the presentation. McAndrews said the sisters gave a sense of "how each year is built upon" what has been taught before. Council members asked if there might be a program for parents similar to the spirituality seminars teachers attend. He said it was encouraging to learn to what extent the teaching of religion at a high school level is treated like other academic disciplines.
Copyright ©2002 Arlington Catholic Herald. All rights reserved.
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