Community of Religious Educators (CORE)

CORE stands for Community of Religious Educators and is a regular gathering of religious educators for ongoing professional development, insights into diocesan initiatives and for networking with one another.

Gatherings are scheduled every other month during the school year. For a current schedule of dates and locations, please contact the director for catechesis at catechesis@dio.org.

If you can't make it to CORE meeting, please sign up for regular email updates from the Office for Catholic Education: https://diospringfieldoyyam.flocknote.com/OCatNewsGroup

Catechetical Sunday

Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. Celebrated on the third Sunday in September every year, Catechetical Sunday is also a chance for those who serve the parish community as catechists to be called forth and commissioned for their ministry.

• Commissioning-Service-English.pdf
• Commissioning-Service-Spanish.pdf

Years of Service Recognition

At the end of each academic year, I would like to have catechists who have reached landmark years of experience recognized with a special certificate from our bishop. Please use the form below to identify catechists and parish catechetical leaders (e.g. director/coordinator of religious education, lifelong faith formation, etc.) who have completed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc. years of total years of service in the ministry of catechesis in the academic year.

In addition to years of service, if there is a catechist who is retiring, a special recognition certificate is available. Please indicate "Retiring" in addition to the total number of years of service regardless of the 5-year anniversary.

Catechists include PSR teachers, Catholic school faculty who teach religion/theology, adult faith formation leaders (including RCIA), youth ministers, anyone who serves the parish through faith formation initiatives. If a catechist or parish catechetical leader has served in other parishes, whether in this diocese or outside our diocese, those years of experience may be included.

Please print the catechists’ names on the enclosed form and indicate which landmark year (multiples of 5 only) for which these persons are being recognized. Add additional sheets if necessary. Completed forms are due April 15.

Certificates for each catechist will be sent to parish catechetical leaders in late spring so they can include them as part of your end-of-year appreciation ceremonies. If you have any questions, call Kyle Holtgrave at (217) 698-8500, x. 154 or email kholtgrave@dio.org.

Thank you for all you do to build the kingdom of God!

In Christ,
Kyle Holtgrave
Director for Catechesis

Catechist Recognition Form

Bishop Paprocki has promulgated curriculum standards for PreK-8th Grade. These standards are designed to provide leaders for parish-based formation programs such PSR and Catholic schools a framework for what topics students should be catechized in year to year.

Grade School Standards

The religion standards for grade school students are articulated by grade and are divided into nine strands with one or more benchmarks for each strand. The strands include Sacred Scripture, Creed, Sacraments, Liturgy, Morality, Prayer and Spirituality, Ecclesiology, Parish Life and Mission, and Vocation.

Religion_Standards_2014.pdf

High School Standards

Religion standards for high school curriculums are found in the USCCB's 2008 High School Curriculum Framework and its adaptation for parish-based programs.

Publisher Correlations to Diocesan Standards

• Ignatius Press - Faith and Life, Grades 1 - 8
• Loyola Press Correlations, Grades Pre-K through 8
• Our Sunday Visitor: Alive in Christ, Parish Edition, Grades 1 – 5
• Our Sunday Visitor: Alive in Christ, School Edition, Grades 1 – 5
• Pflaum Correlations: How to Use
• Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Faith Formation Program, Grades 1 – 5
• RCL Benziger: Blest Are We, Faith & Word Edition, Grades Pre-K to 8
• RCL Benziger: Blest Are We, Scope & Sequence
• RCL Benziger: Blest Are We, Faith & Word School Edition, Grades Pre-K to 8
• RCL Benziger: Be My Disciples School Program, Grades Pre-K to 8
• Sadlier Correlations, Grades Pre-K through 8

Online Formation Programs

This section lists online options that are available for catechesis at home.

• Ignatius Press’s Faith and Life series
• Sophia Institute for Teachers Spirit of Truth series
• Pflaum’s Gospel Weekly: What the Church Believes and Teaches
• Sadlier’s Christ In Us series
• RCL Benzinger products
• Our Sunday Visitor products
• Loyola Press Homeschool Products
• Midwest Theological Union’s Didache series for high school
• Additional_Guidelines_for_Online_Learning.pdf

Other Formation Resources:

• Augustine Institute's Form program: formed.org/faithathome
• Ruah Woods Press's Theology of the Body K-5 curriculum: app.ruahwoodspress.com/register/account
• Catholic Relief Services: crsricebowl.org/schools
• Magnifikid: us.magnificat.net/flipbook/KID/sample/
• Sadlier: sadlier.com/en/religion/online-learning-support
• Pflaum: pflaum.com/
• Ignatius Press/Renew International/Midwest Theological Union: faithformation.zohosites.com/
• RCL Benziger: rclbenziger.com/
• Our Sunday Visitor: reply.osv.com/c-19
• Loyola Press: loyolapress.com/
• Saint Mary's Press: smp.org/
• Sophia Institute for Teachers: sophiainstituteforteachers.org/
• Sophia Press: sophiainstitute.com/
• Ave Maria Press: avemariapress.com/
• Dynamic Catholic: dynamiccatholic.com/
• Veritas Communications: veritasbooksonline.com/
• C. R. Publications: crpublications.com/

This page is dedicated to posting policies and procedures relevant to the mission of catechesis in the diocese. Updates will be announced via this office’s e-Newsletter. To be added to the e-Newsletter distribution list, please contact Office for Catholic Education at catechesis@dio.org. A handbook summarizing all diocesan policies related to faith formation is being created and will be posted in the Parish Catechetical Leader tab on this page.

Religious Education Assessment

Schools and Parish Schools of Religion are asked to annually assess students. Details are posted on the Religion Assessment tab.

Home Catechesis

Since parents have the primary responsibility and the right to select those means through which they can provide more suitably for the Christian education of their children in accordance with the teachings of the Church, the Church community shall fulfill its responsibility to parents in their catechetical role by providing programs, resources and support.

- Bk3§1701.3

Parents may choose to provide formal systematic catechesis for their children at home, apart from existing parish programs, but consistent with applicable diocesan policies for catechesis from Book III: The Teaching Office of the Church, Policies and Procedures for Religious Education.

The following process for establishing a home catechesis program is promulgated in Bk3§1701.3:

• Parents, their pastor and/or his designated catechetical leader meet to discuss mutual responsibilities and expectations for the catechesis, producing a written covenant between the pastor, parents and the child(ren).
• The pastor and/or his designated catechetical leader provides parameters for the selection of textbooks and other materials, ensuring that the text is listed on the approved list of curriculum from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s subcommittee on the Catechism.
• Parents catechizing at home are expected to participate in the life of the parish, which may include:
  • Participation in parent sessions
  • Attendance at parish and diocesan catechist formation sessions
  • Participation in sacramental program, retreats, liturgical celebrations, etc.
  • Being a part of the community for worship and other such events as determined in the covenant.
• The covenant should also include what resources and support you should get from the pastor and his parish catechetical leader, including materials and opportunities for the parents’ faith development.
• If home catechesis includes formation for the first reception of sacraments, the covenant should include information about how the pastor will determine readiness for children to receive these sacraments and keeping in mind the norms for the reception of the sacraments in the proper order.

For More Information

To reference all diocesan policies, please see https://dio.org/policy-and-procedures/

Per diocesan policy BK3§504.4.1, textbooks used for catechesis for children and adolescents must be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and found on the Conformity Listing of Catechetical Texts and Series published by the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catechism.

Some of the texts that are on the approved list are available for preview from the Office for Catholic Education. A bibliography is posted below. Contact the Office for Catholic Education at (217) 698-8500, ext. 154, or email to catechesis@dio.org make arrangements to preview samples from this list.

Texts_Available_for_Preview.pdf

The Conformity Listing is a cumulative listing of catechetical texts and materials which are in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and are currently available from publishers. The Conformity Listing is updated on a regular basis.

The Subcommittee on the Catechism of the USCCB determines if a given catechetical text or catechetical series is in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Catholic publishers voluntarily submit their catechetical materials to the Subcommittee for review. A text is eligible for a conformity review if it falls into one of the following categories:

1. A religion textbook series for students in Catholic elementary schools and/or parish Religious Education programs;
2. A religion textbook series for junior high students in Catholic schools and/or parish Religious Education programs;
3. A religion textbook series or individual high school texts for students in Catholic high schools or parish Religious Education programs;
4. Teacher manuals or catechist manuals designed to accompany any of the above;
5. Student Religion workbooks that are part of a basal series;
6. Sacramental preparation materials that follow the Sacramental Preparation Protocols (working instruments approved in June 2013);
7. Supplemental materials which explicitly and consistently cross-reference an approved basal series.

For a variety of reasons, not all catechetical texts and materials are subject to a conformity review. If a specific item does not appear on the Subcommittee's Conformity Listing this does not necessarily mean that it has been reviewed and found to be deficient. A conformity review is not applicable to materials that fall into one of the following categories:

1. Catechetical materials that provide doctrinal content in teacher or catechist manuals rather than in student materials. The Subcommittee will undertake a conformity review of teacher or catechist manuals only when they complement student materials that already have a declaration of conformity or are under review for conformity.
2. Catechetical materials that are published in the form of regularly updated leaflets or periodicals with frequently changing content. These include materials related to the Church's liturgical year.
3. Individual monographs which focus specifically on individual topics, teachings or devotions, including biblical commentaries and college level student texts.
4. Materials that include biological and physiological content along with catechetical content.
5. Digital media, including websites and DVDs.

Publishing Companies on the Conformity Listing of Catechetical Texts and Series

The following list is specific to publishers.  A link is provided if the publisher has a webpage (as of July 3, 2019). These links are provided for convenience and should not be considered an endorsement of any of the entities listed below.

• Apostolate for Family Consecration
• Ascension Press
• Ave Maria Press
• Circle Press
• C.R. Publications
• Distance Family Foundation {no weblink available}
• Dynamite Catholic
• Family Foundation {no weblink available}
• Foundation for the Family {no weblink available}
• Harcourt
• Ignatius Press
• Leaflet Missal Company
• Legionaries of Christ
• Loyola Press
• Midwest Theological Forum
• Mother’s House Publishing (RCIA materials)
• New Hope Publications
• Our Sunday Visitor
• Pauline Books and Media
• Pflaum Publishing Group
• Priority Press {no weblink available}
• RCL Benziger
• Rev. Edmund Siedlecki (not a publishing company – a bilingual Polish/English edition of the Catechism) {no weblink available}
• Sophia Institute for Teachers
• Sophia Press
• St. Augustine’s Press
• St. Maron’s Publications
• St. Mary’s Press
• Verbum
• Veritas Communication
• Vietnamese Catechetical Community USA {no weblink available}
• VirTru Powers
• William H. Sadlier, Inc.
• You Turns {no weblink available}

Disclaimer: The subcommittee does not currently review the following components in catechetical programs that may be found on their approved list: videos, parent/sponsor materials, websites, digital libraries, and any other materials found on the letter on eligibility and applicability from the subcommittee.

Catholic Schools and parish formation programs are reviewed periodically. Areas of review include the content of faith formation classes, Catholic identity and formation efforts of the catechists of the school and parish formation program.

Faith Formation

The faith formation assessment seeks to identify concerns within the core religion/theology classes taught at the Catholic school. Areas of concern include:

• Textbooks not on the Conformity Listing of Catechetical Texts and Series of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on the Catechism
• Textbooks not consistent with published diocesan religion standards
• Time of instruction below diocesan standards
• Religion/Theology is not a core subject taught daily
• No assessment tool is used to gauge student learning

Catholic Identity

The Catholic Identity portion of an educational review seeks to identify concerns about a school’s Catholicity beyond what is taught in religion/theology classes. Areas of concern include:

• Mass not celebrated at least once a week
• Liturgical seasons are not celebrated outside religion/theology classes
• Reconciliation or other devotional practices are not offered
• Service projects do not reflect a Christian perspective on what it means to serve others
• No Christian anthropology on human sexuality
• Lack of personal safety training
• Absence of formation on vocation and what it means to follow God’s call
• No connection between parish and school
• Lack of Christian environment such as art and décor
• No connection with the universal mission of the Church such as through diocesan programs like the Missionary Childhood Association

Catechist Formation

Formation and certification of catechists is also a key component of assessing a school’s Catholic identity. All administrators, teachers and aides in a Catholic school are expected to achieve and maintain the Advanced Level of certification in the diocesan Catechist Formation Process (see diocesan policies, Book 3 §302.5.1). Areas of concern include:

• Catechist records are not kept up to date
• Attendance certificates are not on file to support the hours of formation reported on Permanent Record Cards
• Formation programs claimed for credit are not approved by the Office for Catholic Education
• No evidence of ongoing formation is documented
• No plans are in place to complete areas of formation needed to progress in the Catechist Formation Process
• High school theology teachers are not appropriately degreed and certified

Religion Assessment

All schools and parish formation programs are required to administer the ACRE assessment each year. See diocesan policy Bk3§504.13.

ACRE - Assessment of Catholic Religious Education - is a tool that helps administrators assess how well religious education programs are forming committed Christian disciples. Data from these assessments is essential for strategic planning at the diocesan level, as well as giving local administrators valuable information on how well students understand the faith.

ACRE is one of three tools administered by the National Catholic Education Association. These tools are collectively referred to as "NCEA Rise." In addition to ACRE, there is an adult assessment known as Information For Growth (IFG), and there is also the Belonging Index which is a tool for teenagers and older that assesses one's sense of being noticed, named and known.

All schools and PSR programs are required to participate in ACRE annually. Testing is done in grades 5, 8 and 11/12 and can be done online or by mailing in paper forms. Please visit the NCEA Rise website to learn more about the ACRE Assessment. To create a profile, visit https://learn.ncearise.org/home.aspx?pagename=login.