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Training for Why Catholic? program begins in diocese

Andy Telli, Tennessee Register

The Why Catholic? adult formation program that will be launched across the Diocese of Nashville in the fall combines evangelism and catechism.

“It’s meeting a huge need in the church today,” said Sister Maureen Colleary, FSP, a presenter for Renew International who lead a series of meetings for parish planning teams for the program.

Why Catholic? will help adults be more confident when speaking about the faith, for example, in explaining the faith to their children, including their adult children who might not be attending Mass regularly, said Sister Colleary.

Because the program is based on small faith communities, it helps build community within parishes, she added.

The program, which was developed by Renew International, is structured similarly to the Renew program but uses different content, Sister Colleary said. While Renew’s content was based on scripture readings, the content for Why Catholic? is based on the four pillars of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: the Creed, Sacraments, Morality and Prayer. The program will last four years, with each year dedicated to a different pillar.

The small faith communities that will be organized in each parish will meet for six sessions in the fall and six sessions during Lent. At the end of the first series of six sessions there will be a workshop open to everyone in the diocese that will look into one of the aspects of that year’s topic in greater depth. There will be a one day retreat at the end of the second series of sessions.

Forty-three of the diocese’s 51 parishes will participate in the Why Catholic? program, Sister Colleary said.

She was in Nashville for several days in April to explain the program to parish planning teams at meetings set up around the diocese. Sister Colleary will return to Nashville the last week of May to lead a series of workshops at various locations in the diocese titled “The Nuts and Bolts of Evangelization.” The purpose of those workshops is to train the parish planning teams about strategies for inviting people to participate in the program, she said.

The heart of the invitation is for the team members to share why they are on the planning team for the parish, Sister Colleary said. Using their personal experiences to invite others to participate makes the invitation more authentic, she said.

Each small faith community in the program will have a trained leader, Sister Colleary said. In August, she will lead training sessions for the leaders.

Using small communities of up to 10 people for the program helps people strengthen their faith and develop a better relationship with God, Sister Colleary said. It also helps people become more aware of their role in the larger community concerning issues of justice and peace, she said.

The program will be offered both in English and Spanish, Sister Colleary said.