Courtesy photo
Auxliliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Fr. Victor Salamón with organizers of the upcoming catechetical leadership kickoff Aug. 27-28 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center.
Renowned Catholic speakers rally parish leaders for coming catechetical year
Three national and internationally known speakers are rallying parish leaders in English and Spanish for the coming year of faith formation throughout the Phoenix Diocese.
Parish leaders in the areas of catechesis, youth evangelization, marriage, respect life and pastoral care will gather for a Spanish-language kickoff Aug. 27-28 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center. That’s where keynote speaker Fr. Victor Salomón, director of Hispanic Outreach with Priests for Life, will provide, among other things, an orientation and training on Rachel’s Vineyard program and retreats.
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Kathya Canale, a Mexico native trained in Theology of the Body, will present an introduction to the material for youth and young adults during the Aug. 28 kickoff. Roughly 300 parish leaders will attend up to six workshops.
Teresa Tomeo, a veteran journalist in the secular and Christian press turned media consultant, author and talk show host — heard locally on Immaculate Heart Radio, KIHP 1310AM — addressed nearly 90 English-speaking parish and diocesan leaders at the Diocesan Pastoral Center Aug. 18. She discussed the challenges of teaching the Catholic worldview to an ailing world, especially one fraught with negative and nearly constant media influences.
Tomeo, who became anorexic at age 12, “all because I wanted to look like someone on television,” she said, told parish leaders that they must understand the cultural landscape to get through to their students.
She encouraged them to think about how their students view the world when they’re not in the parish program or at Mass as well as how much media they’re raking in. That will determine the amount of “noise” catechetical leaders must cut through to reach their students with the Truth, Tomeo said.
“People can’t connect the dots anymore. They can’t think. They just act,” Tomeo said.
That’s due to the “perfect storm” of some Catholics receiving poor catechesis, the media explosion and moral decay among other factors, Tomeo said. She presented a series of secular studies about the cultural landscape in terms of sexual and violent content that children are exposed to as well as Internet and cell phone usage.
Tomeo quickly pointed out that the media is not all bad. The U.S. bishops issued guidelines for the Church’s use of social media in July and the number of Catholic media outlets continues to grow. The secular news media is covering life and Church issues more too, Tomeo said.
Still, Tomeo, who regularly writes a column on culture for Our Sunday Visitor, said the media has sexualized girls to the point of incurring emotional and psychological problems.
She suggested parish leaders “catechize through the clamor” by showing their students how to look for Church information on the Internet and possibly reaching out to the parents by distributing a “Media Use” tips sheet.
Debbie Sheahan, coordinator of elementary religious education at St. Mary Parish in Chandler, and Ramona Murga, her assistant, said attending Tomeo’s talk made them more aware of their role in educating the parents regarding media use and influences. The pair sent a letter home to parents of third and fourth graders last year regarding cell phone use in class.
They’re already preparing for a four-part parent education series to run at the same time as their children’s classes. The parents will brush up on their own catechesis to help them better understand what their children — some 750 of them — are learning.
Pat Schay, coordinator of religious education at St. James Parish in Glendale among other titles, agreed that Tomeo’s talk “hit home on a few things on parent involvement.” She said it’s often tough to motivate them.
Schay hopes the coming catechetical year not only sees parents with children in the religious education program at the parish’s monthly Generations of Faith meetings, but older parishioners as well.
“We’re all still on our journey until the day we die,” Schay said.
Tomeo agreed. Evangelization is all about being God’s hands and feet, she said.
Smaller group meetings and networking sessions, divided by deanery, followed Tomeo’s talk. Most catechetical programs begin around Catechetical Sunday — Sept. 19 this year — a day in which many priests commission catechists for their ministry and remind all Catholics of their role in handing on the faith.
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