In the patristic and medieval eras, the Church began to formalize the process toward ordination in what came to be called the “cursus honorum.” As historian Andrew Traver puts it, this sequential order “evolved and became the preferred means by which the Church could best select, prepare, prove and promote candidates to higher office.”
As the complexity of the necessary stages on the course to priestly ordination mushroomed (tonsure, porter, lector, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon), Pope Saint Paul VI eventually came to see the process as a tangled morass that led him to drastically reconfigure the process in the 1972 document “Ministeria Quaedam.” There he suppressed the minor orders in the West and created the “instituted ministries” of lector and acolyte, albeit reserving them only to men.
A 2021 document by Pope Francis codified what had long been the widespread practice, changing canon law to reflect that such positions could permanently be held by any member of the laity, male or female, as long as the person possesses the age and necessary qualifications established by the local conference of bishops. In a separate text in 2021, titled “Antiquum Ministerium,” Pope Francis established the formal ministry of catechist, which soon after adopted a prescribed liturgical rite of institution.
But as the pope points out in the opening sentence of this apostolic letter, “the ministry of catechist in the church is an ancient one.” On March 18, the Church each year remembers one preeminent figure whose catechetical orations still continue to inspire both newcomers to the faith and lifelong Christians 16 centuries after they were first given. Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus, more commonly referred to as Cyril of Jerusalem, was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883. Likely born in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina sometime close to 313 AD, the future saint became the Bishop of Jerusalem in his 30s or 40s. A remarkably pastoral figure at a time when acerbic attacks on theological opponents reigned the day, Cyril’s writings are replete with references to the tender and merciful warmth of God’s reconciling love. His focus on divine forgiveness was echoed in his own lived attitudes and practices, such as when he returned from imposed and humiliating exile for his spiritual views three times without seeking vengeance or condemnation of those who had wronged him.
Pope Benedict XVI describes Cyril’s most famous writings, 24 preserved catecheses, as follows: “Introduced by a Procatechesis of welcome, the first 18 of these are addressed to catechumens or candidates for illumination (photizomenoi) [candidates for Baptism]; they were delivered in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Each of the first ones (nn. 1-5) respectively treat the prerequisites for Baptism, conversion from pagan morals, the Sacrament of Baptism, the 10 dogmatic truths contained in the Creed or Symbol of the faith. The next catecheses (nn. 6-18) form an ‘ongoing catechesis’ on the Jerusalem Creed in anti-Arian tones. Of the last five so-called ‘mystagogical catecheses,’ the first two develop a commentary on the rites of Baptism and the last three focus on the Chrism, the Body and Blood of Christ and the Eucharistic Liturgy. They include an explanation of the Our Father (Oratio dominica). This forms the basis of a process of initiation to prayer which develops on a par with the initiation to the three Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist.”
The contemporary prayer instituting the stable vocational ministry of catechist reads: “Receive this sign of our faith, cathedra of the truth and of the love of Christ, and proclaim it with your life, your conduct, and your word.” Pope Francis’ description of the ideal candidate is one stamped by profound faith, human maturity, ongoing lived relationships with the Christian community, and “due biblical, theological, pastoral and pedagogical formation to be attentive communicators of the truth of the faith.”
While most theologians, including myself, are loathe to constrain such formation to a “one size fits all” approach, when read in their historical context (particularly regarding the polemical conflict with the Jewish community of the day), Cyril’s writings can inspire each of us to receive the Good News and teach it accordingly with all that we are. “For,” as Cyril puts it “our speech and our preaching is not in persuasive words of man’s wisdom. We stir now no sophistical contrivances; for these become exposed; we do not conquer words with words, for these come to an end; but we [catechists] preach Christ Crucified, who has already been preached aforetime by the Prophets. But you, I pray, having received these testimonies, seal them in your heart.”
At no time of the year is such advice more important than right now, as we welcome new members into the faith around the globe.
An alumnus of Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill, Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
