Integrating Community Spirituality into Religious Education: A School Educator’s Role

Abstract

The pluralist, interreligious and intercultural contexts of the twenty-first-century society pose challenges for Religious Education (RE). One may claim that these challenges are twofold. First, at schools, the Church cannot conduct catechesis, that is, the formation of faith, which comprises the following four elements: announcement, the creation of the faith community, liturgy and serving others (Pope John Paul II, 1979, par. 18). The second challenge is posed by the diversity that exists in classrooms, as acknowledged by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter Catechesi tradendae (1979, par. 32–34), that is, interpretations of religious language, which correlate with human and religious experiences.