The moment of freedom

More than the school, friends, and Catechesis in the Parish, the family plays a major role in the Christian education of children. Parents, as well as siblings and grandparents are the people that exert the greatest influence on the children’s faith; godparents are mentioned but with less frequency. These are the main findings of a survey on “Christian initiation in Europe” carried out by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) with the support of the national coordinators for catechesis of bishops’ conferences. Over 3,600 people were interviewed including children, adolescents, parents and grandparents. The data has been collected and analysed by Fr Luc Mellet, head of the National Service for Catechesis and the Catechumenate (France), that presented the findings during the opening of the 12th European Catechesis Congress ongoing in Rome from May 7 to 10. The survey that was conducted in view of the Congress, “has enabled the highlighting of certain positive aspects and others which must be re-visited in order to better respond to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel and forming Christians who live their faith in every dimension of their existence. In a word, the survey has therefore identified a path still to be undertaken”, is stated in a release.The family. The survey shows that the family “is the first place where one establishes the proper relationship with reality and therefore also with God and with the Church”. Religious practice in the family is the most mentioned element as a positive factor of Christian initiation. “Celebrating Sunday as a family, and the liturgical feasts, especially Christmas and Easter, is an important element which remains decisive even in adolescence, when on the part of some adolescents there is a moving away from religious practice”. On the other hand, “when faith is not a reality in the daily life of the family this too influences children’s religious experience”. The survey shows that “initiation of children can promote questioning of parents, brothers and sisters and this can lead to an enriching of religious practice”. For this reason, family participation in catechetical encounters is often mentioned as “a positive factor, even if it is often emphasised that such participation is still very infrequent”.Friends and the school. Also the bonds of friendship play a fundamental role. Friends often constitute the second group of people quoted as witnesses of faith or as responsible for estrangement. Sunday Mass, for example, when it is also a place for meeting friends is a place where there is a desire to participate. On the other hand, if friends don’t go to Mass, this becomes a burden or hardly attractive for children. In fact, it seems important for children, adolescents and young people in general to be able to live their faith with their peers. School influence depends very much on the contexts (if it is a private Catholic school or state school). It is noted that private Catholic schools have a positive role in Christian initiation, in offering children an environment where the presence of Christian signs and words is normal. In this questionnaire it was possible to assess how estrangement from the faith, which is often manifested in adolescence, has among its causes not just the fact that the majority of school classmates do not live it, and isolation is always a dissuading factor, but it is also linked to pressure and the need to study. Consistently, adolescents and young people emphasise the need and usefulness of concrete practical activities. Often one also comes across the idea that meeting different points of view (with people of other religions, encounters with adults, with other cultures) is important for personal faith development. Catechesis and liturgy. Religious courses are sometimes judged to be boring more often than catechetical groups. The content of catechesis per se is rarely cited and that raises some questions about how knowledge of Jesus and the Church’s doctrine must be communicated in an attractive and significant manner. In Christian initiation and in the life of the community, the liturgical life is fundamental. The survey helps to understand how the way of celebrating the faith can be an incentive to or a factor in the estrangement from religion. Care over celebrations is understood, especially for Mass so that celebrations may be the place of the encounter with the living God and not be judged boring and constraining. The surveys shows that “the passage from adolescence is at the same time a period of questioning, of their faith and other things, and so it can also be an opportunity for an awareness of their faith”. It is the moment of freedom when one must consciously welcome what has been communicated and find one’s own personal reasons for saying yes to God. Often, at this time, this can be manifested in a distancing from Christian practice, but at the same time, the moment of a search for greater participation, a more “active” faith.