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Thesis/Dissertation Information
- Degree Disciplines:
- Theology
Notes
- Abstract:
- In the early centuries of Christianity, the Catechumenate was the usual vehicle for admission into the Christian Community. It was a period of preparation according to a defined method for adult candidates.1 As adult converts grew fewer and more infants of Christian parents were presented for baptism, the catechumenate slipped into oblivion. One of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council has been the rediscovery of this thousand-year-old liturgical and ecumenical tradition The restoration of the adult catechumenate as promulgated in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults on a provisional basis has gone almost unnoticed. Keifer believes, however, that this rite "heralds a summons to begin the most radical sort of reform and renewal." The Catholic Church has never before in its history done such violence to its liturgical practice. A step like this demonstrates that..."rite is wholly irrelevant or that the church is willing to change radically its concrete reality. Such an approach is either suicide or prophecy of a very high order." Why did the rite of Christian initiation disintegrate? Does this ritual break down..."show a more fundamental decay within Christian life: a decay that resonates throughout Christian belief, catechesis, theology and practice?" asks Mitchell, or is it a result of chaftge brought about as the church responded to various kinds of occasions as Robert Grant points out. Can the Adult Catechumenate become a most effective instrument for pastoral renewal emerging from the Second Vatican Council? This paper will explore these questions.
- Thesis:
- Thesis (M. A.)--Barry University, 1977.
- Bibliography:
- Includes bibliographical references (leaves 29-32).
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