Approved by the 76th General Chapter, held in Morlupo from April 4 to 18, 2024, and promulgated on September 29, the General Formation Plan was delivered to all confreres. Together with the Constitutions and the Bylaws, it forms the basis for highlighting doctrinarie identity.

Between September 28 and October 1, 2025, in Genzano, near Rome, the Fathers of the Congregation for Christian Doctrine gathered for a training meeting focused on the General Formation Project (Ratio Formationis), concentrating on the work of the founder, Saint Caesar of Bus, and in particular on his catechetical method.
The Fathers addressed three questions in particular: what is meant when we say “catechesis”; why Saint Caesar is an innovative and timely catechist; and what God and the Church expect of the Doctrinaries, the Congregation whose mission is catechesis.
Here is the reflection that Father Luis Gonzaga Bolinelli, vicar general of the Congregation, proposed to his brothers.

What do we mean when we say “catechesis”?

A prominent Brazilian catechist, Father Luiz Alves de Lima, likes to repeat: “Quando tudo é catequese, nada é catequese,” meaning, “When everything is catechesis, nothing is catechesis,” because catechesis cannot be reduced to fine words, well-crafted homilies, or various speeches to explain points of faith. Catechesis is clearly defined in many official documents of the universal Church and of individual Episcopal Conferences, and has precise objectives, which as Doctrinarians we cannot ignore.

Why is Saint Caesar an innovative and contemporary catechist?

This is a statement we make all the time, but can we explain it? Let’s try to clarify the truth.

What do God and the Church expect from the Doctrinaries, a Congregation whose mission is catechesis?

Bishops now prepare diocesan priests to work with catechesis in their dioceses. And what contribution can we, Doctrinaries, truly offer? In the dioceses where we have recently established our presence, the bishops’ main request is dedicated work in catechesis, the formation of catechists, and work with young people. Returning to the question, “What contribution can we make to the Church today?” it seems to me that the General Formation Project addresses this challenge and presents many clear steps to be taken. Therefore, in addition to being familiar with this important document, we must take its orientations very seriously.

Introduction

On April 12, 2024, during the 76th General Chapter of our Congregation, a study afternoon was held at the Pontifical Salesian University on the theme “The Charism and Passion for the Catechesis of Saint Cesare de Bus.” During this afternoon, we listened to two reflections that deserve special attention: “Memory – The Role of Saint Cesare de Bus in the History of Modern Catechesis” by Professor Angelo Giuseppe Dibisceglia and “Current Events – The Intuitions of Saint Cesare de Bus: Validity for Today and Seeds of the Future” by Father Giuseppe Biancardi.

Two interventions rich in reflections and ideas that are worth listening to again to help us clarify how to implement the Doctrinarie charism in our days, wherever we are called.
Today we also have the joy of holding in our hands the entire catechism of Saint Caesar, published in four volumes in Italian, the Family Instructions. This “hidden treasure,” which we are beginning to understand better, not only presents the doctrine embraced, believed, and taught by Saint Caesar, but also provides us with many insights into his catechetical insights and methodologies, which, besides being original for his time, are highly relevant in our own.

Characteristics of the “Family Instructions”

Caesar’s characteristic, familiar way of thinking about catechesis is found right at the beginning of the Instructions, when he himself answers the question “why attend the doctrine?”: “So that you may be instructed, to teach you not vain, useless, or harmful things, but good, necessary, and profitable things, namely, the fear of God. It will teach you to be good Christians. Now, to make a good Christian, it is necessary to help him acquire willpower, teach him what he must do, and give him the means with which to do what he must. All this is contained in Christian doctrine, which deals with the articles of our faith, God’s commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. The articles that deal with God’s benefits, promises, and threats will help us gain our will; the commandments will teach us what we must do; prayer will instill in us the strength to do what we must.”
Among the many characteristics of de Bus’s way of conceiving catechesis, which we find in the Instructions which are undoubtedly valid for catechesis today and in the future, we can highlight the following.

Familiar language

It’s no coincidence that the Instructions are labeled “familiar.” Indeed, the text evokes the perspective of a familiar, friendly conversation, marked by charity, between the catechist and the person being catechized.
We immediately grasp this basic approach from the first pages of the Instructions, but we perceive it even more clearly if we compare de Bus’s text with the introductions or prefaces of contemporary catechisms and those of the modern era. Indeed, the dominant theme of these texts is primarily juridical, normative, and imposing. However, the inspiration and underlying approach of the Instructions are decidedly different. Already in the first lesson, Saint Caesar lists the reasons that should motivate participation in the “doctrine.”
The aim is to convince, encouraging attendance at catechism with good, positive reasons. Of course, the saint knows full well that one must “know” the truths of faith for salvation, but to encourage participation in catechism, he does not invoke legal or coercive norms. Instead, he presents the truths gathered in the catechism text through a sincere and personal conversation, justified by reasons that encourage the freedom of the person being catechized, without resorting to fear or punishment.

Meaningful content for the recipient

De Bus’s text still says a lot today about the purpose of catechetical commitment. In short, our saint dedicates all his efforts to ensuring that the truths of faith are known, understood, assimilated, and translated into existence and behavior.
We can say that the fundamental concern that animates every catechist is that, for the purposes of eternal salvation, it is absolutely essential to know the faith by overcoming religious ignorance.
For the modern catechist, it was normal that the only possible way to spread the faith was to have students memorize the answers in the catechism booklet, which communicate the truths to be “known” using the language of theology, without excessive concern for their comprehension, because it was a widespread belief that knowing the truths by heart was already, in some way, a sign of having at least half understood them.
This was the context in which de Bus operated, but he was not content with rote learning. Going against common practice, he wanted doctrine to be understood, comprehended, and so he extensively explained the truths enunciated by catechesis, drawing on every possible source and a variety of rational, biblical, historical, and hagiographical arguments, employing images, comparisons, examples, and anecdotes.

Broad and catechetical content, not theological synthesis

De Bus’s lectures are stimulating for today also because they remind us of the need to convey up-to-date theological content, while always keeping in mind that catechesis is one thing, theology is another. His explanations are informed by a vision of faith that, in many respects, is innovative compared to the religious mindset of his time and, in some cases, even in tune with contemporary theology.
It will suffice to cite a few examples chosen by browsing the pages of the Instructions.
To the question “why should we love God?”, de Bus, nourished by the thought of the Fathers, gives as his first answer: “Because he is beautiful and good”.
A language decidedly unusual in the 16th century, yet very current, is that used to catechize on the theme of the Church. It: “It is the house of God. […] It is the bride of Christ and the sheepfold. […] It is the area where the wheat is mixed with the chaff. […] It is the city situated on the mountain that can be seen from all sides. […] It is the ark outside of which there is no salvation.”
Although Saint Caesar deals with catechisms that are small theological summaries, he elaborates on theological formulas in a very thorough manner. Indeed, Caesar was not deaf to the evident need to translate the tenets of Roman Orthodoxy into a popular form, and for this reason, he deepened his method of teaching the faith, drawing guidance, in theoretical aspects, from the primacy of Sacred Scripture and the then more recent conciliar magisterium, as well as from the authority of many saints and learned scholars and preachers, and, in practical aspects, from the method developed by the schools of Christian Doctrine.

The Instructions “why” justifications

When we encounter the Family Instructions, it’s natural to ask why a catechetical text is so extensive. In fact, from the abundance of justifications that Saint Caesar offers to those who listen to his doctrine, it’s clear that he clearly rejects any recourse to authority, a fundamental tenet of all teaching at the time, still invoked well into the twentieth century, in catechetical contexts and beyond.
Thus, with his four volumes of extensive explanations, de Bus completely disavows these positions. Indeed, had he followed this principle of authority, his four volumes would have been reduced to just a few pages, as he would not have felt the need to develop the long series of multiple “whys” justifying his catechesis.
We must remember that in the most well-known catechisms of the time, the main concern was to concentrate the truths in a brief doctrinal statement, which presents itself almost as a definition. Instead, de Bus’s approach is entirely descriptive and functional. He generally doesn’t ask “what is it?” but “what purpose does it serve?”, “from what?”, “for what purpose?”, “when does it exist or occur?”
The “whys?” that justify the faith proclaimed are truly many. De Bus, in short, justifies, offers multiple reasons for belief. In other words, he treats the person being catechized as an adult; an adult whose freedom and intelligence he respects: why do we go to catechism?, why this sign? (for example, the sign of the Cross), why do we believe this truth?, why does God do this or say that?, why do we say or do this or that?—for example, at a ritual or moral level.

Catechesis conceived as a necessity and not as an obligation

With de Bus, the innovation was not the catechism, but rather the method to be adopted for catechesis, based on the ability to adapt to different age groups, starting from the biblical foundation, for a formation of the person capable of combining traditional preaching with practical indications for everyday life.
For the Council of Trent, catechesis is important “so that the faithful may approach the sacraments with greater reverence and devotion.” This motivated de Bus to embody in an original way the need to contribute to the true renewal of Catholics.
At a time when “the most educated in the city […] barely knew how to confess properly,” while “the common people did not even know the things absolutely necessary for salvation, and if they did know anything, they knew it without penetrating its meaning and understanding,” de Bus operated out of the awareness that the vitality of being a Church in society also depended on the catechetical instruction to be acquired in churches: “Great ignorance, in fact, is responsible for not caring about living well, because if we do not know the obligation we have towards God our Creator, we do not honor and venerate the holy sacraments as they deserve, we do not take into account the commandments of our holy Mother Church, we have no fear of God’s judgments.”
But Saint Caesar goes further: he is not satisfied with doctrine being known and understood; he wants it to be assimilated and to impact life. His catechesis aims to inspire a true and mature attitude of faith, that is, well-developed in its three fundamental components: the cognitive, certainly (the intelligence, the head), but also the emotional (emotionality, the heart), and the behavioral (the will, the hands). Indeed, he dedicates himself entirely to the catechetical ministry to instruct the catechized, but also to “gain their will,” to “inflame their heart,” so that the “doctrine may break and shatter hearts, and change them.”
In short, Caesar places catechesis and the truths it conveys within the order of proposition. And it is a proposition made palatable by positive arguments, far removed from the prospect of divine punishment should the message not be accepted.

And, again, de Bus addresses his proposal not to an anonymous, indistinct group, but to the individual, to the single person. The questions that open the lessons are most often in the singular: “Tell me, my son.” Sometimes we have “My children,” but generally the singular dominates. This is an eloquent sign that when composing his writing, Saint Caesar was thinking not of the masses, the group, but of the individual being catechized; a sign of his desire to reach each person as an individual, to engage in a familiar conversation with each person.
And so the image that emerges from the four volumes is truly that of a catechist and a person being catechized sitting next to each other, engaged not in a catechism “lesson,” but in an instructive family conversation.

Some reflections for catechesis today

The basic approach given by de Bus to the catechetical ministry is an obligatory path for current and future catechesis.

Today’s man wants to know the reasons and justifications for faith’s propositions. Contemporary man, in fact, finds many statements of the Christian faith, even fundamental ones, in-credible (not credible). In such a context, today’s catechists want to know the “whys” of faith, the “whys” of de Bus, and many others, prompted by their concrete existential experience. In other words, today’s adult man, the primary recipient of catechesis, needs more than ever an argumentative catechesis, or, if you will, an apologetics obviously suited to the times. And this apologetics is perhaps lacking today.

But Saint Caesar’s catechesis, aimed at closely combining the life and faith of the person being catechized, leads us to suspect that even a more apologetic, or more thoroughly argued, catechesis is no longer sufficient today. Because today’s crisis of faith, even more than a crisis of “knowledge,” manifests itself more radically as a crisis of the meaning of faith itself.
Today, we agree with de Bus in wanting a “gracious” announcement motivated by love, addressed in individual and personal terms to the individual.
Saint Caesar, initially hesitant about whether or not to “lower himself” in the catechetical ministry, later discovered, with the grace of the Lord and many teachers of the faith, “the greatness of this work”: “I must confess that, in undertaking this work of Christian doctrine, I strongly believed I was lowering myself to dealing with childish and inferior things according to the opinion of the world, such as teaching children the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, etc. But our Lord wanted to show me the greatness of this work through the holy authors who wrote about it, and so I realized that I was greatly mistaken, finding myself totally unworthy of carrying out this task.”
This is the experience of doubt experienced by many catechists today, discouraged by the results of their commitment to serving the Word, which, humanly speaking, seem very meager. In this context, reconsidering the catechetical experience of Saint Cesar de Bus becomes for them an effective and timely moment of encouragement.