The South Deanery Catechists’ Association held its retreat at St. Anne Catholic Church, Ogbere, Olunloyo road, Ibadan on Saturday 3rd August 2024, starting with the praying of Holy Rosary led by Catechist (Dr) Folorunsho Ojuge, Catechist Akinmoladun and Catechist Mathias Ejuwa. 

The retreat Master was Rev. Fr. John Ademoye, who exposed the Blessed Sacrament and administered the sacrament of reconciliation. A talk titled “Responsibilities of a Catholic Catechist” was also delivered by him.

Fr. Ademoye started by differentiating between the duty and responsibility. According to him, duties are those things a Catechist must do while responsibilities are those things a Catechist should do. In order words, responsibilities are all about obedience to one’s duties.

He listed the tools of office a good Catechists must possess as follows: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Holy Bible from the Catholic origin,  Code of Canon law, Vatican II documents 1 and 2 as well as an Ordo.

He further highlighted the principal components of Catechists work as thus:

Preaching the words of God: Catechists exercise the ministry of the word by the virtue of their baptism, confirmation and formation training received.

Catechesis: It is a major process of carrying out the ministry of the word. Teaching of the Catholic doctrines is aimed at the faithful of all ages from young children to adults.

Missionary action. Catechists are sent by ecclesiastical authority to implant Church among people or group where it has not taken root. 

Catholic Education: Catechists are to teach in order to promote community spirituality. Catechists need to focus on the following aspects: Knowledge of faith, Liturgical education, Moral formation, Formation in prayer, Education for Community life and education of Missionary initiation.

Catholic Social Media. It is also in the capacity of the Catechists to post good and edifying contents on the social media.

 

He stated further the responsibilities of the Catechists as follows: 

Teaching the word of God to children, young and adults.

Preparing them for inception of Sacrament.

Serve as guide to people as to discover themselves. 

Catechists are expected to model their lives after Christ the good Shepherd.

Prayer and study are essential duties of Catechists.

The Ordo is a treasure map for any Catechists. 

Catechists should adopt a suitable learning and teaching style for the catechumen.

There was Questions and answers section after the talk with detailed explanations given by the retreat Master.

The retreat was concluded with the Holy Mass, concelebrated with the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Stephen Balogun. 

Fr Balogun welcomed the participants (24 Catechists in attendance) to his parish and admonished them to work together to move the Church forward. 

A group photograph was taken after the Mass with the retreat Master and the parish priest. Refreshment was also not left out.