German Catechist Association

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Logo of the German Katecheten-Verein e. V.

The German Katecheten-Verein eV ( dkv ) is a Catholic association that is involved in religious education , religious instruction and community catechesis . He is committed to the further development and sustainability of religious education and training within the Roman Catholic Church .

history

On October 25, 1887, 20 priests founded the Munich Catechist Association. In 1921 it expanded beyond the Bavarian dioceses and the German Catechist Association was founded. Initially the dkv was an association exclusively for priests, but as early as 1925 religious teachers who had acquired the " missio canonica " were also allowed to join the association .

Edition 1959

In 1938 the Fulda Bishops' Conference commissioned the DKV to prepare a new catechism. Due to the turmoil of the war, this did not appear under the title “Catholic Catechism of the Dioceses of Germany” until 1955. Within a short time the “Green Catechism”, as it was called in everyday life, was translated into 30 languages.

In 1980 the DKV published the catechism “Outline of Faith” as a supplement to the existing religious books .

The Council of the European Bishops' Conference (CCEE) entrusted the DKV with the organization of the European Congress, which took place in Freising in 1993 under the motto “What catechetical challenges arise in a pluri-cultural and pluri-religious Europe?” . This congress dealt with the political situation in Europe, the chances of evangelization and the consequences and perspectives of catechetical work.

Chairperson

Focus

The DKV is committed to religious education that is lively and sustainable. It organizes congresses, specialist conferences and training courses at the diocesan and federal level and publishes practical work aids.

Since children, adolescents and adults learn religion and belief in different places, for example in the family, school and parish , in day-care centers, in youth pastoral care , in facilities for curative and special education or in adult education , the DKV networks these different fields of activity of religious education and Education.

The DKV interferes in the dispute about the importance of religious education and upbringing. That is why he calls for comprehensive education and is against reducing it to commercial knowledge and job-oriented qualification.

Publications

Together with the office for youth pastoral care of the German Bishops' Conference , the DKV is the publisher of the specialist journal "Katechetic Blätter" , which is published six times a year by Kösel-Verlag . For religious teachers he publishes the working aid "Materialbrief RU" (= religious instruction) and for full-time and volunteer workers in the parish the working aid "Materialbrief GK" (= community catechesis) and for youth and school pastors the material letter "Prayer and worship" .

In September 1990 the DKV published an “Open letter to all those who are engaged in the mediation of the faith.” This letter was an encouragement for all those who convey faith professionally, but suffer from the declining status of faith and the church or at least feel like it hinders their task of conveying the faith.

In the paper “Catechesis at its Limits? Invitation to upright and upright dialogue ”, the DKV in 1992 responded to the changed situation of parish catechesis and sacraments - pastoral care and formulated consequences for catechetical work.

Events

The DKV organizes regular, recurring conferences, but also one-off training courses and congresses .

Regularly

The annual religious education conference takes place alternately as a national conference in Germany and as an international conference in other European countries. Well-known religious educators such as Rudolf Englert (D), Hans Mendl (D), Hubertus Halbfas (D), Helga Kohler-Spiegel (Austria), Agnes Wuckelt (D) or important theologians such as Paul Zulehner , Johann Baptist Metz , Gotthard Fuchs will give lectures.

Together with the Protestant “Comenius Institute”, the DKV organizes the “Forum for Curative and Religious Education” every two years, which has a special position in German-speaking countries. The vocational school symposium and the symposium for community catechesis also take place every two years.

Since 1982, the DKV has organized the “Freising Music Work Week” every summer in the Cardinal Döpfner House in Freising. Since 1986 there has been the “Holthausener Musische Werkwoche” in the Ludwig-Windthorst-Haus in Lingen and since 1997 the “Nauroder Musische Werkwoche” in the Wilhelm-Kempf-Haus in Wiesbaden. Together with the Pontifical University of the Salesians in Rome and the Working Group on Catholic Religious Education and Catechetics (AKRK), the DKV organizes a German-Italian meeting of religious educators and catechists every two years. This is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and takes place alternately in southern Germany or in northern Italy / South Tyrol.

The Franco-German meeting, which the DKV organizes alone, is about the exchange of experiences about the situation of religious instruction and catechesis in the two countries. So far, the meeting has taken place in 1999 and 2002.

Unique

  • In 1983 the catechetical congress "Learning to believe with one another in family, community, school" took place in Freiburg.
  • In 1987 the motto of the Catechetical Congress in Munich was “Unanimous in many languages. Learning to believe in Europe ”.
  • The European Congress "What catechetical challenges arise in a pluri-cultural and pluri-religious Europe?" Was organized in 1993 by the DKV on behalf of the Council of the European Bishops' Conference.
  • In 1997 the Catechetical Congress in Würzburg had the theme "Voices of Longing". It was about the sensitive perception of human longings today, about critical differentiation and careful support of a culture of longing in which the Christian potential for hope is fruitfully integrated.

Position within the Church

The DKV triggered violent internal church disputes in 1992. Under the title “Religious instruction in schools”, he pleaded in 12 theses for the anchoring of religious instruction in public schools and explained the theologically and anthropologically necessary framework conditions. The plea also promoted the possibility of denominational cooperative religious instruction.
In the same year he rejected the pilot project LER ( life science / ethics / religion ) in the state of Brandenburg in an open letter .

In 1995 the declaration of the Bishops' Conference “The Formative Power of Religious Education” appeared. In 10 comments on this declaration, the board of the DKV formulated a statement in which the positive approaches are recognized, but problematic aspects are also asked.

The disagreements that had arisen from the plea in 1992 were resolved at the 1997 Catechetical Congress in Würzburg between the chairman of the DKV Karl-Heinz Schmitt and the chairman of the German bishops' conference, Karl Cardinal Lehmann .

structure

The DKV consists of 25 diocesan associations , from which the DKV board is elected, which is made up of nine people.

The editor of the magazine Katechetisch Blätter is a born member of the board (currently Helga Kohler-Spiegel ).

Radical changes and resolutions must be passed by the Representatives' Day, the highest decision-making body, which meets once a year. In addition to votes from the diocesan associations, Catholic institutions and institutions also have a right to vote.

The DKV office with the three specialist departments religious education, community catechesis and special education as well as a book and material service is located in Munich.

Associated with the DKV is the Working Group on Catholic Religious Education and Catechetics .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.guenterbiemer.de/cat/Glauben.htm#zwei
  2. ↑ https://archive.org/details/KatholischerKatechismusDerBistmerDeutschlands
  3. ↑ Outline of Faith: Cath. Catechism for the teaching work “Zielfelder ru”, Munich -Kösel 1980; ISBN 3466505631

Web links