St. Justin Institute
The St. Justinus Institute is a Catholic institution for the formation of lay catechists with a focus on preaching the faith in today's world.
Origin and activity
The “Institut St. Justinus” was founded in 1996 and is based in Mariazell ( Austria ). The institute is recognized by the state and the church and sees itself as the work of the first proclamation. The institute was founded by the Lazarist father Josef Herget.
The main focus of the institute's activities is religious instruction and information, apostolate training for volunteers, and Catholic religious instruction in various languages for baptismal applicants and catechumens .
The head of the institute also works as a speaker. As a long-standing pastor in Turkey , he is particularly dedicated to the situation of Christians and especially converts to Christianity in this country.
Catechist training course
In order to enable laypeople for apostolic activities, the institute offers a course for the formation of catechists (LAK). Since the summer semester 2002, the LAK has been carried out as a four-semester correspondence course by the institute in cooperation with the Heiligenkreuz University of Applied Sciences .
The course has a well-founded intellectual, human and spiritual training of catechists with special ability to independently guide baptismal applicants of different ages, languages and nationalities through the catechumenate and to prepare them for receiving baptism. The LAK is intended to enable graduates to put the theoretically acquired knowledge into practice immediately. Furthermore, the catechists should be able to understand the Catholic faith more deeply from the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the Church. In addition, the catechists are to be equipped with theological and culture-specific knowledge that is necessary for preaching the Gospel to baptismal applicants from other religions.
The course follows guidelines that have been approved by the Austrian Bishops' Conference and concludes with the ecclesiastical mission to become a catechist. The Archbishop of Vienna is the episcopal protector .
However, not only believers from the Archdiocese of Vienna or Austria can take part in this course , but basically all interested parties, regardless of the diocese of their place of residence. The LAK is open to all Catholics - regardless of age, occupation or status - who are concerned with deepening and passing on the Catholic faith.
Distance learning
The course for the training of catechists is a correspondence course and is designed in such a way that large parts of the material can be worked through in self-study . The necessary scripts and books are sent to the participants every month from the start. The correspondence course systematically introduces fourteen subject areas of theology . At the end of each semester there is a study week that is compulsory for all participants. The material developed in self-study is discussed, expanded and deepened. Open questions are clarified through conversation and discussion forums. The common daily celebration of the Eucharist is the focus of the individual study weeks, as well as the possibilities for separate prayer times and discussions.
During the study week, participants can take exams on the various subjects of the semester. Exam dates are also offered at various locations throughout the year. The grades of the exams taken are documented in the study book .
The place for the respective study weeks is always the Philosophical-Theological University of Heiligenkreuz near Vienna .
Internships
During the course, participants are given the opportunity to have faith talks with adult baptismal applicants and to practice baptism classes. Such a practical exercise should enrich the abstract theoretical discussion of the contents of belief.
Porter and management
The "Institut St. Justinus" is supported by the association of the same name . The current director of the institute is its founder, P. Josef Herget CM .