Updated
kac october 30, 2007

The Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis

To further the comprehensive approach to adolescent catechesis, the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL), and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) with the support of the USCCB are collaborating together on the Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis (PAC). The collective goal of the Partnership is to promote a comprehensive and contemporary understanding of adolescent catechesis and to develop and support effective approaches to Catholic faith formation in parishes and schools.

The National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis (NIAC)

The impetus for the development and evolution of the Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis began in 2004 with a desire to support themes and approaches for strengthening catechesis with adolescents in the National Directory for Catechesis (2005), the church in the United States’ response to the General Directory for Catechesis (1997).

Concurrent with these developments within the Catholic Church, the National Study of Youth and Religion identified serious challenges regarding the ability of Catholic adolescents to articulate their faith and live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

In response to these developments, the Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis has begun the groundbreaking development of a seven-year National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis. (87 KB)

The Monograph Series on Adolescent Catechesis

These monographs form a series of ten articles on adolescent catechesis which are sponsored by the Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis.

• Adolescent Catechesis: An Unfinished Agenda (153 KB)
  by Dr. Michael P. Horan, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
• Adolescent Catechesis in a Culturally Diverse Context (151 KB)
  by Michael G. Lee, SJ, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
• Forming Disciples of Jesus in Parish and School (151 KB)
  by Laura Henning, Boise, Idaho
• The American Cultural Context for Adolescent Catechesis (149 KB)
  by Dr. William Dinges, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
• Adolescent Catechesis Today: On the Road to Transformation (211 KB)
  by Michael Theisen, National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, Washington D.C.
• Reflections on Parish and Adolescent Catechesis (55 KB)
  by Dr. Michael Warren, St John’s University, New York.
• The State of Adolescent Catechesis Today: A Review of the Literature (77 KB)
  by Jeffrey Kaster, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota
• What the Church Has Been Telling Us about Adolescent Catechesis (41 KB)
  by Maura Thompson Hagarty, St. Mary's Press, Winona MN
• The State of Adolescent Catechesis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (56 KB)
  by Paul Henderson, USCCB Department of Printing and Publishing, Washington D.C.
• Adolescent Catechesis and the National Directory for Catechesis: It's About Discipleship (89 KB)
  by Dan Mulhall, USCCB Department of Education, Washington D.C.