Published: 2024-02-01

Can Beauty Be a Source of Catechesis? Guidelines Set Forth in the New Directory for Catechesis

Tadeusz Panuś
Collectanea Theologica
Section: Articles
https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2024.94.1.07

Abstract

The contemporary Church sees the need to enrich the message of faith with the way of beauty (via pulchritudinis). This is postulated by the new Directory for Catechesis of 2020. By presenting the sources of catechesis, it shows that they are not limited to the Word of God in the Holy Scripture and in the Holy Tradition, the Magisterium of the Church, the liturgy, the testimony of saints and martyrs, theology and Christian culture, but they also include beauty. The latter is described in four paragraphs (nos. 106–109). The article makes a detailed analysis of this text. It answers the question: Who the source of beauty is? It shows three transcendentals: truth (verum), goodness (bonum) and beauty (pulchrum), which must shine so that the preaching of the Risen Christ can reach the depths of the human heart. Finally, it suggests the need to put contemporary catechesis on the way of beauty. The emphasis put on beauty as a source of catechesis is an important contribution of the new Directory. Faith is born not only ex auditu but also ex visu. Therefore, the way of beauty is very helpful in contemporary catechetical formation, which is deeply embedded in media and digital culture.

Keywords:

Directory for Catechesis of 2020, sources of catechesis, via pulchritudinis, beauty of God and creatures, beauty of Jesus Christ

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Panuś, T. (2024). Can Beauty Be a Source of Catechesis? Guidelines Set Forth in the New Directory for Catechesis. Collectanea Theologica, 94(1), 207–223. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2024.94.1.07

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