National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent ...

140 Chapter 8activity” in the world (NCD [Sharing the Light of Faith: National Catechetical Directory forCatholics in the United States (1979)], 42). These biblical, ecclesial, liturgical, and naturalsigns should inform the content and spirit of all catechetical materials. (p. 7)A second set of guidelines—no less important than the first if catechesis is to be effective—arebased on pastoral principles and practical concerns. They are reminders that catecheticalmaterials must take into account the community for whom they are intended, theconditions in which they live, and the ways in which they learn (cf. GCD [GeneralCatechetical Directory (1971)], Foreword). . . . Catechetical materials [must] take into considerationthe needs of the Hispanic community and other ethnic and culturally diversegroups that comprise the Church in the United States. No single text or program canaddress the many cultures and groups that make up society in the United States, but allcatechetical materials must take this diversity into account. Effective catechesis, as wehave noted above, requires that the Church’s teaching be presented correctly and in itsentirety, and it is equally important to present it in ways that are attractive, appealing, andunderstandable by the individuals and communities to whom it is directed. (p. 23)18 BNFPD, no. 22.19 CL, Enclosure III.20 DMLPD, no. 80.21 Cf. BNFPD, no. 21: “could be either a priest or a deacon” is applied equivalently in thisDirectory to that of the director of deacon personnel. Cf., also, footnote no. 12, above.22 Ibid.23 Ibid.24 DMLPD, no. 80.25 BNFPD, no. 24.