<strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>Curriculum</strong> <strong>Directory</strong>Some key features of this revised <strong>Curriculum</strong> <strong>Directory</strong>• More detailed references from the Catechism (CCC) and other sources have been provided foreach section within an area of study.• Educators are encouraged to make use of the catechetical formulas found in the Compendiumof the Catechism of the <strong>Catholic</strong> Church (CCCC).• Much of the guidance given in Levels of Attainment in <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> in <strong>Catholic</strong> Schools andColleges has been included.• <strong>The</strong> first section of Area of Study One is now called Knowing and Loving God, recognising that allknowledge of God is dependent upon God’s self-revelation in Christ.• <strong>The</strong> section dealing with Holy Scripture has been significantly elaborated in terms of detailprovided, addressing a concern that pupils are not being given a sufficient grounding in thisarea.• <strong>The</strong>re is a renewed emphasis upon <strong>Catholic</strong> Social Teaching, the <strong>Catholic</strong> understanding ofVirtue, and ‘<strong>The</strong>ology of the Body’.• As the Church marks the fiftieth anniversary of Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, which inaugurated theSecond Vatican Council, the Council is presented not simply as a principle of organisation butas an important topic to be studied in itself.• <strong>The</strong> inclusion of a small sample of typical questions about the <strong>Catholic</strong> Faith are intended todraw the attention of educators to the important discipline of Apologetics, so that we may beready to give an account of the hope that is within us, with gentleness and respect. 4 (<strong>The</strong>sewill be of particular interest to those preparing pupils for some public examinations.)It is hoped that this revised <strong>Curriculum</strong> <strong>Directory</strong> will encourage educators to return to Holy Scripture,the Catechism, and the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council and, as time allows, torevise lesson plans and schemes of work in a way that will more fully and engagingly reflect theriches of <strong>Catholic</strong> doctrine.2
<strong>Catholic</strong> Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales — Department of <strong>Catholic</strong> <strong>Education</strong> and Formation<strong>The</strong> Context of <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong><strong>Education</strong> today is a complex task, which is made more challenging by rapid social, economic,and cultural changes. Its mission remains the integral formation of the human person. Pupilsmust be guaranteed the possibility of developing harmoniously their own physical, moral,intellectual and spiritual gifts, and they must also be helped to develop their sense of responsibility,learn the correct use of freedom, and participate actively in social life. 5<strong>The</strong> primary purpose of <strong>Catholic</strong> <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> is to come to know and understand God’s revelationwhich is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Catholic</strong> school is ‘a clear educationalproject of which Christ is the foundation.’ 6 In the person of Christ, the deepest meaning of what itis to be human — that we are created by God and through the Holy Spirit united with Christ in hisIncarnation — is discovered. 7 This revelation is known through the scriptures and the tradition ofthe Church as taught by the Magisterium. <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> helps the pupil to know and experiencethe meaning of this revelation in his or her own life and the life of the community which isthe Church. Hence ‘the promotion of the human person is the goal of the <strong>Catholic</strong> school.’ 8Parents ‘are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their children, and therefore must berecognised as the primary and principle educators’ 9 but in this primary task, parents need the subsidiaryhelp of civil society and other institutions. <strong>The</strong> family is ‘the primary, but not the only andexclusive educating community’. 10 Among those who cooperate in the task of education, the <strong>Catholic</strong>school assists in the delivery of a programme of learning in <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> appropriate to theage and particular learning needs of the pupil. This <strong>Curriculum</strong> <strong>Directory</strong> provides a foundation forthe classroom curriculum of such a programme.<strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> is central to the curriculum of the <strong>Catholic</strong> school and is at the heart of the philosophyof <strong>Catholic</strong> education. <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> has developed in a way that reflects the particularidentity of our <strong>Catholic</strong> schools in England and Wales. It teaches about the faith in the context of aschool which proclaims the Gospel, and invites the individual to respond to the message of Christ.As the individual responds to this invitation, growth in faith and knowledge helps the pupil to respondto the call to holiness and understand the fullness of what it is to be human. For some, then,<strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> will also be received as evangelisation and for some, catechesis.<strong>The</strong> relationship between <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> and Catechesis is one of distinction and complementarity.What confers on <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> in schools its proper evangelizing character is the factthat it is called to penetrate a particular area of culture and to relate to other areas of knowledge.‘As an original form of the ministry of the word, it makes present the Gospel in a personal processof cultural, systematic and critical assimilation.’ 11<strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> in schools sows the dynamic seed of the Gospel and seeks to ‘keep in touch withthe other elements of the pupil’s knowledge and education; thus the Gospel will impregnate thementality of the students in the field of their learning, and the harmonization of their culture willbe achieved in the light of faith.’ 12It is necessary, therefore, that <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Education</strong> in schools be regarded as an academic disciplinewith the same systematic demands and the same rigour as other disciplines. It must present theChristian message and the Christian event with the same seriousness and the same depth with which3