EDUCATING FAITH (THE PSYCHO-PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEMS OF RELIGIOUS

EDUCATION)
The anthropological foundations of faith education.
Theology and Psychology are united by a single passion: man. Both can be considered
anthropological sciences and can dialogue in the common project of a Christian
anthropology.
Since the instances of educational action are valid for every educational service, including
faith education, it will first be necessary to consider and clarify what is meant by education,
and then apply these considerations to the concept of faith education as well.
Faith and education: educating has always been a task present in humanity. Every human
being, does not begin to grow by himself by pure instinct, but only to the extent that another,
at length and in various ways, takes care of him. Initially they are father and of mother, and
later a whole series of allies in his growth, both global and particular. Such instances are
valid for the growth and development of faith, which, in order to express itself, requires
predispositional action that makes subjects open and available to the overriding divine
initiative. Educating for faith involves indispensable predispositional initial and accompanying
help so that the gift of God can take shape and grow in the concrete person or group. This
does not superimpose itself on the person, but takes it on from within, heals and orients it.
The educational task of catechesis: For some time now, the nature of "service of the faith"
has been claimed for catechesis and, little by little, the designation "education of the faith"
has become customary. It is stated in the Synodal Document of '77: "Catechesis consists in
the orderly and progressive education of the faith united to a continuous progress of
maturation of the faith itself."

The qualification of catechesis as education of the faith therefore constitutes a privileged way
of access to the understanding of its identity and meaning in ecclesial practice. At the same
time, however, this designation and the resulting practical activity appear steeped in
difficulties that call for an effort at clarification. On the one hand, the theological concept of
faith seems, in fact, to render vain any claim to intervene pedagogically and thus to influence
even from the outside the inner reality of faith. On the other, the designation "faith education,"
does not seem to correspond to the actual characteristics of catechetical practice, which
often takes the form of doctrinal teaching. In fact, catechetical reflection has predominantly
settled on the transmission of the message of faith. what, then, should be understood when it
is stated that catechesis, by its very nature, is education?
The philosophy of education and pedagogical methodology insist that the educational act is
an intentional act that addresses precise recipients allowing the maturation and acquisition of
a personal life project; catechesis is faced with the task of supporting the formation of a
person oriented according to the experience of Jesus of Nazareth.
In the light of what has already been said, it is evident that one can speak of "education" of
the faith only in a secondary and instrumental sense, that is, in the sphere of those human
mediations that can facilitate, in the process of growth of the attitude of faith, but always
outside of any possible direct intervention of the faith itself, which always remains linked to
the action of God and the free response of man.
For any form of catechesis to be realized in its entirety, it is necessary that they be
inextricably united: the knowledge of the Word of God, the celebration of faith in the
sacraments, and the confession of faith in daily life.
Beginning after the council, the innovative ferment that invests all theology provokes a new
interest in catechesis. Catechists discovered the educational dimension of catechesis at the
service of the maturation of faith and Christian life, both of the individual and the community.
In the following years this aspect became more and more relevant, and attempts at dialogue
with the educational sciences grew in the function of interdisciplinary theories of the
processes of faith maturation: the purpose of ecclesial practice now becomes the formation
of adult, mature Christians. Today in an attempt to overcome the one-sidedness of past
catechesis, the goals of catechetical action are formulated not already in terms of knowledge,
but in terms of internalized attitudes of faith.

Educational reality and educational project:

Educating is not a static reality, it is not a haphazard operation with occasional or
disconnected educational interventions, as it already is for human education, so it will also be
for faith education.
In everyday usage when we speak of education we mean first and foremost a particular
human activity connected to certain figures and roles and aimed at nurturing, caring for,
forming individuals of the growing generation. More rarely, but increasingly insistently in
contemporary times, education is seen identified with the process of personal growth,
accentuating its active aspect.
As far as education understood as a system is concerned, there is a growing awareness
today of the multiplication of so-called educational agencies and situations, thus recovering
the multidimensional character of education; placed at the service of personal life and its
growth, education will, precisely for this reason, have to take into account the whole range of
relationships with which human life is interwoven.
In the light of these general considerations on the concept of education, wanting now to
attempt to define what education and therefore faith education consists of, the following
general observations must still be considered.
Every educational intervention is composed of four essential elements: 1) knowledge of the
subject to be educated and the environment in which he or she lives; 2) knowledge of the
goals to be achieved by the subject and the values to be communicated; 3) the educational
intervention with all the various components of the method and educational guidance; and 4)
the socio-cultural context in which it operates with the various positive or negative factors.
Every educator needs a suitable framework in which to fit his or her action so that he or she
can effectively convey the values entrusted to him or her. In fact, every educator develops his
own theory of personality intuitively through his experiences. In order for the person to be
promoted toward his or her fullness, an integral conception of personality and integrated
education are needed. Regarding the constitutive dimensions of the person, then, it is
necessary to consider that the growth of the person on the one hand is unitary, and on the
other hand it is articulated according to the various constitutive dimensions of the person.
Normal growth is first and foremost integral growth and requires the development of each
and every one of the dimensions of the person, on pain of mortifying forms of reductionism.
In fact, each dimension possesses its own physiognomy, which is indispensable for the
harmonious development of the organism and must be known in its specificity. Development
occurs according to well-characterized stages or developmental stages. The unifying center
is self-identity, consciously or unconsciously pursued as the highest good. Finally, the role of
the living environment and people important to the individual is crucial to growth. It should be
kept in mind that faith education, to be itself must situate itself within these constituent
components of the personality as a significant, unifying and dynamic trait. Each person is
constituted by his or her aptitudes, experiences, and is formed by them around the core of
self-identity. Indeed, our inheritance, with its positive or less positive aspects, constitutes both
a grace and a challenge, that of fully assuming our identity knowing that we are responsible
for the use of our inheritance, whatever it may be.
In conclusion, it must be stated that the instances outlined for the setting of educational
action are valid
for every educational service, including that of faith, which requires in order to express itself a
predispositional action that makes one open and available to the divine priority initiative

Toward an interdisciplinary project of Christian anthropology: the Rulla project.

Among the proposals in Catholic circles that offer a positive dialogue on an interdisciplinary
anthropological basis is that of Luigi Rulla.
The scholar's greatest merit lies precisely in having attempted to realize with scientific rigor
the interdisciplinary dialogue between theology, philosophy, and depth psychology.
Specifically, the author offers a psychological reading of the profound dynamisms underlying
faith choices and, in particular, vocational choices understood in the narrow sense.
The fundamental problem for methodology lies in 'integrating three completely distinct and
different methods into a single project. In his interdisciplinary project the author does not
claim to have definitively answered this fundamental problem. Indeed, dogmatic theology
cannot limit itself to expounding revealed truths concerning God, but must also take into
account specific human conditions, which affect whether and how the message of revelation
can be received and understood by people; this means that a good theology always includes
a theological anthropology as well. The premise of the latter is that God and the human
person are historically in dialogue with each other and that the fruit of this dialogue is the
Christian vocation whose center is Christ.
Since such anthropology can easily fall into the temptation of dogmatism and fideism, it is
necessary in reflection to keep in mind the principle of St. Anselm: "fides quaerens
intellectum"; and this implies that a theological anthropology will also have to take into
account the results of empirical-existential investigations. In this new project of Christian
anthropology, philosophy, theology and the humanities come together to provide a truer
picture of Christian being. A Christian anthropology presupposes that there is in history a
dialogue between man and God. The human sciences must differentiate how and to what
extent the subject's motivational system is disposed to this dialogue.
Philosophical insight discovers that there are two starting points in human nature in order to
receive God's word and call. The first consists in the person's ability to rise above self and
thus also be able to know and love God. The second concerns human freedom, and revolves
around the person's presupposed ability to decide about his or her response to God's call.
From the analysis of the theological aspects, some essential data emerge: the central point
of the divine call is that God calls us to self-transcend totally in a love of God and neighbor
similar to that which inspired Christ's life. Thus it becomes clear that self-transcending values
are not about some kind of abstract ideals, but ultimately about a person: Jesus Christ. This
divine gift presupposes human freedom and makes its growth possible. The person, as a
new creation in Christ, becomes able to give himself and thus to save himself. In this sense,
the purpose of Christian existence does not consist in self-realization, but rather in the self-
transcendence of love for God and neighbor.
The pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes addresses the call to use in pastoral care not only
theological principles but also knowledge of the human sciences. The elaboration of the
"theory of self-transcendence in consistency," based on the most up-to-date knowledge of
depth psychology and social psychology, meets this conciliar demand. The basic hypothesis
is centered around the following theorem: the more consistent a person's structural - finalistic
motivation is, the more this person can transcend himself toward objective values. The
contradictions (inconsistencies) in the motivation of a person, who is psychically healthy, are
found not only in the first dimension, but also and especially in the second dimension, where
the dynamics of the unconscious are beyond the control of the subject.
Research conducted by Rulla in the United States was able to show that 60-80% of people
who followed a religious vocation were hindered in their attainment of authentic, human and
spiritual maturity by central, unconscious inconsistencies and that practically this
subconscious intrapsychic constellation hardly changed over a period of years. These
inconsistencies, however, were frequently masked by so-called "defensive consistencies,"
brought about by the fact that the person's conscious motivation resulted in attitudes in
agreement with Christ's values, however, not with the function of living for Christ's values, but
ultimately with the unconscious function of serving a need in contradiction to said values. The
limitation of the person's actual freedom and capacity for self-transcendence, resulting from
unconscious inconsistencies and defensive consistencies, is rightly emphasized in this
integrated view of Christian anthropology. The conceptual delimitation and empirical-
existential confirmation of the second dimension, also called "the forgotten dimension," is an
essential contribution to Christian anthropology.
Taken as a whole, this interdisciplinary anthropological project offers, on the one hand, an
explanatory basis for many pastoral problems, which at first glance seem incomprehensible,
such as, for example, the low strength of conscious religious motivations for many Christians.
On the other hand, it makes possible the development of appropriate aids to the freedom of
the individual, so as to make possible the growth and maturation of the Christian's vocation.
Of particular importance is the maturation of the forgotten second dimension, because the
maturation process also requires aids of a new kind. It involves resolving the contradiction
between values and unconscious needs that lead to an erroneous search for the apparent
good; in fact, this contradiction limits a person's judgment and decision-making processes as
well as his interpersonal relationships and, indirectly, also his progress in the spiritual life.