Office of Religious Education
Oficina de Educación Religiosa

Bishop Peterson Hall 
 Brighton, Massachusetts 02135
617-779-3625

Our Mission Statement ~ 
Go therefore... Teach!       Matthew 28:19-20 

The Office of Religious Education 
            is delegated by the Archbishop to provide leadership in the catechetical mission of the Archdiocese of Boston. The Office is committed to the ministry of the Word centered in the person of Jesus Christ, and strives to lead people to ever more intimate communion with the Triune God.                           
The Office of Religious Education 
             promotes excellence in catechesis, that is, the life long Christian formation of the total person in heart, mind and will. The Office fosters a deep and systematic knowledge of the person and message of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Catholic Church, so that the faith of the maturing believer becomes ever more living, explicit, fruitful, conscious and active.
The Office of Religious Education             
                supports the parishes of the Archdiocese by motivating, encouraging and preparing parish leaders and catechists for their mission of life-long formation of adults, youth and children toward the fullness of Catholic life. The Office plans, develops, implements and evaluates programs designed to serve parishes in a truly effective manner.
The Office of Religious Education               
             is committed to collaboration with other Archdiocesan agencies, especially with those responsible for elements of the Church’s mission closely related to the six basic tasks of religious education. These tasks are: teaching the message of Christ and the Church, teaching people to pray, forming people for worship, sharing and fostering community, moral formation, and motivating people to service in the name of Christ.

Welcome 
from Sister Clare Bertero, OSF
Director, Office of Religious Education
Secretary of Education

Welcome to the Religious Education Office Home Page. This Office exists to support our parishes in their religious education ministry. Our Holy Father Benedict XVI, the writings of  Pope John Paul II, and the Bishops of the Catholic Church all have stated strongly that parish religious education is a life-long process of formation in the Catholic faith.  The Office of Religious Education offers resources for teaching the faith to adults, children and youth. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Get to know us...

Sister Clare Bertero, OSF
 Director of Religious Education
Secretary of Education
Regional Consultant for the North and Merrimack Regions 
Sister_Clare_Bertero@rcab.org

Ms. Susan Lang Abbott
Assistant Director for Catechetical Resources
Consultant for Family Faith Formation
Regional Consultant for the South Region 
Susan_Abbott@rcab.org

Ms. Susan Kay 
Assistant Director for Catechetical Leadership
Regional Consultant for the Central and West Regions
Susan_Kay@rcab.org


Ms. M. Pilar Latorre
Assistant Director for Hispanic Catechesis

Mr. Hosffman Ospino
Consultant for Hispanic Catechesis

Administrative Support Staff

Mrs. Debbie Costa
Secretary

Mr. Victor Rios 
Office Assistant

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Calendar

Our Calendar
  We learn from and are supported by each other and so we look forward to seeing catechetical leaders at our events.  Our calendar for the next academic year will be posted as soon as we finalize our dates.  

Enrichment Opportunities

What's New 

Don't forget to register for Retreat Day.   The annual retreat days for catechetical leaders will be here before you know it.  Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to come together in prayer.  Fr. Jack Ratchscmidt, OFM Cap, will be leader for both days.  Fr. Jack has extensive experience in religious education having done great work in the area of sacramental preparation.  Space is limited at both retreats so register now!

Roots of Our Faith
This two hour workshop is required for catechist certification and is only offered through the Archdiocese (not available through University of Dayton online or in Echoes of Faith, the video assist program.   Rotts will be offered on Thursday, may 15, at Saint Joseph Parish, Malden.  If you are working toward catechist certification, please consider participating in this workshop now.  To register, contact Buffy Walsh, Coordinator at St. Joseph Parish, 781-324-0402.

CNAFF

The Catholic Network for Adult Faith Formation has a new web site devoted to promoting faith formation for Catholics.  From their web page:   

            The Network for Adult Faith Formation (NAFF) was created by the Emerging Technologies Committee, a standing committee of the National Advisory Committee on Adult Religious Education (NACARE) that, in turn, is a consultative committee of the Committee on Catechesis of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops on matters pertaining to adult religious education.... In April, 2004 the Emerging Technologies Committee was joined by the Adult Faith Formation Committee of the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership (NCCL). These two committees now administer this web site.

Parts of the site are, or soon will be, password protected for use by committee members and diocesan staff.  The site provides excellent materials for parish adult faith formation including articles and links to organizations and Church documents.  These are available to all and the site is a great resource for parishes.  Visit the site  www.cnaff.org

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 "There are things that can only be seen with eyes that have cried."     Archbishop Christopher Munzihirwa

Archdiocese of Boston Office of Life and Family Ministries 
When a Child Dies
A Workshop for all who Minister to Families 
Our Pastoral Response and Ongoing Care for Families

Monday, May 12,  9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Peterson Hall 2121 Commonwealth Ave., Brighton
Registration and Morning Coffee begin at 8:30 am

Registration forms for this workshop are available at  www.familylifeboston.com  or by calling Joanne Curry at 617-746-5820. 
Registration fee is $20 per person.

 Five families have generously offered to open their hearts and share the most painful loss we can imagine and their thoughts for this ministry.

The Ministry of Hospital Chaplains:  Martha Sullivan, Caritas St. Margaret Center; Mary Fitzgerald, New England Medical Center 
“Circle of Caring" Pediatric Palliative Care Program: Jeannine B. Hight, Hospice of Boston
Immediate Parish Response: Fr. Patrick Armano, Parochial Vicar St. Joseph Needham; Fran Hauck, Pastoral Associate Holy Name West Roxbury
Ongoing Parish Care: Jane Kuklis, Youth Minister St. Mary Scituate; Mary Gallagher, Pastoral Associate St Agatha, Milton; Sr. Mary Corripio, Coordinator Office of Cultural Diversity 
Support Group Resources: Compassionate Friends  ~ Richard Mirable, Regional Director
       Pieta ~ Catherine Russell, Coordinator
Caritas Good Samaritan Hospice ~ Margo Steinberg, Bereavement Coordinator
The Children’s Room ~ Barbara Clarke, Executive Director

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Religious Education Classes for the Deaf
Classes are now forming for Religious Education of Deaf Youth from First Communion through Confirmation age.  Classes are offered throughout the Metro Boston area: Brighton, Dracut, Framingham, Lowell, Middleborough, Newton, Randolph, and Stoneham.  To register or for further information, contact Kathy Carey or Father Jeremy St. Martin at 617-746-5645 (voice) 617-787-6083 (TTY). 
All classes are coordinated by the Deaf Catholic Ministries, Office of Cultural Diversity.  www.deafcatholic.org

Sacrament Preparation Resources for Persons with Learning Disabilities
The Institute for Pastoral Initiatives at the University of Dayton has wonderful material available for children and young people preparing for sacraments.  The Network of Inclusive Catholic Educators (NICE) has student texts and resource binders for catechists and catechetical leaders and videos for catechist formation and enrichment in the are of inclusive religious education for persons with disabilities.  For more detailed information and price list, go to http://campus.udayton.edu/~ipi/nice

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Who gets mailings?
We frequently refer to things that have been mailed, or soon will be mailed, to parish catechetical leaders.  How do we know to whom we should send things?  YOU  tell us.  If you are a catechetical leader in your parish and do not get our ORE mailings, that means that we don't know who you are or where you are and we really need to hear from you.  Please contact us by phone, e-mail or snail mail so we can put you on our mailing list!

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Opportunities for Ongoing Education and Formation

 An Internet based E-learning initiative sponsored by The Institute for Pastoral Initiative of the University of Dayton and the Archdiocese of Boston

Road trip anyone? You've been invited to Albany's Spring Enrichment conference this May
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, NY has invited catechists and youth ministers from our archdiocese to take part on their 35th annual Spring Enrichment conference.  Spring Enrichment is a four day adult faith formation program that will be held at Albany's College of Saint Rose from Monday, May 12 through Thursday, May 15.  The program includes major presentations by nationally recognized speakers and a total of 152 different two-hour courses and workshops from general catechetics and methodology to theological and spiritual topics.  For more information check out Spring Enrichment on the Albany diocese's web site: www.rcda.org  As a special introduction to the conference registrants from visiting diocese will be able to take four courses for the price of three ($30.00)

Master of Arts in Ministry Program
St. John’s Seminary
Degree and non-degree students are welcome
For information, call 617.779.4104

The Master of Arts in Ministry (M.A.M.) at St. John's Seminary invites you to consider taking an evening class at  Bishop Peterson Hall on the Brighton campus. For a registration form or information, visit our website at www.rcab.org (click on Catholic Life) or call 617-779-4104.   Potential applicants is may come any Tuesday or Thursday evening during the school year and visit. We are happy to answer any questions over the phone: 617-779-4104. 

Aldona Lingertat 
Associate Director, Master of Arts in Ministry Program 
St. John's Seminary 
Bishop Peterson Hall 
Phone 617 - 779-4104
For more information email Aldona_Lingertat@rcab.org or Maryellen_Lenihan@rcab.org or call 617-779-4104.

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Spanish Programs and Activities

The Office of Religious Education continues to serve the Hispanic Community in the Archdiocese of Boston through a series of programs of formation in Spanish for parish leaders involved in catechesis and other ministries. These are some of the programs:

 BASIC COURSE FOR CATECHISTS

This course is offered to catechists who begin their ministry for the first time or those who are planning on sharing the gift of faith in a catechetical setting. Catechists meet for eight weeks to review the basics of their Catholic faith and also to acquire the skills to present the message of the Gospel in a more adequate manner.

INTERMEDIATE COURSE FOR CATECHISTS

This ten-week course is aimed to further the formation received in the Basic Course. At the end of this Intermediate class the students are invited to continue their preparation in the Archdiocesan Institute for Ministry – Spanish track.

AIM PROGRAM IN SPANISH – INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DE LAICOS

The AIM program in Spanish is organized somehow differently from its counterpart in English. It consists in a program of four semesters in which the students receive theological, biblical, and pastoral formation. The students meet for ten weeks each semester and four hours each day. In the fourth semester they choose an area of pastoral specialization, according with the needs of their communities.

ARCHDIOCESAN CELEBRATION OF CATECHETICAL SUNDAY (Spanish)

Every September more than 200 Latino catechists gather in one parish of the Archdiocese to celebrate Catechetical Sunday and to kick off the activities of the year. These catechists are sent out to their parishes with a special blessing and the support of the Office of Religious Education to accomplish their calling.

 CATECHETICAL CONGRESS – Spanish component

This yearly event gathers catechists from most parishes in the Archdiocese. Normally, twenty workshops are offered in Spanish as well as two keynote presentations. The participation of Latino catechists in this event has increased significantly in the last few years. 
Other opportunities for growth are: 
        *    Lenten retreat for catechists 
        *    Regular meetings with Directors and Coordinators of Religious Education working in Spanish programs

To read about the offerings and calendar in Spanish, go to  Oficina de Educación Religiosa

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Clusters

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am  there in their midst." (Matthew 18:20)
"I get by with a little help from my friends." (The Beatles)

Working, praying, and sharing together, Clusters make the joys more joyful and the difficulties much easier to bear.  Religious education Clusters will be impacted by reconfiguration; if you don't know what Cluster you belong to, please call our office. We can help you find your group.

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The Office of Religious Education is funded by the Catholic Appeal.  
We are enormously grateful to all who have, or will, contribute this year.
For more information about the Appeal or to donate online, click here:  www.bostoncatholicappeal.org

Thanks to the kind folks at  RCNet for hosting this page www.rc.net

This page was last updated April 29, 2008

Copyright © 2008 Archdiocese of Boston; all rights reserved