For a more pneumatological catechesis: the third catechetical paradigm formulated by Denis Villepelet

Abstract

We have been living now in times of rediscovery of the action of the Spirit, demanding from catechesis new contours, especially with regard to the theology it transmits and the pedagogy that characterizes it. The French catechist, Denis Villepelet, proposes a third catechetical paradigm, emerging from the demands of the present time, more commonly called postmodernity. His pneumatoderivative catechesis differs very clearly from the teoderivative catechesis of the first paradigm - formulated from the model of Christianity and reaffirmed in Trent - and from the Christocentric catechesis of the second paradigm - formulated from the principles of modernity and reaffirmed in Vatican II. To compose the third paradigm, Villepelet thinks about the sociological, anthropological, ecclesiological, theological and pedagogical foundations of catechesis. However, a more pneumatological catechesis, because it is not yet well defined and because it brings some novelties that compel to break with previous paradigms, can cause strangeness, raising suspicions about its theological-pastoral pertinence. Therefore, it is fundamental to evaluate the gains and risks that this paradigm can bring to the catechetical act.