Catechism

While much has been done to critique the conventional opposition between instruction and delight in the history of children's literature, more attention is needed at a formal level to the ways in which instructional texts strive towards delightfulness, ease, and comprehensibility. Identifying 'littleness' as a key critical concept, this essay explores the diverse ways in which early children's books were scaled to the level of a child's understanding, as well as his or her potentially short life span. Beginning with two books bound together in the British Library, each modelling distinct notions of what it means to be 'little' in a textual sense, the essay focuses on Isaac Watts's graduated Catechisms (1730), which seek to simplify the theological and linguistic complexity of the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism of 1647 while preserving its compendiousness. While catechism is traditionally conceived of in terms of its formal and ideological inflexibility, I argue that Watts's text is designed to inculcate an inquisitive and riddling, rather than exclusively dutiful, mode of reading. This is evidenced at a formal as well as a theoretical level, in the relationship between individual questions and answers and between component stages of Watts's graduated programme.

The article aims to address the question of whether the catechism is still a valid missionary tool. The question had already emerged with the various catechetical renewals preceding Vatican II. A biblical-liturgical catechism was therefore proposed, but also its overcoming for pedagogical reasons. In its place, the organization of itineraries or parcours that best suited the dynamics of learning and experimentation of the faith was preferred. Since the 1980s, however, the magisterium has pushed the episcopates towards a recovery of the quadripartite catechism also as the inculturation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992).
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L'article vise à répondre à la question de savoir si le catéchisme est toujours un outil missionnaire valable. La question s'était déjà posée avec les différents renouvellements catéchétiques précédant Vatican II. Un catéchisme biblico-liturgique a donc été proposé, mais aussi son dépassement pour des raisons pédagogiques. A sa place, l'organisation d'itinéraires ou de parcours les mieux adaptés à la dynamique d'apprentissage et d'expérimentation de la foi a été privilégiée. Depuis les années 1980, cependant, le magistère a poussé les épiscopats vers une récupération du catéchisme quadripartite aussi comme l'inculturation du Catéchisme de l'Église catholique (1992).

**********************************************************************************************************Facendo seguito alla ricerca del prof. Rizzi sul corpus dei catechismi nel fondo della Biblioteca Urbaniana de Propaganda fide, l’articolo vuole affrontare la questione se il catechismo sia ancora uno strumento missionario valido. La questione era emersa già con i diversi rinnovamenti catechetici precedenti il Vaticano II. Per alcuni decenni la questione è stata affrontata come ricerca del genere letterario del catechismo sia nella dimensione delle fonti che dell’articolazione generale. Si propose quindi un catechismo biblico-liturgico ma anche il suo superamento per motivi pedagogici. Al suo posto si preferiva la organizzazione per itinerari o parcours che meglio si adattano alla dinamica di apprendimento e sperimentazione della fede. A partire dagli anni ’80, tuttavia, il magistero ha spinto gli episcopati verso un recupero del catechismo quadripartito anche come inculturazione del Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica (1992). Tuttavia il futuro del catechismo-libro non è in questa via ma dell’approfondimento del gene-re testuale più adatto a narrare la proposta di fede e favorire la risposta del catecumeno nella linea della fides qua.

Introduzione
1. La importante ricostruzione di Giovanni Rizzi
2. Evangelizzare con il catechismo: interrogativi e nuove proposte missionarie

3. Il catechismo nella nuova catechesi del post-concilio Vaticano II;
3.1 Catechismo nel processo formativo;
3.2 Nuovi catechismi nel post-concilio;
3.3 Rifiuto del catechismo;
3.4. Ritorno al catechismo?

4. Verso una riformulazione del genere letterario catechismo;
4.1 La questione dei criteri;
4.2 Il catechismo nella catechesi;
4.3 Linee per rinnovare il genere letterario catechismo;
4.3.1 Conservare il primato della fonte biblica;
4.3.2 La inculturazione della dottrina: osare di più;
4.3.3 Un catechismo per l’esercizio della vita cristiana;
4.3.4 La dimensione pedagogica e didattica del catechismo

Meddi L., Proporre e formare la vocazione cristiana. Il ruolo del catechismo nella missione della Chiesa, in «Urbaniana University Journal», 70 (2017) 3 11-51

In this paper the author tries to show that the introduction of Roman Catholicism to the Philippines has effected two fundamental influences, viz., Westernization (in terms of Hispanization and later Americanization), which enables the native Filipinos to see and gradually adopt a different culture, and syncretism, where the sacred and the profane are blended, that is to say, the Filipino indigenous rituals and practices are made compatible to Catholicism. The author likewise tries to argue that folk Catholicism is in general the Filipino way of expressing religion as a way of life.


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Genevan Reformer John Calvin produced a half dozen catechisms during his tenure in the city from 1536 to 1538 and 1541 to 1564. While not nearly so well-known as his Institutes of the Christian Religion or Geneva Bible, and not nearly so heavily used today as the later Reformed catechisms of Heidelberg or Westminster, Calvin's catechisms were impressive for their biblical acuity, pristine language, and doctrinal precision and for their power to integrate the far flung Calvinist communities of the sixteenth century. This Article samples these catechisms, and analyzes their use in spiritual formation and discipline for both children and adults in Geneva.

Desde Medellín, a catequese seguira afirmando a absoluta unidade entre a história humana e a história da salvação, pois compreendeu que é, na situação humana concreta, que Deus se revela. Em Puebla, porém, essa convicção se mostra abalada. No capítulo reservado à catequese, transparece subliminarmente um conflito de teologias, marcado pela presença de alguns paralelismos antitéticos, tais como situação humana e doutrina revelada; catequese de situação e catequese doutrinal, memorismo e ausência de memória. No saudosismo de uma catequese que não se descuide da doutrina em prol da práxis cristã, esconde-se uma tensão teológica. Nem todo o episcopado de Puebla estava convicto que os caminhos mais humanos são exatamente os mais divinos; nem todos comungavam da afirmação que Deus se diz na história humana e nela toma partido dos empobrecidos e sofredores. Por meio do estudo do Documento de Catequese (item 3 do capítulo 3 das Conclusões de Puebla), este artigo quer mostrar a coexistência de duas teologias na Conferência Episcopal Latino-americana de 1979: uma mais cristoderivada, na esteira de Medellín, que favorece a eclesiologia Povo de Deus, com valorização de todo batizado e de sua realidade cotidiana; outra, mais teoderivada, que possibilita a eclesiologia Corpo de Cristo, que compreende a Igreja como uma sociedade perfeita, hierarquicamente organizada, independente dos caminhos da humanidade.

Abstract

Since Medellin, catechesis has continued to affirm absolute unity between human history and the history of salvation, once it understood that God reveals himself through the concrete human situation. In Puebla, however, this conviction was shaken. In the chapter reserved for catechesis, a conflict of theologies subliminally appears, marked by the presence of some antithetical parallels, such as the human situation and revealed doctrine; situation catechesis and doctrinal catechesis, mere memorizing and absence of memory. Underlying the nostalgia of a certain catechesis that does not neglect the doctrine in favor of Christian praxis, a theological tension is hidden. No doubt, not all the whole episcopate in Puebla was convinced that the most human ways are exactly the most divine ones; not everyone shared the claim that God is manifested in human history and takes sides with the impoverished and suffering people. Through the study of the Catechesis Document, item 3 of chapter 3 of the Puebla Conclusions, this article aims to show the coexistence of two theologies at the 1979 Latin American Episcopal Conference. The first one was more Christo derivative, in the light of Medellin, that favors the People of God ecclesiology, valuing every baptized person and their daily reality; the other one was more Theo derivative, which makes possible the ecclesiology "Body of Christ", which comprehends the Church as a perfect society, hierarchically organized, independent of the ways of humanity.

In 1553, the religious exile Michelangelo Florio published in London the Italian translation of the Catechism of the bishop John Ponet, which had been published in Latin and English in the same year. This essay investigates the reasons that led Florio to publish his translation, of which, apparently, only a single printed copy, currently preserved in the British Library of London, is still existent. It also reconstructs the biography of Michelangelo Florio (formerly a Franciscan friar with the name of Paolo Antonio da Figline).
Florio, then in disgrace, made this translation not to educate the young members of the small Italian Protestant congregation in London (as hinted in the title page), but to gain the favor of the Duke of Northumberland, to whom the book was dedicated, hoping  that his daughter-in-law, Jane Grey, would become queen of England. The Catholic restoration of Mary Tudor doomed this project and forced him into exile.

The article endeavours to give a bird's eye view of catechesis in Italy as from 1870 to the threshold of Vatican Council II – 1962. The point of departure is a study of the use of the Catechism as the handbook for catechesis. The study will then move on study the efforts of individuals – from priests to Pope Pius X – who sought to positively influence catechesis through their ministry and how different Congresses and Conventions helped in trying to formulate a more coherent catechesis throughout Italy. Finally, the paper will end by a study of the Active Method which was to be the unifying factor for catechesis in Italy prior to Vatican Council II.

This paper is one of the results of the project Digitalised descriptions
of Slavic Cyrillic manuscripts and early printed books in Swedish
libraries and archives and its database Cyrillic and Glagolitic Books and
Manuscripts in Sweden CGS (http://anslag.rj.se/en/fund/39532). The purpose of CGS is to make Slavic Cyrillic (and Glagolitic) material in Swedish collections easily accessible to those who wish to study Cyrillic and Glagolitic book production and distribution.

The paper comments on an unpublished catalogue of the Riga collection
at Uppsala University library (UUB) compiled by Isak Collijn. The library of
the Jesuit Collegium in Riga was donated to UUB by the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf in 1622.

The identification of the entry “One Russian book in 8°, 12 copies” in
UUB’s inventory U 271 is also discussed. The size of the edition, the time
and place of printing, the binding and the provenance of UUB’s copies, Ksl
1 and Ksl 157, of the Vilna edition of Canisius’ Catechism in Slavonic translation (ed. Mamonič, 1585), show that they are most probably two of the twelve copies and therefore should be added to the already known Cyrillic material in the Riga collection.

Other interesting findings are the earlier unknown edition of Canisius’
Catechism (Ingolstadt 1614) and the names of the first seven letters of the
Cyrillic alphabet, added by hand in Latin in Ksl 157. The paper shows that
these names were probably written in Sweden. A comparison has been made with the spelling of these names in Alfabetum rutenorum and in a manuscript of Grigorij Kotošichin (Extranea 157:6; CGS 3700).

The study is about the effects of the Treaty of Trianon in the Hungarian Highlander and Subcarpathian Reformed Church. It describes the establishing of the Hungarian Highlander and Subcarpathian Reformed Church, and touches upon the state of the education and the difficulties of catechism. It showcases the curriculums and textbooks used in the Hungarian Highlander and Subcarpathian Reformed Church.

Bruno Restif, « Confessionnalisation et fabrique de la norme dans le catholicisme des années 1570-1580 en France. Le cas des publications d’Aymar Hennequin, évêque de Rennes », in Véronique Beaulande-Barraud, Julie Claustre et Elsa Marmursztejn (dir.), La fabrique de la norme. Lieux et modes de production des normes au Moyen Âge et à l’époque moderne, Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2012, p. 109-125.

Den ungarske unitarbiskop Ferencz József (1835-1928) skrev den første unitariske katekisme i 1864. Denne er fortsatt i bruk i unitarkirkene i Romania og Ungarn som følger den transilvanske unitartradisjon som går tilbake til unitarkirkens grunnleggeggelse ved kirkeediktet i Torda i 1568.

Til grunn for oversettelsen som her publiseres, ligger den 20. reviderte utgave av 1864-katekismen. Også tilgjengelig via https://archive.org/details/knut-heidelberg-unitarisk-katekisme/mode/2up

This article conforms a conceptual reflection on the political catechism as a source of political analysis, research on history of education and political culture. The approach to this subject is based on an heuristical revision that allowed to identify the most representative studies on this kind this kind of texts necessary to expand the present modernizing discourse to build the "new citizen" an to constitute the political legitimation of the republican rules

"Read the acts of Sts. Anthony, Macarius, Pachomius...We are no longer following in the footsteps of our fathers, the Egyptian Monks, . . ." J. Leclerq, Ancient traditl Spirit.

Origen wrote mystical books which had a great influence on monasticism in its early stages. His teaching on 'Spiritual combat' enhanced the vocation of monasticism.One may just mention a few points, in which he influenced this movement. As a teacher and candidate for martyrdom, Origen placed the spiritual combat at the center of his asceticism and code of conduct, a theme which became central in nascent monasticism as well. His work, "Exhortation to Martyrdom," may have evoked the monastic move, being a way of confession of faith, that was the main drive to martyrdom. Behavior is a central theme because there is no Christian life without struggle, for we stand at the crossroads, ...

The influence of Origen on his students, is evident in monastic history, and life of the desert dwellers, clearly seen in many bio-collections. The Saints mentioned include Anthony the Great, Paul the Simple, Macarius of Egypt, Macarius of Alexandria, Pachomius, Pambo, and Serapion. It is not surprising then that we find in their writing the theme of spiritual combat, as there is a central doctrine of spiritual combat in the works of Origen. This motive is taken up by ascetics of the East, and in spirituality as a whole. An outline of leading ideas which one can find throughout Origen's writings are related to spiritual combat. The doctrine of Origen on celibacy has left a deep mark on basic monastic schemes.

There is a continuity between the spirituality of the confessor and that of Origen, whose life had alternating periods of persecution and peace. His father died a martyr during the persecution of Severus. He wrote his 'Exhortation to Martyrdom' during the persecution of Maximin the Thracian, and was arrested and tortured during the reign of Decius; three years later he died as a result. Moreover, at an early age, Origen was in charge of the Catechetical school that formed Christian lives, where the students came to be instructed by him. They lived together, prayed and ate together.

What Origen meant to his pupils, as a remarkable teacher, was a precursor of the 'Novice Master'. Origen's teaching was very influential, and both Evagrius and Pseudo-Macarius pondered the theme. Here are many layers of philosophical, Biblical, and theological vocabulary forming Cassian's descriptions. Origen, Evagrius, Pseudo-Macarius are all sources of parallels, and there are biblical and theological roots for Cassian's Conferences, where the theology of denying self is implemented in daily living. We still have one made by his pupil, Gregory, who later became a bishop and whose holiness was proven by the many miracles, that he was called Thaumaturgus, or 'wonder-worker'. He shows in his discourse deep gratitude to Origen. One who reads a short passage of this letter, will find what is hidden there, that touches monastic life, and how far Origen influenced a life which was not yet set up.

Anthony (251-356 AD)
The narrative about Antony give us a glance at his vocation, as seen by Athanasius, while Brésard could fill it out by looking at Antony's own letters. There exists seven letters from his own pen; the first is a treatise on conversion and asceticism. The other six are addresses to his disciples (Texts 13,14). "The theme of the spiritual combat, which we have seen in Origen, has great importance for Antony. It means a struggle against the evil powers, but at the level of the passions, that are 'sickness of the heart', through which the devil tries to lead us to perdition. This is why vigilance and asceticism are mandatory, as they slowly transform even the body. Antony is optimistic, knowing that we have nothing to fear from the devil, if we resist him to his face, being of no real power, for Christ has conquered him.

In order to overcome the devil, we must unmask him first, this is the reason for discernment of spirits being so important. In Letter I Antony calls the Spirit, 'the friend of the heart', who 'teaches us how to heal the wounds of the soul'. Elsewhere he teaches us to prefer nothing to the love of Christ (Text 8), a formula which St Benedict takes up in his Rule, for Christ has come to save us and impart his Spirit. Prayer, which brings us close to Jesus and his Spirit, is also very crucial in this struggle against the demon. With prayer we must gain perseverance, a theme often taken up in the 'Vita Antonini' as in the 'Letters'; (Letter 1:4): "Hold fast, in spite of everything." In two places he quotes psalm 131, "Do not let your eyes grow sleepy, nor your eyelids grow heavy (Ps. 3:1, 4:10). Perseverance is shown by the desire to progress a little more each day, "it is always beginning again"

Macarius (300-390 AD)
Macarius spiritual doctrine is not a cultivated speculative thought, circulated by Origen, the eminent 3rd-century Alexandrine theologian, but as with the doctrine of Abba Anthony, it is a learning derived from primitive monasticism’s 'book of nature'.

The essence of his spiritual theology is the doctrine (with Neoplatonic traces) of the mystical development of the soul, that has been formed in the image of God. We find traditional ideas from Origen in Macarius' anthropology, that man is made up of three parts; body, soul and spirit (Text 4). He is created in the image and likeness of God, and Macarius takes up again the principle of homonymy(words with identical forms but different meanings), developed by the Alexandrine, that there are two men in every man, the exterior and the interior man. For Macarius, each of which has its own meaning, the first is the 'old man', the second the 'new man'.

Following Origen, to designate the principal faculty of the soul, he uses either the word 'intellect', or the word 'heart' in the biblical sense, especially in his Collection II. Macarius still depends on Origen for this idea of the spiritual combat, present everywhere in his work. But if, in Origen, man could, by reason of his freedom, consent either to the pull of the flesh or that of the Spirit, in Macarius, who regards evil as concrete, man is poised between grace and evil. His free-will would make him incline towards one or the other. Man then must do violence to himself (Text XI).

Discernment is necessary to carry on this fight (Text XII). When a person fights to the best of his ability, and commits violence to himself, God will make his efforts fruitful (Text XIII). Homily V, an outline of which we just mentioned, stresses the role of asceticism and of spiritual combat in the life of the 'Christian'.

Origen's Catechetical devotion
Jean Leclercq, the eminent abbot of Clairvaux, underlined the role of Origen's spirituality in the revival of Latin monasticism as was the case of St. Bernard of Clairvaux who revived the monastic spiritual life in mediaeval Europe. "Benedict urged the monks to read the Fathers... , when monasticism was strong the monks turned to the Fathers, and especially to the Church Father Origen. ... The scholastics searched the Fathers for metaphysical ideas, the monastics sought help in living the monastic life, i.e. in pursuing God. The most important monastic ideal was that of Anthony; his life was therefore widely read. ..."

Philosophic Language of Mysticism
Neoplatonistm was an Alexandrian upgrading of its Greek basic metaphysics of Plato by Ammonius Saccas, around the end of the second century. Outstanding between his students were Plotinus and Origen, becoming the carrier or Philosophic language of alexandrine Orthodox teachings
'Withdraw into yourself and look; and if you do not find yourself beautiful as yet, do as does the sculptor of a statue ... cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is shadowed ... do not cease until there shines out on you the Godlike Splendor of Beauty." Ennead"

Early Mystical Theology
Origen was the initiator of the Apophatic concept (commentary on the Song of Songs), carrying over from Philo, based on roots that go all the way to Asaph, Ps 73:21-24. The crystallization of the whole theology took final shape in the writings of a Syrian monk of early six century of pseudonym Dionysius the Areopagite.

St. Anthony of Egypt is usually regarded as the ‘father of monasticism’, his disciple St. Macarius the great gathered together a number of monks living in isolation in the Egyptian desert of Sketes. The Life of Anthony, written by Athanasius, the champion of Orthodoxy, recounting the spiritual struggles of St. Anthony, provided an ideal pattern of the ascetic life. The work became very popular in the West, and sparked intellectuals' attention, contributing greatly to the interest in monastic life in Western Christianity. Pilgrims to the Holy land made trips to the desert including Rufinus and Jerome, whose letters and works catalyzed the move among the educated around the empire (St. Arsenius). Two of the most influential in Spirituality as Evagrius Ponticus, and John Cassian who established the first European monasteries according to the Pachomian ideal, and wrote the first Monastic manuals, the institutes and the Conferences. "If Benedict created the institutional frame of Latin monasticism, then Cassian helped define its inner life, its mystical aspirations,"Harmless, Desert Christians, pp. 373.

Western Monasticism
Monasticism has flourished both in the Eastern Orthodox churches from early Christian times to the present, and within the Roman Catholic church since the late antiquity to Medieval ages. The Benedictine rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia (6th century), formed the basis of life in most monastic communities until the twelve century. The schema faded out until St. Bernard of Cleurvaux restored it to its original zenith.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/432455/Origen/5404/Influence

In Muslim societies, the need to inform individuals and the community so they can lead their lives according to religious doctrines has been answered in various ways since the early periods of Islam. Among the most common literary works that have been written in order to satisfy this need are ‘ilm al-ḥāl (Arabic for the Islamic version of catechism books, ilmihal in Turkish). Although ‘ilm al-ḥāl as a term has been used since the very early periods in Islamic history it has also been the name of a literary genre since the Ottoman period. The first example of this literary style is the risālah of Hāce-i Namaz by Muallime Kamer, an author from the late Ottoman Era, and was compiled by collecting information related to ritual prayer in catechism books. Among the rasā'il genre that have been written in different fields of disciplines and forms, this one deserves special attention for the unique subject it deals with and the conclusion reached on that issue.
The risālah of Hāce-i Namaz is the first catechism book written by a female author. The work has drawn the attention of people, scholars and public authorities since the time it was composed. This risālah has been distributed by administrative organizations and published at various times, including the Republic Period. This study on Hâce-i Namaz will first focus on its author’s life and works, then evaluate the risālah in terms of its content, form, scope, and originality. This analysis will be confined to the risālah’s content from the period in which it was written. The study aims to determine this risālah’s style by analyzing the book’s subjects and the way they have been dealt with, in addition to presenting how and to what extent the main sources of Islamic law have been used.
This study aims to be a monograph of a sample work, to offer a general view related to the place of female authors in the Islamic literary tradition, and also to analyze how the female author’s writing process is reflected throughout her work. The analysis of this risālah is also of great importance on the basis of providing the reader with a view about both the ilm ul-hal literature and the development of primary religious literary sources.

Keywords: Muallime Kamer, Risālah, Hāce-i Namaz, ‘Ilm al-ḥāl, Namaz Hocası, Tanzimat Era

This article considers the important role played by the politic catechism in building the new Mexican citizen and the young Mexican nation. It presents the way this catechistical method was used to displace from the social imaginary of the population the ancient monarchical order, and to explain the increasing to this new order.

Den ungarske unitarbiskop Ferencz József (1835-1928) skrev den første unitariske katekisme i 1864. Denne er fortsatt i bruk i unitarkirkene i Romania og Ungarn som følger den transilvanske unitartradisjon som går tilbake til unitarkirkens grunnleggeggelse ved kirkeediktet i Torda i 1568.

Til grunn for oversettelsen som her publiseres, ligger den 20. reviderte utgave av 1864-katekismen. Også tilgjengelig via https://archive.org/details/knut-heidelberg-unitarisk-katekisme/mode/2up

This thesis is written with the presupposition that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the divinely inspired written Word of God. This is most consistent with an investigation of the liturgical writings of the early church, as the earliest liturgies of the church consist almost entirely of the words of Holy Scripture. Those who used these liturgies sought not to displace what they had received but rather to confess it as they had first received it. This thesis does not undertake to prove from Scripture the doctrines of either the Holy Ministry or the Lord\u27s Supper as they are articulated in the Lutheran Confessions, but rather presupposes them. An exhaustive presentation of either of these doctrines is not intended. This having been noted, it has nevertheless been found necessary to present scriptural evidence for certain aspects of these doctrines, particularly the doctrine of the Holy Ministry, in order to establish and lucidly present an exposition of the re...

Der Beitrag bietet einen Überblick über Katechismen in Ungarn und Siebenbürgen im 16. Jahrhundert. Dabei werden nicht nur die reformatorischen Katechismen berücksichtigt, sondern auch Druckwerke in anderen Konfessionen und devianten Bewegungen.

Renouveler un catholicisme déprimé grâce à la réutilisation opportune d'éléments traditionnels : telle est la ligne générale des propositions pastorales de ce Carnet.

Les propositions avancées ne prétendent nullement à l'exhaustivité, elles se veulent des réponses concrètes à la situation particulièrement alarmante du catholicisme, spécialement français.

Elles se focalisent sur certains domaines :

1. La considération réaliste de la montée importante des candidats de sensibilité Summorum Pontificum dans les séminaires diocésains ; l'intégration dans la pastorale diocésaine des prêtres Ecclesia Dei.
2. La revitalisation de l'enseignement catholique sous contrat des diocèses de France.
3. Le catéchisme, nœud de la ré-évangélisation, et qui est de fait le domaine le plus sinistré.
4. La liturgie des paroisses ordinaires sous l'angle de la "réforme de la réforme".

Geremia Bonomelli (1831-1914), bishop of Cremona for more than forty years, was one of the most important figures of Italian Catholicism of his time. His life, pastoral work and books have been widely studied, while his pedagogical and scholastic interests remain largely unpublished. Despite the historiography gap, he committed to education of young people, promoted a new catechetical method, took care of the situation of the Italian school and its legislation. Differently from other Catholics, Bonomelli defended the fundamental role of the State in the government and management of the school, proposing an alliance between national and religious education. The article aims to highlight Bonomelli’s
pedagogical and school views, which appear particularly important in the Italian Cristian pedagogy.

Besides the Chinese state acculturation phenomenon, I study here the catholic church acculturation process that occurs among the Sanis since 1880s with Paul Vial. The latter was a boarder with the Jesuits until his adolescence when, rejected by them, he joined the Missions Étrangères de Paris, rue du Bac, in Paris. He nevertheless retained a preference for evangelization along the model inculcated by the Compagnie de Jésus. Living among the Sanis from 1887 until his death in 1917, at the end of a proselytizing phase of conversion from 1887 to 1895, Vial promoted the teaching and transcription of the Christian dogma into bimo shamanistic writing. To do this, he used local shamanistic structures. In addition, he wrote the text of the Catholic dogma with the help of bimos who translated it into their own language, their own writing, and their own concepts. Hence one can talk of inculturation. The transcription of the Christian dogma into ritual writing enabled the missionary to acquire a certain legitimacy among the Sanis, and even to be regarded as a bimo.

Prologue; The didaskalia
“In such a city as Alexandria--with its museum, its libraries, its lectures, its schools of philosophy, its splendid synagogue, its avowed atheists, its deep-thinking Oriental mystics--the Gospel would have been powerless if it had been unable to produce teachers who were capable of meeting Pagan philosophers and Jewish Philoists on their own ground."-- Kingsley, Alexandria and Her Schools

In the years when the Didascalia had the greatest influence on the world, Alexandria, Egypt, was late Antiquity'  intellectual and philosophical capital, busy spreading Christian faith. Eusebius states in his Ecclesiastic History, that the Apostle Mark came to Egypt preaching the gospel somewhere between 41- 44 A.D. He established the early church in Alexandria, and apparently created a center for discipleship and education of early Christians, the beginnings of what was to become the famed Catechetical school. Later, the breadth and depth of paedeia exercised by the school was greatly developed under the leadership of Pantaenus, the first dean.The school, called the Didascalia, was the most important institution of religious learning then, in the old world. The Didascalia was open to all who were eager to learn. Catechumens, Christians who were not yet baptized, studied alongside the novel clergy and students of philosophy. Lectures were open to all attendants, while advancing Christian  teaching  separately.

Later, under the leadership of Didymus the blind, sightless students were able to attend lectures to learn. In addition to the Bible and Christian theology, instruction included such subjects as mathematics, medicine and music. Students came from many  nations to attend the school. Out of this school came some of the greatest theologians, thinkers and leaders of the early church, who influenced faith throughout church history. The school sought not to isolate academia from every day life, but rather to learn for the sake of knowing and glorifying God. Worship, prayer and fasting were practiced by teachers and students alike; and simplicity of food, drink and earthly possessions was encouraged. Celibacy was a recommended ideal observed by many. Philosophy was not just esoteric thought, but practiced wisdom of moral philosophy for Christian living. Conversion, meant forsaking the world seeking for philosophy.   ____________________________________________

A Historical introduction
Following the  Alexandrine's experience with Demetrius, who drove away their glory, exiling Origen, they never permitted it to rebound. According to their Church Canon, a bishop has to rightly discern the word of truth. Since then, the dean of the Catechetical school became a preference in electing the Bishop of their metropolis. Herachlas who assisted Origen, was elected Bishop, and Patriarch of the see of St. Mark. Dionysius who was his student, and assistant, followed as dean, before becoming Metropolitan.

Dionysius the Great 
Dionysius (St.) of Alexandria ( Bishop: 247 to 265), named "the Great" by Eusebius and Basil, was no doubt, the most eminent Christian bishop of the third century. He studied under Origen and assisted Heraclas in Alexandria, succeeding him as head of the Catechetical school in 231. Dionysius became the bishop of Alexandria in 248. His correspondence survives primarily through quotations from Eusebius. 
During the Decian persecution, he went into hiding. Later he would side with those who wanted to accept the lapsed, who had disowned their faith during the persecution, back into the church. He did not favor re-baptism for the lapsed. In the controversy between Novatian and Cornelius over the bishop of Rome, siding with Cornelius. Dionysius called St. Mary "Theotokos, mother of God," first used by Origen. 

The Millennial Reign
The Megalopolis of Alexandria became a very large diocese, and Heraclas is said to have instituted some new bishoprics, and the Arsinoe nome ( a province of ancient Egypt) still formed a part of it. A dispute arose ca. 255 AD, concerning a 'millennial view' taught by Nepos, Bishop of Arsenoe. Dionysius was a staunch opponent of Chiliasm, an eschatological millennial belief of Christ's physical reign on earth. In this connection he has a famous passage, quoted in Eusebius' book 'Ecclesiastical History'. He thoroughly expounds the Apocalyptic book of Revelation and concludes that it could not have been written by the author of the Gospel of John, "On the character of each, on the linguistic style, and on the general tone, as it is called, of Revelation, I base my opinion that the author was not the same." 

Earlier, Christ's thousand years reign, has been taught by Irenæus, Justin, Papias, Victorinus of Pettau, and others. Nepos founded his millennial doctrine of the Apocalypse in a book entitled "Refutation of the Allegorists". It was only after the death of Napos that Dionysius found himself obliged to write two books named "On the Promises" to counteract this error. He treats Nepos with respect, but rejects his doctrine, as indeed the Church has since done.  Here the error was very prevalent, and St. Dionysius went in person to Arsenoe, instructing the church, refuting  Nepos' arguments they drew from his book .

Dionysius succeeded through his oral and written efforts in checking this literal exegete stopped the revival of millennialism. He used some novel critical tools to contain the Jewish Apocalyptic Book of Revelation, which was very popular at the time in Rome. Nepos, taught the erroneous  Chiliastic dogma which maintained that between the Second Coming of the Lord and the end of the world Christ will reign upon the earth, governing, Himself, along with His elect for a thousand year that there would be a reign of Christ upon earth for a thousand years, of corporal delights. 

Redaction Criticism,  
The analysis of biblical texts, especially the Gospels, through an attempt to reconstruct the editorial use made by biblical authors of earlier material, typically stressing the theological and literary concerns of these authors.

Dionysius proved  by his redaction crtical method, a vast difference in style and diction from John's Gospel and Epistles. Dionysius main position was to claim it was not by John, the evangelist, stating, "I would not venture to reject the book, as many brethren hold it in high esteem," yet he ascribed it to another, John the Presbyter, a disciple of the Evangelist. Dionysius impact was felt in later, as the canonicity of the Apocalypse of John, caused much debate in the church, lingering in the East for several centuries.

"On the character of each, on the linguistic style, and on the general tone, as it is called, of Revelation, I base my opinion that the author was not the same." --Eusebius' History
Subsequently, many Church leaders began to retreat from millennialism in the wave caused by philosophical theology, as Neoplatonism, became influential. He was much edified by the docile spirit and love of truth  which he found. At length Korakion, who had introduced the book and the doctrine, declared himself convinced.

Dionysius Trinitarian Theology
"The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin" 

Since the Patristic era, a standard formulation of the Trinity as one God in Three Persons was  restated at subsequent Councils right up to the Second Vatican Council. The Catechism of the Universal Church’s teaching on the Trinity states that; “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith".

Dionysius of Alexandria is a famous example of misreadings concerning the early theology of Triune God. He was a staunch refuter of Sabellius, but was charged with teaching tritheism. He was accused by Rome, and was asked to declare his views by a synod of bishops. Dionysius denied that he had separated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, his reason for not using the term homoousios was that he did not find it in Scripture. Athanasius, champion of Orthodoxy, confirms that Dionysius held the right views about the Trinity. 

Dionysius the great,  fully vindicated by his writing,  thus concludes a letter to his Roman namesake stating; "Having received from the presbyters who went before us a form and rule, we conclude our present letter to you with those same words by which we, like them, make our 'Eucharistic' thanks-giving: To God the Father, by the Son our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen." -- C. Feltoe, quoted by  G. Wainwright, Doxology, A Systematic Theology)

Despite the relative lack of scholarly attention, the use of vernacular songs to teach the catechism was one of the most prominent sonic features of early modern Catholicism. The method was employed, in countless variants, from Sicily to Brazil, from Castile to Japan, in a longue durée from the first decades of the sixteenth century to the end of early modernity (and beyond). Its essential mechanics is not difficult to explain: the doctrine was condensed into uncomplicated formulas, set to easy tunes, and taught by means of repetition; the learners (chiefly “youngsters, children, ignorant and unrefined people, countrymen, and women”) were able to memorize the doctrine and further spread it without too much effort. Although simple and aesthetically unassuming, these musical practices are interconnected with some of the most stimulating issues of contemporary Catholicism. As I will try to show, their study has much to reveal about problems as diverse as the working of local and international Catholic networks (most notably that of the Jesuits), the role of sound and media in interconfessional encounters, and the interplay between pastoral experiences in Europe and in non-European missions.