Catechists are the Backbone of the Church 

This year the Church marked 100 years of world mission Sunday, which we observed on October 18, 2026. To mark the centenary, the Diocese of Polokwane gathered all its catechists at the Mater Dei Pastoral Center under the theme, “Catechists, the backbone of the Church”. They were reminded of who they are and who they ought to be in the life of the Church.

When we look at this from a point of synodality, a catechist’s mission is to help others to get into the boat and be in communion with Christ. As Fr. James Mashamaite, who was one of the speakers at the gathering and the liturgist of the diocese of Polokwane, put it, without catechists the Church could experience a vacuum of faith.

What this essentially means is that without catechists the Gospel would be remembered as merely a set of teachings and not embraced as a way of life. However, since catechists are actively involved in the life of the Church, they are able to help people move from knowing about Jesus to developing a personal relationship with Him, from receiving the sacraments to living sacramentally, and from attending church to participating actively in the mission of the Christian community.

Catechists ought to be like St. Paul – the saint did absolutely anything permissible to bring people closer to Christ. As he wrote in 1 Cor 9:22, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them.”

As lay missionaries, catechists are first the coworkers of the clergy – they go on to be coworkers of parents who accompany their kids on their journey of faith, and are also coworkers of the sponsors of catechumens. This working relationship in the spirit of synodality is exactly what being co-responsible for the well-being of the Church means.

So, why are catechists the backbone of the Church? Pope Pius XII said, “We would love to have vast phalanxes of apostles rise up, like those that the Church knew at her origins. Let the priests rise up from the pulpit, on the streets, and in the squares, wherever there is a soul to be saved; and next to the priests, let the lay faithful speak, who have learned to penetrate the minds and hearts of their listeners with the word and love.”

As the laity, we have a specific mission – consecratio mundi, which means the consecration of the world. Through our daily lives, as the lay faithful who are the tentacles of the Church in the broader society, have a duty bestowed upon us through baptism to consecrate the world to God. Unlike priests, we are not in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) because we haven’t been ordained to the priesthood, however, by public involvement, we belong to sequela Christi (following Christ).

As lay teachers of the faith, catechists, under the direct guidance of priests, or through activities they undertake themselves, may strive to broaden the scope of proclaiming the Gospel truth —bringing faith to those who, for whatever reason, are far from it, and helping others to strive to remain faithful to their humanity.

In the words of Pope Saint John Paul II: “In order to achieve their task directed to the Christian animation of the temporal order, in the sense of serving persons and society, the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in ‘public life,’ that is, in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good. The Synod Fathers have repeatedly affirmed that every person has a right and duty to participate in public life, albeit in a diversity and complementarity of forms, levels, tasks and responsibilities.”

To continue building a synodal Church, let us journey together with our catechists in order for them to be the Church’s living resource book that the faithful and society can use to enlighten their minds, warm their hearts, and give strength to their hands.