Letter
Letter from Bishop Blair to Catechetical Publishers on Supplemental Texts (2013)
Letter from Bishop Leonard P. Blair to Catechetical Publishers on Supplemental Texts, September 27, 2013
The Subcommittee on the Catechism, in their annual meetings with publishers, made the publishers aware of their concerns about a growing tendency for religious education programs and Catholic schools to rely on supplemental texts rather than basal series.
In addition to the pedagogical concern, the Subcommittee determined that it was not possible for them to review the volume of supplementary materials that were submitted to it, nor was it within their mandate to review each and every catechetical resource.
After careful consideration and in consultation with the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, the Subcommittee determined that it would accept for conformity review only those supplemental texts that directly cross-referenced a basal text or basal series. This included introductory or remedial materials that cross-referenced a basal series. “Sacramental preparatory material” would continue to be reviewed as a separate category.
Supplemental texts or series that were developed independently from basal texts or basal series could appropriately be submitted to local ordinaries for review in accordance with the Church’s general norms on permission to publish.