Scott Warden
Editor-In-Chief
January 30, 2025 // Diocese

Giltner to Lead Diocese’s Office of Catechesis

Scott Warden
Editor-In-Chief

Alex Giltner

From early Christendom through the Middle Ages, and even up to the mid-20th century, the precepts of the Church were so firmly embedded into Western society that the very foundation of people’s lives was built on a moral and sacramental worldview that mirrored the teachings of Christ. Because they were so surrounded by its customs, Christians in those bygone eras absorbed the faith more than they were taught it.

In more modern times, however, this natural passing on of the teachings of Catholicism has all but disappeared, and the Church has often struggled to catechize a culture that has moved further and further away from the lived practice of the faith.

There are those, however, who are working to reverse this trend and formulate a way of catechesis that meets people where they are in their knowledge and practice of the faith.

For the past 10 years or so, Dr. Alex Giltner has been developing a Catholic curriculum based on faith and reason with the goal of making the Church’s teachings more accessible to young people living in a post-Christendom world – most notably, to his students at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne.

With the help of Father Mark Hellinger, parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Wayne, Giltner has recently begun to adapt this curriculum for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend’s new St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Institute, which aims “not just to help adult Catholics explore answers to theological questions but to inspire them to integrate their lived experience of faith into the story of salvation and the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Now, Giltner is being tasked with taking this curriculum out of the classroom and into the parishes, as he was recently named director of the diocese’s Office of Catechesis – a role he will begin on Monday, February 3.

“Dr. Giltner brings a sterling academic background,” said Carl Loesch, secretary of pastoral ministries and catechesis for the diocese. “He loves catechizing and forming young people and adults for mission. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, I am excited to see how the Lord will work through Dr. Giltner’s many gifts to bear fruit in our diocese.”

Giltner will step into the role that was previously filled by Jonathan Kaltenbach. Loesch noted that as Bishop Rhoades is the principal catechist in the diocese, Giltner’s job as director of the Office of Catechesis will be to implement the bishop’s vision for catechesis and to support parishes and families in catechizing and evangelizing children and adults throughout the diocese.

“The director of the Office of Catechesis supports pastors and directors of religious education in their important work in the parishes,” Loesch said. “If we are in love with the Lord, we will want to know Him through His Church, through the sacraments, and through Scripture. The director helps facilitate this formation.”

It’s work Giltner has been doing with the St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Institute. He told Today’s Catholic that the deeper he got into teaching the curriculum outside of an academic context, the more he realized its potential to bring a wider variety of people to Christ.

“This curriculum, which I think is very pastoral in its approach, tries to meet people where they’re at, whether it’s college students, your average ministry volunteer worker, or everyday Catholics in the pews. It just felt like this is something that we could really spread out into the parishes and schools of the diocese,” Giltner said.

The move from academia at Saint Francis to directing the diocese’s Office of Catechesis is one Giltner admittedly said he didn’t see coming. For the past 10-plus years, he has happily served the University of Saint Francis in a variety of capacities, including most recently as dean of students, associate vice president for Catholic culture, assistant professor of theology, and director of the university’s Assisi Program for Discipleship and Leadership.

“What I had already been suspecting but had felt really strongly in teaching for the St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Institute, especially in getting to spend time with catechists and teachers and [directors of religious education], is that, increasingly, I have felt like I don’t want to be an academic theologian; I want to be a theologian for the Church,” Giltner told Today’s Catholic. “There’s nothing wrong with having an academic career. Many of my friends have done so, and they’re doing important work, but I don’t think we have enough theologians doing practical ministry and bringing those credentials and that study to bear.”

During a conversation Giltner had with Bishop Rhoades on his approach to catechesis and how it’s being translated to the St. Cyril of Jerusalem Institute, Giltner realized that it was clear his career was headed in a different direction.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision because I immediately felt the call of the Lord,” Giltner said, “but it was difficult because I’ve built a life at USF, and I love USF, and I love the friends I’ve made and the students that I’ve taught. I love the sisters. And so, and I was not expecting it. I can honestly say, before I met with Bishop Rhoades in December, I had no idea that any of this was going to happen. And it did. And happened quickly. And there’s been a lot of grieving about leaving USF, a community that I dearly love and have participated in for a long time. But also, there’s this sense of excitement about what we’re about to do.”

Giltner said that, recently, it’s become clear that there has been a “crisis of catechesis” in the Church.

“Catechesis is not just training people for the sacraments; it’s not just learning how to say the right words to the priest,” Giltner said. “Catechesis is literally the formation of one’s mind. In Romans Chapter 12, Paul writes, ‘Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ Usually the translation is ‘spiritual worship,’ but the word there is logikos, which is where we get the word ‘logical.’ This is what catechesis does. It renews your mind, and then you can discern the pleasing, good, and perfect law of God.”

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