September 9, 2009 // Uncategorized

God’s hand in catechesis

Todays Catholic

Jim Tighe appointed director of Office of Catechesis

By Tim Johnson

FORT WAYNE — Jim Tighe sees his role as the director of the Office of Catechesis as a continuation of building on the fruits of his predecessor Sister Jane Carew.

Tighe had been co-director of the Office of Catechesis with Sister Jane since the beginning of the year. As of Sept. 1, Sister Jane, who has ministered as the director the Office of Catechesis since 1987, will assume a part-time position as a catechetical consultant, and Tighe will become the director of the office.

In making the announcement about the change in directorship, Bishop John M. D’Arcy writes, “I am very grateful to Jim for giving up a secure job in business and joining our catechetical team at my request. Jim is also involved in preparation for the Office of Deacon. He and his wife, Patty, are members of St. Jude’s Parish, Fort Wayne. Jim, in addition to studying for diaconate, is undertaking the course for a master’s degree in catechetics at Notre Dame.”
Under Sister Jane’s leadership, the Office of Catechesis has grown and seen local and national accolades.

“When I came in 1987, catechetics was trendy in many ways,” Sister Jane tells Today’s Catholic, “I have been blessed with a strong catechetical background and much experience in ministry. Following bishop’s vision to be guided by the great catechetical renewal flowing from Vatican II and with talented staff, God blessed a persevering fidelity. There is no way I could foresee the growth that has come.”

Bishop D’Arcy notes, “I am sure you know how grateful I am to Sister Jane for her extraordinary 22 years as director of the Office of Catechesis. I am very grateful that with her great knowledge of the catechetical enterprise and the documents of the church, she will continue to help in the office on a part-time basis.

“Her focus will be on such things as curriculum, the training of catechists, the screening of those admitted to the program and the high school theology departments,” Bishop D’Arcy says. “Her leadership in the training of catechists, seeking and securing funds from OSV (Our Sunday Visitor), screening of candidates, improving and strengthening of curriculum, implementing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and formation of courses on the masters level and the certificate level have helped good catechesis to flourish in our diocese.”

Under the leadership of Sister Jane, the Education for Ministry, funded by OSV, has been very successful, providing continuing education and training for 800 catechists and people wanting to learn more about their faith. A similar education for ministry program for Hispanic Catholics in the diocese has also been launched in Fort Wayne.

Another 63 diocesan high school theology teachers and diocesan employees have master’s degrees in theology from either the University of Dayton or now the University of Notre Dame. These graduates are resource teachers — what Sister Jane calls “incredible leaven” — for programs such as the Catechetical Institute Days, coordinated by the Office of Catechesis, and Education for Ministry.

The four diocesan high schools have emerged with exemplary theology programs, and the Office of Catechesis has been active in procuring teaching talent for the high schools.

The excellent training of high school and grade school theology teachers have made the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend one of the top scoring dioceses in the nation on the ACRE exam for religious education. The Office of Catechesis has worked closely and successfully in collaboration with the Catholic Schools Office to achieve this success.

The high scores in the ACRE exams has given the diocesan catechetical office national recognition for their work.
Tighe and Sister Jane both note the the changes they are witnessing in catechetics.

“We live in a wonderful time,” Sister Jane explains, “and Bishop D’Arcy has faithfully encouraged us through the catechetical reforms of Vatican II.”

Tighe, a former sales manager with Federated Media in Fort Wayne, a one-time seminarian and now training for the permanent diaconate, tells Today’s Catholic, “The Office of Catechesis and the diaconate — the fit there between the two is very good. … I realized that everything that I had been preparing for, for the last 2-1/2 years, has been preparing for this work and is being ordained.”

After 30 years in radio, Tighe says many wondered why Bishop D’Arcy would ask “this radio guy” to run the Office of Catechesis. But Tighe, a former seminarian, has trained in the Education for Ministry and the diaconate program. And he has been a catechist since mid 1980s.

As Bishop D’Arcy talked with Tighe about coming on board with the diocese, Tighe says, he sensed, “It was time to move on” from radio, a career he enjoyed and in which he used his talents.

“I was being called to something else,” Tighe says. He figured “that call” had something to do with the diaconate program.

But as discussions ensued with Bishop D’Arcy about the Office of Catechesis, Tighe says he knew, “This is something I felt drawn to for a long time.”

Both Sister Jane and Tighe see the Holy Spirit at work in the decisions and the journey that led them to the Office of Catechesis.

Tighe says, “And for me, that’s one of the reasons it fits in so well with the call of the diaconate, which is to serve. And deacons are truly to be servants, servants of the bishop.”

Tighe likes to tell folks, “It’s not a career move. It’s service.”

He adds, “What I’m interested in is to continue doing what we are doing and continuing — ‘Is this good for the church?’ ‘Is this what we need now?’ ‘Is this where the Lord is leading us?’”

“And that’s where the fruit comes from,” adds Sister Jane, “because there is no way I could have imagined the things that have happened or the talent that we discovered in the master’s program. All that is the result of God’s activity.”