BALTIMORE—His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, expressed his gratitude on Friday night to dedicated Catholic lay leaders and religious educators who teach the faith on U.S. Military installations worldwide in spite of secular social pressure.
“In this unique archdiocese,” Archbishop Broglio said, “I am every day more convinced that we have an obligation to help our diverse and geographically dispersed faithful to follow an organized development of the faith about Jesus Christ and His Church. The people entrusted to my pastoral care are constantly on the move, and we have to do everything in our power to make sure that religious education is seamless and easily accessible at every PCS (Permanent Change of Station).”
Archbishop Broglio made the remarks at a Leadership Appreciation Dinner hosted by His Excellency and supported by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Equal Exchange Co-op. Dozens of catechetical leaders of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), who were in Baltimore last weekend to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Congress for Catholic leaders, attended the dinner at CRS headquarters on West Lexington Street. The AMS leaders came from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR), Altus Air Force Base (AFB), Dover Air Force Base, Fort Meade, Fort Sill, and Joint Base Andrews.
“The sound living in the gospel challenges us to live the whole message as opposed to a smorgasbord where we pick and choose what we like,” Archbishop Broglio said. “The more we learn, the better able we should be to practice the precepts of the gospel.”
Archbishop Broglio encouraged the catechetical leaders to continue relying heavily on the Archdiocesan curriculum instruction guide for grades K through 12, Forming Disciples for the New Evangelization, which His Excellency promulgated based on the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: the Creed, Sacraments and Liturgy, Morality, and Prayer.
“The fourteen standards of the AMS curriculum guide, flowing from the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, serve as a guide for the catechist’s faith formation and training,” Archbishop Broglio said. “More than ever before, you and I know that our faith must be lived so as to communicate to an increasingly secular, materialistic society. The Bishop of Rome reminds us that ‘hearses do not have trailers.’ However, it is a challenge to impart a hunger and thirst for the Kingdom of God. We must first be examples and witnesses before we can be effective teachers.”
Archbishop Broglio encouraged the religious instructional leaders to make full use of the Archdiocese’s online Family Faith Assessment tool to track student progress, and help Catholic parents play their crucial role.
“The best catechists will be the parents, who are the first of teachers,” Archbishop Broglio said. “We must also help them grow in their formation so that they might be better prepared to transmit the faith to their children… I take that obligation to teach very seriously, and so I’m very grateful for your generous acceptance of your baptismal role that helps me fulfill my responsibility to our good people, and I know that you do it with enthusiasm, that you do it with competence, and you do it—some of you—with a great deal of experience. And I’m grateful for your willingness to come to Baltimore to learn more and to experience what the Mid-Atlantic Congress has to offer to all of us. Thank you for your generous service, and thank you for joining us this evening, and may God continue to bless you.”
Watch the video of Archbishop Broglio’s remarks.
