Children’s Catechesis

Nourish your child’s relationship with God

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Gillis Centre

The vision for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd formation began in 1954 with a Dr Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew and Scripture scholar and member of the Vatican Commission for Jewish-Christian Relations, and her colleague, Professor Gianni Gobbi a Montessori trained educator.

Sofia was asked by a mother to give her son some religious instruction. At first she refused, not having much to do with children in her academic world, but eventually she consented and this experience with the 7 year old boy changed her whole life and began what we now know as the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Dr Cavalletti saw in that child, and in number of other children since, a way of being in the presence of God that is unique to the child and a gift to the adult who stops long enough to notice.

Children desire to draw near to God but need the sensitive guidance of the adult as well as the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit to nurture this relationship.

Today the Catechesis can be found in many Christian traditions(Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran, Orthodox and Roman Catholic) as well as in schools through the world. It continues to grow and has spread over the years to many other countries. It has also been adopted by Mother Teressa’s Missionaries of Charity as a method of catechesis.

We in St Columba’s and St Peter’s were very privileged to be the first in the Archdiocese to introduce this programme and it is hoped that other parishes will also become interested.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Christian catechesis programme for children aged 3-12 years which enables them to experience and form an authentic relationship with God.

The Catechesis is rooted in Scripture and the Liturgy of the Church and is inspired by Maria Montessori’s principles of education.

This space, echoing in a beautiful way the most ancient traditions of the Church, is called an ‘Atrium’ at Gillis.

Initially, (for the first year) our parishes was be supported by the Alma Sisters of Mercy with the intention of passing the baton on to lay parishioners once the initiative has been established.

If you are interested in taking part please email: Gillis Centre

If you have children between the ages of 3-8 and you are interested in CGS .
The children need to be introduced to the atrium environment gradually, so please see the schedule below for the timetable:

The Catechesis is rooted in Scripture and the Liturgy of the church and is inspired by Maria Montessori’s principles of education.

This programme provides :
• an opportunity for children to fall in love with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in a child-friendly space called an atrium;
• guided activity to aid meditation on Bible scripture and the mysteries of the Christian faith once a week – in small groups, facilitated by trained catechists;
• and above all that each child’s unique spiritual needs and abilities are respected and nurtured.

This hands-on, interactive catechesis is for children ages 3+.

The programme is free of charge.