Nurturing Faith: Catechetical Outreach Transforms Lives
Lorna Tyson, Shirley Mae Marcos & Emee Rose Balilu
University News
March 26, 2025
This year, Holy Angel University’s catechetical apostolate engaged around a total of four hundred (400) pupils in one public school in Porac, Pampanga and in two government run schools in Angeles City, under the jurisdiction of the Holy Rosary Parish, our mother parish and partner in the university’s catechetical ministry.
The catechetical program was aimed at fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Catholic faith among young learners. It was deemed to enrich the students’ spiritual growth while reinforcing the university’s dedication to its Catholic heritage and mission of evangelization.
Through the program, selected school children in the partner schools were engaged in learning the basic Catholic doctrines and prayers, with the dedicated participation of the CLE and Philosophy faculty of the Basic Education Department (BEd), the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) in partnership with its official student publication The Concierge, among other student organizations, and the School of Education (SEd) which deployed 32 student catechists as part of their requirements in their ENEWLITERACY subject. These efforts were geared towards preparing the public-school pupils to receive the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion and transforming their lives as faithful members of the Catholic Church.
By making the catechetical apostolate a service-learning component that embodies the mission of bearing witness to the Gospel, SEd provided its teacher education students opportunities to live out the charisms of the university. Moreover, by integrating the catechetical program into the curriculum, SEd emphasized the importance of evangelization and catechesis in the formation of the next generation of teachers into collaborators of the faith.
The implementation of the program has been successfully orchestrated through the efforts of the ICFSI-Campus Ministry Office (CMO) and the Character Education Partnership (CEP) Desk in collaboration with the SEd, the BEd, the SHTM, and the Office of the Community Extension Services (OCES), and the cooperation of the partner DepEd schools. This initiative underscores the university’s commitment to its identity as one of the leading Catholic institutions in the region.