The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) is an association established in Rome in 1562 for the purpose of providing religious education. The abbreviated name is colloquially used for the catechesis or religious education program of the Catholic Church, normally designed for children.
Background
In the thirteenth century, the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer formed the general basis of religious instruction. All the faithful within the Catholic Church were required to know them by heart, and parish priests were commanded to explain them on Sundays and festivals. Eventually, the range of instruction was widened to include the Commandments, the sacraments, and the virtues and vices. In 1686, a rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences urged its establishment wherever possible.
Pope Pius X was a strong proponent of CCD. In 1905, in his letter Acerbo nimis, he mandated the establishment of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (catechism class) in every parish.
The First Provincial Council of Westminster urged that its members should be used in both Sunday and day-schools.
If the central confraternity in a diocese is affiliated to the Archconfraternity of Santa Maria del Pianto in Rome, all others participate in all the confraternity indulgences.
Contemporary usage
The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine is now commonly referred to by its abbreviation, CCD, or simply as "Catechism", and provides religious education to Catholic children attending secular schools. Inconsistently, CCD has also been offered under a spectrum of banners and acronyms, but all serve the same parochial function of providing a course of study that has been pre-approved by the diocese as meeting the requirements for children not enrolled in a Catholic school (i.e., public school students) to engage with the sacraments at the same time as their diocese-sponsored peers.
While CCD remains the official shorthand of the institution, occasionally parishes have opted to style their individual program as PSR (Parish School of Religion), SRE (Special Religious Education), and PRP (Parish Religious Program), especially when it occurs as a condensed extended-day summer program.
Similar to children's Sunday schools in Protestant churches, CCD education is provided by both members of the clergy and lay staff. Unlike Protestant Sunday programs, CCD does not afford participating children an excuse from the weekend Mass they attend with their family unit, and only in rare occasions is it even offered in conjunction with (i.e., immediately before or after) a weekly Mass. Catholic culture in America often necessitates or at least prefers that instructors hold credentials in education, ministry, or both, in addition to professing that one lives in strict adherence to church teaching and customs. CCD attendance is considered by the Holy See to be vital to children's development as Catholics and an important complement to the limited liturgic participation they regularly experience while accompanying their family to church throughout the year. These classes not only educate children about Jesus and the Catholic faith but more practically prepare children to fully participate in adult spiritual life by providing a secure foundation to receive the sacraments of Penance (confession), the Eucharist (Holy Communion), and Confirmation.
Organisations called Confraternity of Christian Doctrine have been established in many countries and organise modern CCD programs.
The national Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the United States is a non-profit subsidiary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops based in Washington, DC. It notably owns the copyright on the New American Bible, the translation incorporated in the lectionary for Mass used in the United States. The organization operates an international grant-funding program in conjunction with the Catholic Biblical Association, using royalties to support "Catholic biblical literacy and Catholic biblical interpretation".
See also
- Catholic spirituality
- Confraternity Bible
- New American Bible