ST. LOUIS — Sandy Ahrens grew up in a Protestant church that provided only informal instruction in the faith.

Now a Catholic convert, Ahrens' two children attend the parish school of religion at St. Robert Bellarmine in St. Charles, Mo. She appreciates the fact that the Archdiocese of St. Louis is monitoring the religion textbooks her children are using.

“It's good to know that everything is being approved and looked over,” she said.

Ahrens provides home religious instruction to her children, who just completed grades 7 and 8, using Ignatius Press Faith and Life series. At St. Robert Bellarmine, where Carol Breckle is the parish's school of religion director, they use the Faith First series published by Resources for Christian Living.

The archdiocese mandates that only religious-education materials found to be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church are to be used in Catholic schools and parish school of religion programs.

As such, the archdiocese looks to a national bishops' board for direction. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism, formed in 1994, has been reviewing texts since 1996 for how faithful they are to the Catechism.

It's an effort to ensure that children like the Ahrenses are being instructed in the truth — and not someone's opinion of it or someone's spin on it.

Both Faith and Life and Faith First are among 95 religious education texts that have been declared in conformity with the Catechism.

Breckle said the archdiocese, headed by Archbishop Raymond Burke, is very clear about the importance of using texts in conformity with the Catechism, and that she would not want to use anything that was not.

In addition, the archdiocese, one of 20 being examined in a Register investigation, monitors the materials being used by requiring educators to submit a report at the beginning of each school year listing textbooks and the certification status of teachers. A random check of parishes and schools in the archdiocese found that all were using texts in conformity with the Catechism. Only one — St. Monica's in Creve Coeur, Mo. — was using a questionable series — and only in one grade.

For eighth graders, the parish uses Silver Burdett Ginn's Connect leaflet series, which was published in 1994 before the review process began. Although Silver Burdett Ginn was the first publisher to submit its texts to the ad hoc committee, the company has not sought a declaration of conformity for Connect.

Ray Latour, president of Silver Burdett Ginn Religion, said the company decided to publish new junior-high texts as part of its Blest Are We series, and submit them for review rather than invest in a revision of Connect. The older series, he pointed out, carries an imprimatur and “nihil obstat” ensuring that it is free of doctrinal error. However, according to Msgr. Daniel Kutys, executive director of the bishops' Office for the Catechism, a declaration of conformity goes beyond those by assessing both the correctness and completeness of a text's doctrinal presentation.

Silver Burdett Ginn continues to keep Connect on the market because students respond favorably to it, Latour said.

Kids Like Glossy

Christina Sanders, coordinator of religious education at St. Monica's, said teachers in her parish wanted to continue using Connect even though it does not have a declaration of conformity with the Catechism because teens liked it better than a conventional textbook.

“The textbook format makes them feel very juvenile,” she said. “The Connect series is more of a glossy magazine-type series, which has been better received not only by the students, but also by the eighth-grade teachers.”

Sanders said teachers supplement the leaflets with textbooks bearing the bishops' declaration of conformity with the Catechism. Other grades at St. Monica's use the Silver Burdett Ginn This Is Our Faith and Blest Are We series, both of which are in conformity.

When the bishops began reviewing textbooks, the ad hoc committee, headed at the time by Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, OSB, of Indianapolis, identified 10 significant areas in which the vast majority of materials in use at the time were deficient:

— the Trinity;

— the divinity of Christ;

— the Church's teaching authority;

— a Christian understanding of man;

— God's initiative in the world (not just man's);

— the transforming effects of grace;

— the sacraments;

— original sin and sin in general;

— the Christian moral life;

— God's judgment.

Under the review process, publishers voluntarily submit texts to the ad hoc committee and receive a report listing changes required for a conformity declaration. The committee also identifies “recommended” and “suggested” changes, neither of which is required. However, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans, the current chairman of the committee, said in 90% of the cases, publishers make all the changes.

The bishops' committee initially reviewed elementary texts because those were the first to be submitted by publishers, Msgr. Kutys said. Recently, the committee has been concentrating on high school texts. A list of books found to be in conformity with the Catechism is updated quarterly and posted on the bishops' website (www.usccb.org).

Dioceses Respond

Among other dioceses that are part of the Register series, policies on the use of catechetical texts and their enforcement vary. For example, both the archdioceses of Baltimore, headed by Cardinal William Keeler, and New Orleans, led by Archbishop Hughes, direct educators to choose books from the bishops' conformity listing. Archbishop Hughes also makes sure his archdiocese's policy is being followed by asking what textbooks are being used during his parish visitations.

By contrast, in the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., headed by Bishop Edward Kmiec, catechists are told to choose books that are in conformity with the Catechism, but not all of them are aware of the bishops' conformity listing or even the importance of selecting books from it. As a result, some programs and schools are using outdated books or materials that have not been reviewed by the bishops.

John Vitek, president and chief executive officer of St. Mary's Press in Winona, Minn., estimates that only a third of the dioceses in the country have mandated using books bearing the conformity declaration in parish and school programs.

‘They Let Us Know’

In St. Louis, the parish or school using an out-of-conformity text is the exception, said Msgr. John Unger, associate superintendent for religious education in the archdiocese. When one is identified, which he said rarely happens, he talks with those responsible — for example, the pastor and religious education director or principal — to find out why.

Deacon Jerry Stoverink, director of religious education at Sacred Heart Parish in Crystal City, Mo., which uses the Faith First series published by Resources for Christian Living, said that indeed happens.

“Each year they send us a sheet that asks us to put what we're teaching and what grade levels,” he said. “If we happen to put a text on there that's not on their approved list, they let us know.”

Told about St. Monica's Parish in Creve Coeur and its use of the Connect series, Msgr. Unger said he planned to look into the situation. However, he said he would be more concerned if a large number of children were affected or if the entire parish was using out-of-conformity materials. St. Monica's program has about 90 students in grades 1-8.

The archdiocese still does its own reviews of books, not to determine conformity with the Catechism, but to assess age appropriateness, the quality of the teacher manual, methodology, use of sacred Scripture, sound liturgical suggestions, inclusion of prayers, the parent component and religious artwork. Only books with the declaration of conformity with the Catechism are reviewed.

Judy Roberts is based in Graytown, Ohio.