The Catholic obligation to teach the Faith, transmit doctrine, and educate souls in the truth revealed by Christ
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19)
Two millennia of catechesis and Catholic education
Modern ways to teach and evangelize today
To instruct the ignorant is the first Spiritual Work of Mercy, a binding obligation upon all Catholics to teach the truths of the Faith to those who do not know them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The first and last teacher is Christ. Every disciple of Christ is a catechist; the disciple shares in the prophetic mission of Jesus" (CCC 428). This work of mercy encompasses formal catechesis, evangelization, religious education, theological formation, and all acts by which one soul helps another come to know God.
The word "ignorant" does not here connote moral fault but rather factual lack of knowledge. Many souls are ignorant of the Gospel through no fault of their own—born in non-Christian lands, raised in secular cultures, or poorly catechized despite baptism. The Catholic who instructs the ignorant fulfills Christ's Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20, RSV-CE).
This obligation flows from three sources: divine command (Christ's explicit mandate to teach), supernatural charity (love for one's neighbor demands that we share the greatest good, which is knowledge of God), and the nature of faith itself (faith comes by hearing, Romans 10:17, and the Church is the ordinary means by which souls hear the Gospel).
"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?"
— Romans 10:14 (RSV-CE)
The Second Vatican Council reaffirmed this teaching in Lumen Gentium: "All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called each in his own way to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity. By this holiness a more human manner of life is promoted even in this earthly society... The laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God" (LG 40-41). Among these temporal affairs is the education of children, the catechesis of adults, and the evangelization of the culture.
Pope St. John Paul II, in Catechesi Tradendae (1979), wrote: "Catechesis is an education of children, young people and adults in the faith, which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life" (CT 18). He insisted that catechesis is not optional but essential to the life of the Church and the salvation of souls.
Pope Benedict XVI declared: "The Church exists to evangelize" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14, quoting Paul VI), and every baptized Catholic participates in this mission by virtue of baptism and confirmation. To refuse to instruct the ignorant when one has the knowledge and opportunity is a sin of omission against charity and against the supernatural good of one's neighbor.
Catechism References: CCC 428, 848, 905, 2044-2046. The faithful are obligated to know the Faith themselves and to transmit it to others, particularly to their children and to those entrusted to their care.
The obligation to teach the Faith begins in the Old Covenant. God commanded Israel: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:4-7, RSV-CE).
The Psalms celebrate the transmission of faith across generations: "We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought" (Psalm 78:4). The Wisdom literature commands: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
The prophets rebuked Israel for failing to teach the Law. Hosea declared: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me" (Hosea 4:6). The covenant people were obligated not only to know God's Law but to transmit it faithfully to their descendants.
"One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."
— Psalm 145:4 (RSV-CE)
Jesus Christ Himself is the supreme Teacher. He spent His public ministry instructing the Twelve, the crowds, and individual souls. The Gospels repeatedly describe Him as "teaching" (Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 1:21-22; Luke 4:15). His parables, sermons, and dialogues are acts of divine instruction aimed at revealing the Kingdom of God.
Christ commissioned the Apostles to continue His teaching ministry: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). This is not a suggestion but a command—the Great Commission binds every generation of Christians.
St. Paul emphasizes the necessity of instruction: "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15). Paul himself devoted his life to teaching: "Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ" (Colossians 1:28).
In his pastoral epistles, Paul commands Timothy: "What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). The pattern is clear: faith is transmitted from teacher to student, generation to generation, in unbroken succession from the Apostles to the present day.
Ignorance of God is the greatest deprivation a soul can suffer. To withhold religious instruction when one has the knowledge and opportunity is to abandon souls in spiritual darkness. Charity demands that we share the greatest good—knowledge of God and His will for salvation.
We instruct not merely to impart information but to save souls. Eternal life depends on knowing and loving God (John 17:3). To teach the Faith is an act of supernatural charity that cooperates with God's grace to bring souls to heaven.
Key Scriptural References (USCCB): Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Psalm 78:4, Psalm 145:4, Proverbs 22:6, Hosea 4:6, Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 10:14-15, Colossians 1:28, 2 Timothy 2:2
From the Apostolic Age through the conversion of the Roman Empire
The earliest Christians took Christ's command to teach with absolute seriousness. Catechesis—systematic instruction in the Faith—was not a medieval invention but an apostolic practice recorded in Scripture itself. Acts 2:42 describes the first Christian community: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (RSV-CE). Teaching was the first element listed, indicating its priority.
The Didache (c. AD 70–110), one of the oldest Christian documents outside the New Testament, is itself a catechetical manual. It begins: "There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways" (Didache 1:1). The text then instructs converts in Christian morality, sacramental practice, and community life. This demonstrates that structured religious instruction was normative from the apostolic age.
St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 100–165), writing in Rome, describes the catechumenate—the formal process of instructing converts before baptism: "As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting... Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated" (First Apology, 61). Baptism was preceded by instruction in doctrine, morals, and prayer.
"We call this food Eucharist... For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus."
— St. Justin Martyr, First Apology, 66 (c. AD 155)
By the late second century, the Church had established formal catechetical schools in major cities. The Catechetical School of Alexandria, founded c. AD 190, became the intellectual center of early Christianity. Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 150–215) and his successor Origen (c. AD 185–254) taught Scripture, theology, philosophy, and Christian living to converts and baptized Christians alike.
Origen wrote extensive biblical commentaries, homilies, and theological treatises specifically for instructional purposes. His De Principiis (On First Principles, c. AD 220–230) was the first systematic theology textbook in Christian history. Origen insisted that all Christians, not just clergy, should be instructed in the deep truths of the Faith.
The School of Antioch, established in the third century, emphasized literal biblical exegesis and practical moral instruction. These schools trained bishops, priests, catechists, and laypeople, ensuring that the Faith was transmitted with precision and fidelity.
By the third century, the Church had developed a formal catechumenate—a multi-year program of instruction for adults preparing for baptism. St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. AD 170–235) describes this process in the Apostolic Tradition (c. AD 215):
"Those who come forward for the first time to hear the word shall first be brought to the teachers... Let inquiry be made concerning their life: whether he has a wife, whether he is a slave... Let a catechumen be instructed for three years."
— Apostolic Tradition, 15–17
The catechumenate included instruction in Scripture, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and Christian morality. Catechumens attended the Liturgy of the Word (the first part of Mass) but were dismissed before the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which was reserved for the baptized. Only after years of formation were they admitted to baptism at the Easter Vigil.
The Church Fathers understood their primary duty as bishops and priests to be teaching. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. AD 313–386) delivered his famous Catechetical Lectures to catechumens preparing for baptism. These 24 lectures, preached during Lent and Easter Week AD 348–350, systematically explained the Creed, the sacraments, and Christian morality.
St. John Chrysostom (c. AD 347–407), Patriarch of Constantinople, was renowned as the greatest preacher of the early Church (his name means "Golden-Mouthed"). He preached multiple times per week, instructing his congregation in Scripture and morals. His homilies on Matthew, John, Romans, and other biblical books were transcribed and circulated throughout the Church as teaching texts.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430) wrote extensively on catechesis. His De Catechizandis Rudibus (On Catechizing the Uninstructed, c. AD 405) is a manual for catechists, explaining how to adapt instruction to different audiences, how to make doctrine engaging, and how to assess whether students have understood the Faith.
"When, therefore, we bring one to be catechized, the love of God, toward which we seek to kindle him, should be commended to him."
— St. Augustine, De Catechizandis Rudibus, 7 (c. AD 405)
By the end of the fourth century, the Church had established comprehensive structures for religious instruction: catechetical schools, formal catechumenates, episcopal homilies, theological treatises, and liturgical formation. Teaching the Faith was not a secondary concern—it was central to the Church's identity and mission.
A thousand years of monastic schools, cathedral cathedralsis, and systematic theology
The collapse of the Roman Empire (AD 476) did not diminish the Church's commitment to teaching—it intensified it. As barbarian invasions destroyed the Roman educational system, the Catholic Church became the sole institution preserving literacy, learning, and religious instruction in Western Europe.
Benedictine monasteries (founded c. AD 529) became centers of education throughout the Middle Ages. The Rule of St. Benedict mandated daily reading and study: "Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading" (Chapter 48). Monastic schools taught Scripture, Latin, the liberal arts, and theology to oblates (boys destined for monastic life) and, in some cases, to external students.
The monastery of Vivarium, founded by Cassiodorus (c. AD 485–585) in southern Italy, established a scriptorium where monks copied Scripture, theological works, and classical texts. This practice spread throughout Benedictine monasticism, preserving the written heritage of Christianity and classical antiquity.
The Carolingian Renaissance (8th–9th centuries) saw a deliberate revival of learning under Charlemagne (742–814). Charlemagne recruited the English monk Alcuin of York (c. AD 735–804) to establish a palace school and reform education throughout the Frankish Empire. Alcuin standardized the liturgy, produced corrected editions of Scripture, and trained clergy to teach the Faith accurately. Cathedral schools were founded in every diocese, instructing boys in Latin, Scripture, and the seven liberal arts.
"Let schools be established in which boys may learn to read. Correct carefully the Psalms, the Missal, and the Gospel."
— Charlemagne, Admonitio Generalis (AD 789)
The medieval universities, all founded by the Church, were institutions dedicated to teaching theology, law, medicine, and the arts. The University of Bologna (founded c. 1088), University of Paris (c. 1150), University of Oxford (c. 1167), and University of Cambridge (1209) trained clergy, lawyers, physicians, and teachers. The studium generale (general course of study) included the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy), culminating in theology.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) represents the height of medieval Catholic pedagogy. His Summa Theologiae is explicitly didactic—written "for the instruction of beginners" (Prologue). Aquinas taught at the University of Paris and wrote commentaries on Scripture, Aristotle, and the Church Fathers, all intended to instruct students in truth. He argued that teaching is an act of charity: "To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer" (ST III, Q. 71, A. 4).
The Dominican Order (founded 1216 by St. Dominic) and the Franciscan Order (founded 1209 by St. Francis) were founded explicitly to preach and teach. The Dominicans were called the Order of Preachers (Ordo Praedicatorum), and their primary mission was combating heresy through sound doctrine. St. Dominic himself established houses of study, and the order produced many of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages, including St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas.
While universities trained the elite, the Church also prioritized catechesis for ordinary laypeople. Parish priests were required to preach sermons explaining the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Seven Sacraments. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) mandated annual confession and Communion, which necessitated instructing the laity in moral theology and sacramental practice.
Catechetical manuals proliferated in the late Middle Ages. John Gerson (1363–1429), Chancellor of the University of Paris, wrote simple catechisms for children and illiterate adults, explaining the Faith in vernacular languages. The Lay Folks' Catechism (England, 1357) and similar texts circulated widely, ensuring that even those who could not read Latin had access to basic Catholic teaching.
The mystery plays and morality plays of the late Middle Ages (e.g., Everyman, The Second Shepherds' Play) were didactic dramas that taught Scripture and morals to illiterate populations. These plays, performed in town squares and church porches, made theology accessible to all social classes.
Every cathedral maintained a school for training clergy and educating boys, ensuring literacy and doctrinal fidelity
Parish priests preached weekly sermons, heard confessions, and instructed families in the Faith
By the end of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had constructed the most comprehensive educational system the world had ever known: monasteries preserving manuscripts, cathedral schools training clergy, universities advancing theology, mendicant orders preaching in the streets, parish priests instructing the faithful, and vernacular catechisms making doctrine accessible to all. The Church's commitment to instructing the ignorant shaped Western civilization itself.
From the Counter-Reformation through Vatican II to the New Evangelization
The Protestant Reformation challenged Catholic teaching, leading the Church to clarify and systematize catechesis. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) mandated that every diocese establish seminaries to train priests in theology and pastoral ministry. The Council commissioned the Roman Catechism (1566), also known as the Catechism of the Council of Trent, a comprehensive exposition of Catholic doctrine for parish priests to use in preaching and instruction.
St. Peter Canisius (1521–1597), a Jesuit, wrote three catechisms (for children, adolescents, and adults) that became standard texts throughout Catholic Europe. His Summa Doctrinae Christianae (1555) was translated into fifteen languages and went through 400 editions by 1800.
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) produced catechetical works explaining Catholic doctrine against Protestant errors. His Dottrina Cristiana Breve (Short Christian Doctrine, 1597) was approved by Pope Clement VIII and used worldwide.
The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540, made education their primary apostolate. By 1700, the Jesuits operated over 600 schools and universities globally, teaching classical education integrated with Catholic doctrine. Jesuit missionaries carried catechesis to Asia, Africa, and the Americas, translating catechisms into indigenous languages.
"The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God."
— St. Irenaeus (often quoted by the Jesuits in their educational mission)
The 19th century saw explosive growth in Catholic education. Religious orders of women—Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, Ursulines, Dominicans—founded thousands of schools, orphanages, and academies. These sisters taught millions of Catholic children, particularly immigrants in the United States, ensuring that the Faith was transmitted despite poverty and cultural dislocation.
St. John Bosco (1815–1888) founded the Salesians to educate poor boys in Italy. His preventive pedagogy combined academic instruction with moral formation, sacramental practice, and vocational training. By 1888, the Salesians operated schools across Europe and South America.
Blessed Pope Pius IX (1846–1878) and Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) promoted Catholic education as essential to combating secularism and preserving the Faith. Leo XIII's encyclical Militantis Ecclesiae (1897) praised St. Peter Canisius as a model catechist and urged all Catholics to imitate his zeal for teaching.
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) called for renewed catechesis adapted to modern conditions. Gravissimum Educationis (1965) declared: "All Christians have the right to a Christian education" and urged the Church to maintain and expand Catholic schools and catechetical programs.
Pope St. Paul VI, in Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), called catechesis "a means of evangelization" and insisted that "the Church exists to evangelize." Pope St. John Paul II devoted his apostolic exhortation Catechesi Tradendae (1979) entirely to catechesis, declaring it "one of the primary tasks of the Church" (CT 1).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992, revised 1997), promulgated by John Paul II, is the definitive summary of Catholic doctrine for the modern age. It has been translated into dozens of languages and serves as the basis for all contemporary catechetical materials.
Pope Benedict XVI promoted the Compendium of the Catechism (2005) and the Youcat (Youth Catechism, 2011), making doctrine accessible to young people. He declared a Year of Faith (2012–2013) to promote knowledge of the Catechism.
Pope Francis has emphasized the New Evangelization: proclaiming the Gospel to baptized Catholics who have drifted from the Faith and to those who have never heard it. In Evangelii Gaudium (2013), he wrote: "An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first... and knows how to take the initiative without fear" (EG 24). Francis has called all Catholics to be missionary disciples, teaching the Faith by word and witness.
"Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church's life... The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends."
— Catechism of the Catholic Church, §25 (1992)
Today, the Catholic Church operates the largest private educational system in the world: tens of thousands of schools, universities, catechetical programs, and adult formation initiatives on every continent. The obligation to instruct the ignorant remains as urgent as ever, and the Church continues to fulfill Christ's command to "make disciples of all nations."
The doctrinal foundations of religious instruction in Catholic teaching
The Catholic obligation to instruct the ignorant rests on five interlocking theological principles:
Christ's Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is not optional. All baptized Catholics participate in the Church's teaching mission by virtue of their baptism and confirmation. To refuse to teach when able is to disobey Christ's explicit command.
Love for neighbor demands that we share the greatest good: knowledge of God. To withhold religious instruction from souls who lack it is a failure of charity. We instruct not merely to inform but to save souls (1 Timothy 4:16).
Faith is reasonable. God gave us intellects to know Him. Teaching helps souls understand what they believe, defend the Faith against error, and grow in wisdom. "Always be prepared to make a defense... for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15).
The Church is a communion of teachers and learners. No one possesses all knowledge; all are called to teach what they know and learn what they lack. Teaching is an act of ecclesial charity that builds up the Body of Christ.
Ignorance of God is the gravest deprivation a soul can suffer. Those who do not know God cannot love Him, serve Him, or attain salvation except by extraordinary grace. Hosea warns: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). To instruct the ignorant is therefore an act of spiritual rescue.
Catholic moral theology identifies specific groups with grave obligations to instruct:
The obligation is gravest for those with formal teaching roles, but no Catholic is exempt from the call to evangelize and catechize according to their state in life and ability.
In summary: To instruct the ignorant is a divine command, an act of supernatural charity, a requirement of baptismal and confirmational grace, and a means by which the Church fulfills her mission to evangelize all nations. It is not optional piety but an essential work of mercy that cooperates with God's desire that all be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
Concrete ways Catholics can fulfill this spiritual work of mercy in the 21st century
Every Catholic, regardless of education or vocation, can and must participate in the work of instructing the ignorant. Here are practical ways to live this spiritual work of mercy:
Share your faith story with friends, family, and coworkers. Invite people to Mass, parish events, or faith-sharing groups.
Study Catholic apologetics (e.g., Catholic Answers, Word on Fire, EWTN) to defend the Faith and answer questions.
Share Catholic content on social media, write blogs, create videos, or podcast about the Faith to reach a wider audience.
Give Bibles, catechisms, lives of the saints, or Catholic classics to friends and family members seeking truth.
Those who teach bear grave responsibility. St. James warns: "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness" (James 3:1). Teachers must ensure they transmit the authentic Faith as taught by the Magisterium, not personal opinions or errors. Study the Catechism, consult reliable sources, and submit your teaching to the authority of the Church.
Remember: Every act of instruction, when done in charity and truth, cooperates with grace to bring souls closer to God and merits eternal reward.
To instruct the ignorant is not peripheral charity but a divine command rooted in Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. From the apostolic catechesis recorded in Acts through the catechetical schools of Alexandria and Antioch, the medieval universities and cathedral schools, the Counter-Reformation seminaries and Jesuit colleges, to the modern Catholic education system and the New Evangelization, the Church has consistently prioritized teaching as essential to her mission.
Ignorance of God is the gravest deprivation a soul can suffer. Without knowledge of the Faith, souls cannot believe, cannot love God rightly, and cannot attain salvation except by extraordinary grace. The Catholic who possesses knowledge of the Faith and withholds it from others fails in supernatural charity and disobeys Christ's explicit command to teach.
Parents have the primary obligation to teach their children. Pastors must preach and catechize. Catechists and teachers bear formal responsibility for accurate instruction. But all the baptized share in the Church's teaching mission according to their state in life: by personal witness, by answering questions about the Faith, by inviting others to know Christ, and by supporting the Church's educational and evangelistic efforts.
This spiritual work of mercy is not optional. It is a requirement of baptismal grace, a participation in Christ's prophetic office, and an act of supernatural charity that cooperates with God's desire that all be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. The Church calls all Catholics to be teachers according to their ability, transmitting the Faith with fidelity, clarity, and love.
The Great Commission
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you."
— Matthew 28:19-20