Identidade crente e narrativa de vida

: a narratividade da fé na trajetória de vida de catequistas de adultos

Abstract

The questioning of Christian identity, in so-called western societies, in a context of pluralization and crisis of the institutionalization of belief, invites the logic of pastoral action to be thought of taking into account practices developed by believers, and the readings that they do, in a vast array of situations. The believers’ experiences allow us not only to understand the inherent dynamics of the reconfiguration of attitudes around the Christian faith, but also how they transform themselves into a quintessential theological space. The theological-practical paths to the life narratives of adult catechists constitutes the prism from which the narrative identity of Christianity is equated and the modalities of correlation between Revelation and contemporary culture are considered. Paul Ricoeur's proposal concerning the question of personal identity, which necessarily involves a hermeneutic and narrative dimension, constitutes the opening gateway to equate the theological problem of correlation and the contribution of narrative theology. The analysis of some classical theologians seeks to place two perspectives in dialogical tension, one is more ontological (Paul Tillich and Karl Ranher), the other more historical (Edward Schillebeeckx and David Tracy). Narrative theology, especially after Johann Baptist Metz, Eberhard Jungel and Christoph Theobald, outlines the theological framework that helps to value the individual consideration of the believer's identity as biography. In an effort that seeks to value the believing trajectory of catechists, this article attempts to envisage the correlative dynamics contained between the experience of faith in the course of existence and the performance of the service of catechist of adults. This dialogical exercise is done by comparing it with the General Directory for Catechesis. A narrative proposal for catechist formation stems from it.

Date of Award	20 Apr 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alfredo Teixeira (Supervisor)