Rev. Valentine Gadowski’s self-presentation of the Elementary Catholic Catechism

Abstract

Not least among the numerous prerequisites for good, productive education is a good textbook covering a particular subject. What is essential from a pedagogical standpoint is, among other things, having the right textbooks for teaching religious education. A number of educators, cate-chists and theologians have addressed this issue, pointing out that some of the authors preparing the content of these textbooks fail to pay sufficient attention to the postulates of theorists and practitioners involved in school teaching methodology.
Many methodologists of teaching religion, theoreticians and practitioners of catechisation and pedagogy have put forward postulates concerning the need to prepare teaching aids that are text-book-like in nature and satisfy the requirements of didactics while providing a good contribution to students’ acquisition of the most important information about God and the Catholic religion.
A number of these individuals have contributed significantly to the development of the educa-tion system and community life. The accomplishments of Rev. Walenty Gadowski (1861–1956), who was a well-known and respected professor of catechetics and Christian pedagogy, deserve special mention. His activities combined with his extraordinarily comprehensive academic output made him one of the most eminent pedagogues and catechists in Poland.
The Diocesan Archive in Tarnów houses a rich scholarly legacy of Rev. Walenty Gadowski, includ-ing texts that are virtually unknown as they have not been published anywhere, or only partially.
These papers comprise: Religious Education (Wychowanie religijne), Didactics and Methodol-ogy (Dydaktyka i metodyka), Christian Pedagogy (Pedagogika chrześcijańska) and the so-called May Readers (Czytanki majowe) written for May services not only in the diocese but also for those outside of it. In addition to those mentioned, this collection also includes less extensive texts such as: Preparing for First Confession and First Holy Communion for Pre-school Children (Przygo-towanie do pierwszej spowiedzi i pierwszej Komunii św. dla dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym), Ele-mentary Catechising (Katechizowanie elementarne), or the extremely important text. The collec-tion of the aforementioned archives making up Rev. Gadowski’s legacy also features a text of cru-cial importance for religious education and upbringing, The New “Elementary” Catechism (Nowy katechizm „elementarny”), in which Rev. Walenty Gadowski describes the virtues of the Elemen-tary Catechism he had published. This paper aims to present Rev. Walenty Gadowski’s view on the need for a new and improved catechism. It must be pointed out that all the texts referred to by Rev. Walenty Gadowski are still in the collection of the Tarnów Diocesan Archives