Catechetical Institute

Exciting News: We Are Now a Partnering Diocese! 

The Diocese of Sioux City has officially partnered with Franciscan University's Catechetical Institute. Launched in 2016, the Franciscan University Catechetical Institute seeks to serve Christ and his Church by forming those Catholics entrusted with the formation of others. This includes priests, deacons, and parents, as well as lay ecclesial ministers, teachers, religious, and parish catechists.
Through conferences, online courses, personal support, mentoring, and new catechetical resources, the Catechetical Institute makes the riches of the Catholic faith more available and accessible to clergy and lay catechists alike.
 

Expert faculty and experienced lay mentors work in close partnerships with both dioceses and catechists, offering individualized formation tools designed to meet a variety of catechetical needs. Over the coming months and years, we will be recruiting, forming and training mentors in our own diocese to help support this effort! 
 
This partnership is the fruit of much prayer and planning, as well as a desire to provide the best formation possible throughout the diocese. We are excited to provide the faithful of the Church of Northwest Iowa the opportunity to learn, explore, and further their learning experience about the riches the Church has to offer in a number of ministry environments and settings across our diocese, as well as hand on the faith in all its fullness in an effective way.

Once a parish has signed up, members will be able to create an account and log into the system as a learner. On their dashboard, they will have access to the workshops developed by the Catechetical Institute for ongoing training and formation. These workshops are designed to deepen and energize the faithful and spiritual life of learners as they strive to be intentional disciples and vibrant witnesses on behalf of Jesus Christ and His Church. 
 

Current tracks (with a mentoring option as well) include: 

• Youth Ministry
• Catechist (parish catechist) 
• Catechumenal Ministry (RCIA)
• Parish Catechetical Leader (DRE)
• Catholic Schools
• With many more tracks in development (e.g. Hispanic Ministry, Ministry of Parenting, Pastoral Accompaniment, etc). 
• In all, there are projected to be 800+ workshops available. Many are already up and running, with many more to come. 
• We will also have the ability to develop and customize tracks for our diocese as well!