Skip to main content

Pastoral Institute Spring semester begins!

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

The mission of the Pastoral Institute of the Diocese of Laredo is to "make disciples" (Mt 28:19) by making the Catholic faith known, loved and lived among adults and young adults by helping them to become true disciples of Jesus Christ through leadership and faith formation opportunities. In the photo gallery below, please find flyers for all our courses offered this Spring.

Every semester, the Pastoral Institute offers formal courses on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Bible, Theology, Philosophy and Catholic Culture, to form Catholics in the faith and prepare them for some type of ecclesial service or ministry.

For those that teach or want to teach the faith to other adults and prepare them for the New Evangelization, the Pastoral Institute offers a gradual Formation/Certification Plan that promotes ongoing faith formation. The Department of Adult Faith Formation & Pastoral Institute requires certification of all lay people who teach the faith to other adults within our parishes and missions. Certification is a requirement of all Lay Ecclesial Servants in the Diocese of Laredo, starting with the Basic Level 1 Certification.

Why get certified?

This iniciative to certify lay "ministers" or ecclesial servants in our Catholic Church is also a trend at the national level inspired by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB: "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord") and promoted through the Alliance for the Certification of Lay Ecclesial Ministers.

The Pastoral Institute of the Diocese of Laredo is member of the national Federation of Pastoral Institutes. The Diocese of Laredo Pastoral Institute was represented through FIP at the 2011 Collegeville National Symposium on Lay Eccleisal Ministry (St. Johns' University, Collegeville, MN Aug. 2-5, 2011).