History

For more than 50 years now, the DLSU Catechetical center had been engaged with the mission of evangelizing young people through education. In keeping with its mission the center had been extending religious instruction to the children in public schools since 1952. Inspired by the De La Salle Brothers in its early days, the center provided outreach catechetical instructions to the poor and disadvantaged. The center started with 29 student catechists from its high school and college departments under the direction of the late Brother Andelino Manuel Castillo FSC, an American Christian brother. Later the number of student catechists would increase to one hundred.

Realizing that the services of part-time student catechists did not ensure continuity of the catechetical program and instruction, Bro. Manuel saw the necessity of recruiting a group of full-time religion teachers. Thus, the idea of “professional catechists” was born.

In June 1957 full-time teachers of religion with college degrees joined the DLSU catechetical center. Bro. Manuel drew up a systematic plan for training the full-time religion teachers, informed parish priests and solicited the cooperation of the public school officials.

Hiring and training teachers to be catechists were not so difficult but getting the funds to pay for their salary was quite another story. The solution came from Brother Manuel’s own religion confreres at de la sale college manila. To finance this project, various charitable groups concerned with the university raised funds each year. The parish priests also contributed their share for the salaries of the catechists assigned to their parishes and public schools nearby.

Today, the Center continues to provide catechetical services to 16 public schools and some parishes in the archdiocese of Manila and the diocese of Paranaque.