BISHOP MORROW A Man Who Lived for Catechesis
by Very Rev. Fr. Luciano Colussi, sdb - (1998)

When we say that Bishop Louis LaRavoire Morrow is a great catechist we may understand that he had a great power to teach catechism or that he could deliver inspiring catechetical talks or sermons. We may say that he wrote wonderful books on catechetical topics or even attuned his life to certain activities that were meant to make people know their religious truths. Yes, it could mean some parts of that or the whole of that.

Bishop Morrow was all that and much more. He was a person who tried to bring the Gospel message to the people of today. He tried to bring Christ himself – He was Christ’s own full message – to all the men and women of the present generations. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “Catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but in communion, in intimacy with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Blessed Trinity” (Apostolic Exhortation, Catechesi Tradendae, 1979, no. 5).

Bishop Morrow had tried to achieve this even before the Pope wrote those words. It is this that we are trying to say about Bishop Louis L.R. Morrow while relating his manifold activities in the field of catechesis.

Chosen Vessel
Let us now briefly see how Bishop Morrow manifested his catechetical charism in his life and activities. God chose him for this ministry of catechesis in his Church. As a boy, he would often speak of the compelling example of St. Dominic Savio to his companions during his school days; especially during the years he was a Salesian aspirant. He took Dominic Savio as an inspiration in his apostolate among the young: to lead them to Jesus and Mary, and to do good. As a young Salesian, especially in his years of regency (practical training or apostolic experience), he often spoke enthusiastically of the work he was doing for the boys entrusted to him in the school and oratory at Puebla, Mexico, and of the different means he made use of, for entertainment, as instrumental music, quizzes, dramas and games in order to educate them in the Catholic faith.

Passion for Catholic Faith
As a young priest in Mexico his sphere of apostolate expanded to parishes and institutions beyond the institution in which he lived. The first idea of writing catechism books, and other moral, religious, educational and recreational literature, was born at this time, and he did write such literature for the use of the young, so much so that when his religious superior Mons. William Piani was appointed Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines, he chose Fr. Morrow (and asked the Major Superiors for him) to follow him as secretary to the Philippines. The choice is more striking when we think that at the time there were no Salesians in the Philippines. His ability for secretarial work, his enthusiasm for apostolic initiatives and naturally his exemplary behaviour were the reasons for the choice. To these reasons we must add the catechetical mind and capabilities of Fr. Morrow with which he landed up in the Philippines. There, one of the major events that showed the organizing power and catechetical initiatives of Fr. Morrow was the International Eucharistic Congress of Manila in 1937. This placed Fr. Morrow in the limelight of the local and universal Church. '

From the Philippines to Krishnagar
Bishop Louis L.R. Morrow displayed his best catechetical talents since 1939 when he became Bishop of Krishnagar up to his death in 1987 at the age of 94. His pastoral concern for people made him choose certain lines of action that would uplift them as “good Christians and honest citizens”. Here are a few points of his strategies:

Educational policy
His first and foremost endeavour was to have all the children attend school, and as many as possible to live in the boarding, which he had opened or improved in Krishnagar or elsewhere. With the schooling that they will have, it was imperative that they learn and live their Christian religion. In his enthusiasm he wanted that every boy and girl should complete at least the course given in the two junior schools of Krishnagar (the primary section) so that they could learn their catechism well. I was present on several occasions when, he would entice, induce or even compel the children and their parents to send the children to the boarding schools. Often he himself would bring them in his own vehicle to the boarding when he returned to Krishnagar. On one occasion I saw him taking a child from the village of Fulbari, pleading with the mother who was weeping because the child was too young to be sent to the boarding school. At the end Bishop Morrow said sternly: “Allow me to take your child. One day you will certainly bless me for it.” In fact, that mother blessed the Bishop when she saw her child graduate and become an appreciated leader. It was between the years 1960-70, through Bishop Morrow’s insistence, that Krishnagar diocese had reached the highest percentage of Catholic children being educated in schools. It reached almost 100%, and all these children were catechized in the Catholic faith.

Care for the Village Catechists
When Bishop Morrow came to Krishnagar, there were the traditional village catechists. They are indispensable for religious instruction in the villages where there was no priest, or where the priest needed someone for some particular work, especially for introducing Christianity into new villages. The love of Bishop Morrow for these catechists was so great that he improved their living conditions, gave them better houses, better payments, and above all better training for their all important work as catechists. Their training consisted in giving them the yearly course and spiritual retreat at the diocesan centre. They were supplied with proper materials (books, charts and other audio-visual aids) for the catechesis of children and adults. I can testify to the meticulous programme of catechesis and Sunday homilies that were prepared by his instruction to facilitate these catechists the work that was dearest to Bishop Morrow – the catechesis of children and adults. It has been an unrealized dream of Bishop Morrow to have both the catechist and his wife engaged in the work of catechesis. (In some villages it had been achieved). The women as catechists, he thought, would do far better with the womenfolk in the villages.

The explanatory boards in English and vernacular beside each religious item in the church is the best proof of Bishop Morrow’s gift for clarity. Even the electronic organ used for the sacred liturgy was not merely to accompany the singing during the sacred functions, but in his desire to inspire, it was supposed to be played even other times, especially when people were coming to visit the Church, as a means to preach the love, beauty and goodness of God. This could have been Bishop Morrow’s reason for bringing the best electronic organ of the time and having the best electronic sound equipment for his Cathedral.

Altar of Adoration
Of particular interest is the altar of adoration in the Shrine chapel, which is so rich in ornamentation and symbolism. This too has a catechetical value according to him to catechize and evangelize people by its beauty and significant structure. The unparalleled bell-tower and the uniquely chiming bells were also meant to point up to heaven and call all categories of persons to the knowledge and love of God and his Son, Jesus Christ. The beautiful set up of his Cathedral introduces us to what is perhaps the most important factor of Bishop Morrow’s charismatic approach to catechesis.

Homilies and Talks
In my opinion some of the best proofs of Bishop Morrow’s catechetical charism are his homilies and talks, which he always wrote down, whether in English or in Bengali, the local vernacular. The characteristic points of his catechesis were: one-thought-only, and it must be simple. The teaching was on basic topics of Christian dogma and life. He would make sure that the subject is clearly understood. His homilies were delivered slowly and were almost proclaimed. He would take special care, when he had to deliver his talk in Bengali. He would have his sermon translated well in advance. He would have it written in Roman script. He would read it to the translator that he could have his pronunciation corrected, if necessary. He wanted to make sure that his hearers understood him well. A proper collection and arrangement of his homilies and talks to the people would, I believe, form a good catechesis even today. At the beginning of his ministry as Bishop, together with some of his priests, he even initiated a course of catechetical sessions on Sunday evenings in the Cathedral for adults. It was done in a dialogue form. The priest would ask him some points of the catechism and he would reply from his written text. This was done to make the catechesis more appealing. Generally it would be on very practical points of Christian life today.

The Holy Eucharist
The Holy Eucharist would deserve a special mention in the understanding of Bishop Morrow’s catechetical charism. I limit myself to a few points, which are more apparently catechetical. Besides the centrality of the Holy Eucharist in Bishop Morrow’s personal life, he had a special charism when speaking of the Holy Mass, Holy Communion and the adoration of the Holy Eucharist. The best way to illustrate his teaching on the topic was his own personal, visible, deep devotion in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It would not fail to impress anybody who participated in his celebration of the Holy Mass. Even more than his adherence to the liturgy, which was impeccable, he manifested a deep faith and love for the word of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word, and even more in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Never would he by-pass the possibility of a short homily and sometimes certain short comments on different parts of the Mass. He insisted that decorum and solemnity should always accompany the liturgy of the Mass, Communion and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. They speak not only of his love for Jesus in the Eucharist, but also of his desire to make him loved more.

Audio-visuals in Catechetical Pedagogy
In the field of Audio-visuals at the service of the Word, Bishop Morrow has been a pioneer in the full meaning of the word. Not only did he show us all the tremendous possibilities of audio-visuals in the pedagogy of catechesis, but he also showed a creative ability to transform into practice what he believed so important. He taught this first of all by making use of audio-visual forms in his books. In the books he wrote for children, and in those he wrote for adults, he has manifested wonderful skill and appropriate gradation in the audio-visual language. He also edited catechetical posters and charts, separately, especially for the young. Bishop Morrow has also shown the efficacy of audio-visuals for evangelization and catechesis in the selection and projection of short as well as feature films. He made use of these films as far back as in years when there were only Black and White silent projections. He himself purchased the best available films on Christ and on the Saints, as well as on historical events of the Church. At the centre of the diocese he had a vast theatre-hall built for the purpose of accommodating many children and people to attend the shows free of cost. He thought also of the villages, to which whenever possible he would send experienced priests and projectionists who would explain the films in the local language to people. The catechetical insights of the Bishop were clearly manifested in the proper selection of the audio-visuals as well as projecting the films periodically to the best advantage of the people. As early as the first years of his episcopate in Krishnagar, he attempted to have the production of sound records when tape records had not yet been invented. For this he built a recording studio, with the aim of having singers and composers who would produce these records.

Outstanding Catechetical Producer
Bishop Morrow was, and still is, best known the world over as the writer of catechetical books and materials. We can divide his Catechetical Publications in three sections:

1. Catechetical books
2. Popular Prayer Books with catechetical insight
3. School Readers with a catechetical purpose.
(See a comprehensive list of Bishop Morrow’s publications under “Biography of the Founder”).

Well-planned and thoroughly Catechetical
It would be interesting now to examine how these books – at least the catechetical ones – are well-planned and really catechetical. But even a partial study would take us too far. So it is good enough that we try to point out some general characteristics of Bishop Morrow’s main catechetical publications:

1. Bishop Morrow places the books into series, that is, we have his catechetical books so prepared that they go from infancy into adult teaching in a gradual way. The teaching of God’s truths is so disposed that they are appropriately unfolded according to the age development of the individuals. This may seem so plain for us nowadays; it was not so when Bishop Morrow started his serial way of composing books, when often a catechism book was used for all classes of children. (In some places this is still advocated!)
2. Bishop Morrow’s books are divided into cycles, that is, two or more books develop a complete set of teachings for that age group. This method is now followed by most authors of catechetical publications, but often is not understood even now by key persons who should advocate it. These people would like that each catechism should contain everything that has been taught by the Church (sic.). Impossible!
3. In all Bishop Morrow’s books we find appropriate visual representations in every chapter. This was something unique at the time he published those books, several decades ago. Even now these visual representations are cherished by small and great.
4. In his catechetical books Bishop Morrow makes great use of the word of God as found in the Bible. It is natural, for after all, catechesis is just the word of God as applied to the life of today’s people.
5. Questions and answers have appropriately been selected in each lesson so that some memorization may be suggested or even asked from the catechized, especially if these are children. Naturally these answers are the gist of what has been explained.
6. The very layout of the books of Bishop Morrow merits our attention: sometimes different fonts, different colours, different punctuation is used to make things clearer. All that has been said above, points out to the loving interest that Bishop Morrow had for catechizing, that is, for bringing the Word of God, Christ himself to everybody who cared to know and love him. This is in fact what we would like to say of a man who lived for catechesis – a great CATECHIST.

Founder of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate
But there is still a very important feature to be stressed in Bishop Morrow as an ardent apostle of catechesis. A person with a vision would like to realize this vision by all means: if he can do it by himself he will certainly try to do it, but if he perceives that the work is immense or that it will be beyond his life’s span, he will surely look for other people who will in some way inherit his passion, his vision. This is exactly what Bishop Morrow did. Throughout his life he had tried to associate as many people as he could in his work of catechizing, of bringing Christ to everybody. It would be long for me to mention names of people whose help he sought for his work. But one wonderful inspiration I must point out at this moment. When he thought that his work of catechesis had to continue through his life and even when he would be no more with us, he planned to have a group of followers who would take up his challenge and vision and realize his dream of bringing people to Jesus Christ through catechesis. For this, inspired by God, he founded a Religious Congregation whose only mission is to bring Christ to all, that is, to catechize: “The Catechist Sisters of Mary Immaculate Help of Christians,” commonly, but meaningfully known as “Bishop Morrow’s Sisters of Mary Immaculate”.