Is the mystery of God's kingdom within a child's reach? Should we introduce children around age three to questions of Christian salvation? Or, setting aside confession for a moment, should we recognize that children have a spiritual dimension—one capable of grappling with life's unavoidable big questions?
Anna Aluffi Pentini's essay guides us, with clear and thoughtful psychological insight, into Sofia Cavalletti's distinctive approach to catechesis. Known as the "Good Shepherd" method, it responds to these questions while honoring the full dignity of the child. Cavalletti, a biblical scholar who lived from 1917 to 2011, developed this approach with her friend Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori teacher and educator. The method draws heavily on Montessori principles.
Though relatively unknown in many circles, this approach deserves wider attention—especially for children with disabilities. It attends to something crucial in development: the child's need to be recognized and protected. To care for these needs is to finally grant children, already so often treated as mere consumers, access to a spiritual and transcendent dimension they are fully capable of inhabiting. And nurturing that dimension can only strengthen them.