What is the difference between CCD and PSR?

[Ryniev]

When I was growing up in St. Louis, I had friends who went to CCD. Now everyone at my sons school calls it PSR (we are still in St. Louis) meaning Parish School of Religion. Yet, I keep seeing the term CCD here. Are they one and the same? Or are they two different programs?

Thanks!

 

[ProudArmyWife]

Same program - different names.

“CCD” actually refers to a specific ‘committee’. As the religious education coordinator for the church I have been told by my DRE that this term was to replaced by the word religious education (RE). I forgot where, but it was an official document. Habits are just sometimes hard to break When signing people up for religious education, I often have to refer to it by different names - CCD, RE, Sunday School, etc.! I get an Oh once I hit the familiar term .

 

[Paul_W]

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine is an association established in Rome in 1562 for the prupose of providing religious education.

Catholic Encyclopedia

In the 1905 encyclical ACERBO NIMIS, “On Teaching Christian Doctrine,” Pope Pius X stated that:

In each and every parish the society known as the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine is to be canonically established. Through this Confraternity, the pastors, especially in places where there is a scarcity of priests, will have lay helpers in the teaching of the Catechism, who will take up the work of imparting knowledge both from a zeal for the glory of God and in order to gain the numerous Indulgences granted by the Sovereign Pontiffs.

Encyclical

In Philadelphia, what used to be called CCD is now called PREP, Parish Religious Education Program. The new name is a bit more descriptive.