Catholic Office of Religious Education & Liturgy - CORE mini site
Frequently Asked Questions

Catholic Pastoral Centre
1155 Yonge Street, Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1W2
Tel. (416) 934-0606, ext. 507; FAX (416) 934-3444

General Overview of Department

The Catholic Office of Religious Education (CORE) exists to assist the Archbishop with his primary role as chief teacher of the faith in the Archdiocese. The purpose of this office is therefore educational, pastoral and liturgical.

We work with clergy, Separate School personnel at all levels, the Institute for Catholic Education, parish catechists, lay pastoral associates, R.C.I.A. teams, the University of St. Michael's College, the Faculties of Education at the University of Toronto, York University,  and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, parents, and three Archdiocesan Resource Committees (R.C.I.A.; Religious Education; Liturgy).

We are responsible for:

• providing programs and assistance to those teaching Catholic students not enrolled in the Catholic school system;
• helping parishes with the proper implementation of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and the modified Order of the Rite for unbaptized children of catechetical age;
• providing resources and opportunities for adult faith development in the parishes;
• assisting pastors in providing immediate sacramental preparation in the parishes;
• providing religious education programs for children with special needs;
• providing liturgy resources to catechists and clergy;
• overseeing the Catholic quality of the pre-service Religious Education courses offered to future Catholic teachers at the Faculties of Education;
• providing ongoing formation for parish catechists;
• training parents to assist with sacramental preparation in the parishes.

CORE has also been given responsibility for assisting parishes and schools with liturgical celebrations and the training of lay liturgical ministers.

CORE has also been mandated to develop sacramental preparation programs for use inArchdiocesan parishes.  An experienced team of volunteers and staff collaborated to design these programs, which have been piloted in a variety of parishes to ensure that the material is relevant, accessible and usable in a variety of communities.