Abstract
In recent years catechetical instruction has become a major topic of discussion when Catholic parents, teachers, priests, students, and others meet. There are those who say that the methods and material of "yesterday" are good, reasonable, and properly suited for the Christians of today; others argue that the "old" methods and materials are of little or of no value in this day. They claim that Christians of this age could not possibly fulfill their role as witnesses to Christ unless there is some form of catechetical renewal.|In this thesis the main question to be answered is this: Is a significant change in the content and manner and presentation of religious instruction to high school students taking place? If changes are taking place, how do the changes measure with standards that have been established by recognized experts in the field? To demonstrate the point, a survey of forty questions was administered to about one thousand high school students within the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska. The questionnaire was devised so as to give four answers to each question; two of the four answers would appeal to those who were traditional in their approach to religion while two would appeal to those who were more modern in their approach. The same questionnaire was submitted to a board of national experts who chose the answers that appealed to them. The replies of the two groups were compared and the final evaluation was made on the merits of this comparison.