Catechism of the Catholic Church: Prologue

Vatican ^ | 1997

[ConorMacNessa]

I still have my 1st Grade Catechism from 1953 - complete with Imprimatur from the Bishop of Brooklyn.

[Running On Empty]

“God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. (Footnote #2 from 1Timothy).

For starters, this is a very important point. It tells me that as Catholics, we believe that the message of the Gospel is meant for all men.

Because these words are used to open up the Catechism, I see them as considered of primary importance to us.

It matters to me that this is the starting point of the catechism.

[Salvation]

Yes, theere were two editions that came out. One was printed with an orange color cover and the other a dark green cover.

There is also a smaller size white with blue print model.

[Salvation]

Here's the online version with several ways to access, topic, numbers, etc.

The Second Edition English Translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church includes the corrections promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 8 September 1997. These corrections to the English text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church were made to harmonize it with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II on the same date. For details of the corrections, see the editio typica modifications to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online!

[Judith Anne]

I did not know this:

“One other thing that I noted reading this section: This work is intended primarily for those responsible for catechesis: first of all the bishops, as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. It is offered to them as an instrument in fulfilling their responsibility of teaching the People of God. (paragraph 12) — The intended readership was catechists, not those to be catechized. That actually explains much in the tone and language of the document!”

Thank you.

[defconw]

Thanks, I live in a rather remote area, no Catholic book stores any where. I have gotten rid of my credit cards. So I will have to get one of my big city friends to send it to me.

[defconw]

That is why I quit teaching Religious Ed. I could not get good books or material. It was all this new age, fluffy crap.

Plus half the time the parents were not even taking the kid to Mass. Unbelievable.

[Wonder Warthog]

"That is why I quit teaching Religious Ed. I could not get good books or material. It was all this new age, fluffy crap."

All you really need are the the Catechism and the Companion (but it helps to have a Bible around, too). But there are LOTS of good books out there. The CCC is a masterpiece of clear writing--even kids should be able to grasp a lot of it. Ignore the "Catechism of the United States" (or whatever they call the piece of pablum put out by the US council of Catholic Bishops).

"Plus half the time the parents were not even taking the kid to Mass. Unbelievable."

Well, the problem is probably because those PARENTS had lousy "Religious Ed" classes, too. The breakdown in Catechesis in the Church is appalling. And the same "education majors" mentality that has destroyed public education is the cause.

[defconw]

Well I know the books were out there, but the Rel. Ed. Dir. was a fuzzy new ager and I hate to say it, but public school children do not read well enough for the Catechism. My nephews and nieces that go to the Parish school where I used to teach read several years ahead of their grade and they are of just average intelligence.

I had only an hour and a half and it took a half hour to get the kids to sit down and shut up. Even to do a fun activity.

I did learn an important lesson however, if it's not important to the parents, it will never be important to the kids. We need to catechize the adults.

[glide625]

“Many of the dioceses now resort to cutsy, new age teaching methods” and I might add, devoid of meaningful content; I looked in on that at our church about 15 years ago and was appalled. I’m still at the church, but I’ve not looked in again on the education dept. (Sigh)

[glide625]

That’s great! Thanks.

[tiki]

I teach RCIC and we use the St. Joseph’s and Baltimore Catechism.

Just yesterday my 14 yr old granddaughter returned from a visit with friends and whatever church they went to told her that she should pray for God’s well-being.

We had a good 15 minute Catechism lesson and “To know and love God” was first and foremost. And then a little lesson on prayer. ACTS: Atonement, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication. I don’t think God needs us to pray for Him but pray to Him and live for Him.

[tiki]

I have to say one thing about Catechesis. You can teach it correctly until you are blue in the face and most of it seems to go in and out of their heads.

The good thing is that it remains in the deep recesses of their minds and one day the Holy Spirit will bring it to the top.

[tiki]

Amen! And I can’t see it being any other way. We all know how Jesus felt about the self-satisfaction of the Pharisees and they had that attitude because they believed that they were the only ones who were following their man-made rules well enough.

I am special to God but if I thought that I was one of very few who were special to God, my ego could be insufferable.

[Judith Anne]

1. The Church has always considered catechesis one of her primary tasks, for, before Christ ascended to His Father after His resurrection, He gave the apostles a final command - to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe all that He had commanded.(1) He thus entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to humanity what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life.(2) He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what He had taught them, His words and actions, His signs and commandments. And He gave them the Spirit to fulfill this mission.

I remember thinking about this scripture passage whenever I would read that Pope John Paul II was going to another country to visit. Just off hand, does anyone know how much of the world he actually went to?

[tiki]

We have the same problem about the kids not attending Mass and though we encourage it...a lot...it doesn’t always happen and it isn’t the fault of the kids.

I just think it is still important for them to be taught because there will come a day when they will need it teaching.

As for the material, our DRE lets us choose our own if we want. Even those who use the fluff books use additional matierials and their own knowledge.

I know that the Word of God will have an effect, I also know that I may never see it, I have to be content and know that God is in control. That one day some of these children are going to embrace their relationship with God and that God used me, not for me to get satisfaction but that I did what sometimes seemed like trying to sow seed directly onto the hard rock.

[OpusatFR]

“The good thing is that it remains in the deep recesses of their minds and one day the Holy Spirit will bring it to the top.”

Yup. The difference between rote memorization and actually living Christ comes through the Holy Spirit over time. The changes are radical in nature, but the development of the Mind of Christ takes much time. There are those who are in Christ quickly, but I think for the rest of us, our human natures fight against God.

Memorizing things is not the same as Catechesis. While I can quote passages verbatim, the meanings and the applications of those passages only come through Catechesis.

[OpusatFR]

“While I can quote passages verbatim...”

Meaning Scripture. The Fathers’ teachings in Catechesis are truly in the Holy Spirit. The depth of their understanding, and in some, the mystical aspect of God is something few are gifted to expound.

[Faraday]

The Catechism was developed in response to a call from a bishop's synod in 1985. Pope John Paul II appointed a commission to organize the project in 1986. The Catechism is first and foremost the result of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's (now Pope Benedict XVI) efforts. While a result of an unprecedented international collegiality, the tone and thrust are unmistakeably Ratzinger's. More about the history of the development and organization of the Catechism can be found in Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ratzinger and Christoph Shonborn, and Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ratzinger. Both works are available from Ignatius Press.

[NYer]

“Many of the dioceses now resort to cutsy, new age teaching methods” and I might add, devoid of meaningful content; I looked in on that at our church about 15 years ago and was appalled. I’m still at the church, but I’ve not looked in again on the education dept.

6 years ago, the pastor of my former RC parish asked me to assist by teaching one of the Confirmation groups. At the time, my daughter was enrolled in this grade 11 preparation program, and I was truly humbled by the request. He directed me to the DRE who provided the Instructor's manual for the parish approved catechetical program. It was all new age. Chapter 1 advises the instructor to bring the following items on the first night of class: a large rock, small smooth stones (one for each student), a boom box, mood music, pillar candles, paper, markers, pencils .... the last item was a Bible. I brought the Bible, a Rosary and the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (one for each student) - period. Two weeks later, the DRE popped her head in during class, asking for volunteers to perform a liturgical dance for the Feast of St. Lucy. My jaw dropped!

It was all downhill from there. Long story short, I provided the DRE and the pastor with copies of the 1975 NCCB document banning liturgical dance in the US. The pastor tried to cajole me by suggesting that I think of it as "liturgical movement". I told him that according to Webster's dictionary, movement set to music is called dance, and waved the 1975 NCCB document in his face. Undaunted, he proceded with his plan and I pursued it with the diocese. The Diocesan Office for Liturgy and Divine Worship backed the pastor's term: "liturgical movement" and cited some arcane VCII document on multi-culturism. Non-plused, I returned the salvo, this time quoting from Sacrosanctum Concilium and Canon Law which states: 'Every Catholic is entitled to a valid Mass'. That was the end of the liturgical dance program at our parish.

With my Confirmation students, I adjusted each week's curriculum to fit a more orthodox model. When it came time to select their Confirmation names, I pointed them to a web site that listed saints going all the way back to the 1st century. I had them research the saints and identify with one, then write a report to share with the others in the class. Of the 6 groups preparing for Confirmation that year, mine was the only one where every student chose a saint's name for Confirmation.

I left that parish 4 years ago and joined a Maronite Catholic parish. Last year, the pastor asked me to take on the responsibility of directing the religious education program. With limited experience, at least I knew which Catholic publishing houses to avoid and chose Ignatius Press for our program. Judging from the feedback, it was a huge success. With only 15 classes throughout the entire year, it is a tremendous challenge to keep all of the kids and parents on track. To do this, I just sent home a letter with a recommended list of Catholic books, by grade level, to keep the children focused during the summer months. The letter also advised the parents that in November, to counteract the degenerated festival known as Halloween, our parish children will participate in a Parade of Saints on the Feast of All Saints. The letter offered pictures of small children dressed up like Sts. Francis and George and as an Archangel, along with a web site where they can purchase saintly costumes. This gives the kids and parents ample time to read through the lives of the saints, select one they like, make or buy a costume and remain connected to their Catholic faith.

As a concerned parent, I would strongly encourage you to volunteer your time to teach one of the classes at your local parish. Children need serious and sincere guidance; who better than you?! Get involved! Touch lives and make a difference. Most importantly, pray for these children - they are the future of our Church!