Simply Catholic and Welcoming You

The Basic Catechism of the Catholic Church

Bishop Charlene Bradley (Left), Archbishop Thomas Twose (Center) and Archbishop Philip Bradley (Right) - From Archbishop to the Newly Baptized We All Need to Know the Basic Teachings of our Faith as Contained in The Catechisms of Our Church

A basic catechism of any rite or branch of the catholic church acts as a primary reference for teaching the faith and is a study plan for children, youth and adult investigators of the catholic faith to enable them to understand the central themes of the faith. Each Catholic rite church has their own version of the catechism but each emphasizes the four primary study pillars of creed (faith professed), the sacraments (faith celebrated), life in Christ including the ten commandments (faith lived or morality) and Christian prayer especially the Lord’s Prayer (faith prayed).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (C.C.C.), for Latin Rite/Roman Catholics, is a perfect example of such works and is an official, comprehensive summary of fundamental Catholic beliefs, doctrines, and morals promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It indeed serves as a central reference guide based on these same four main pillars.

Key Aspects of the that Catechism

Structure: It is organized into 2,865 numbered paragraphs with extensive cross-referencing.
Four Pillars:

The Profession of Faith (Creed): What Catholics believe.
The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (Sacraments): How Catholics worship.
Life in Christ (Morality): How Catholics live, including the Ten Commandments and social teaching.
Christian Prayer: How Catholics pray, focused on the Lord's Prayer.

Purpose: It acts as a primary reference for teaching the faith and summarizes Catholic doctrine based on Scripture, tradition, and the lives of saints.
Origins: While the current Catechism was issued in 1992, it continues the tradition of previous iterations, such as the Baltimore Catechism, which was last revised in 1941.

For a more concise or simplified version, Catholics often use the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church or the YOUCAT (Youth Catechism).

The Basic Catechism of the Catholic Church - Looking at the Options

Archbishop Philip Bradley Confects the Holy Eucharist at Catholic Mass - Proper Understanding of The Basic Catechism of the Church is Essential in Order to Gain the Most From our Daily Practice of Our Faith

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Compendium is not a work that stands alone, nor is it intended in any way to replace the Catechism of the Catholic Church: instead, it refers constantly to the Catechism by means of reference numbers printed in the margins, as well as by consistent reliance on its structure, development and contents. In fact, the Compendium is meant to reawaken interest in and enthusiasm for the Catechism, which, in the wisdom of its presentation and the depth of its spirituality, always remains the basic text for catechesis in the Church today. Like the Catechism, the Compendium has four parts, corresponding to the fundamental laws of life in Christ

The YOUCAT, The Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church

YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, is written in language suitable for young people and deals with the entire Catholic faith. The work is structured in Question-and-Answer format, and numbers after each answer refer the reader to the more extensive and in-depth treatments in the CCC.

The Baltimore Catechism

The Baltimore Catechism listed the following contents, which give a good insight into the types of study and study areas to be covered in a catechism:

Part One: The Creed

Part Two: The Commandments

Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer

As you can see, the Baltimore Catechism combined sacraments and prayers into one section but does still study/teach both pillars. The YOUCAT is written in language suitable for a younger readership. Both make constant references directly back to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Other Catholic rites of the church have similar works for studies, meaning a central publication and other versions for specific audiences. Often it is not the content that differs, just the emphasis or expression specific to the rite in question. After all, we remain “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church”, despite, or maybe even because of our differences.

At St. Brigit’s Community Catholic Church we see no need nor purpose in reproducing these wonderful volumes of work on our common faith. Rather we simply teach from them and place emphasis, when needed or appropriate, on our specific expression of the Catholic faith. Acknowledging such things as our not being part of the Roman/Latin Rite of the church, not accepting papal supremacy, our being inclusive of race, gender and orientation differences in our congregation and clergy and our ordinations and consecrations of women and members of the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community to all stations within our clergy, welcoming all Christians to share the Eucharist and accepting baptisms done in any Christian church using the triune formula.

Referenced works:

Link to the Catechism of the Catholic Church;

https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Link to the Baltimore Catechism;

https://www.catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/lesson01.html

Link to YOUCAT;

https://youcat.org/

Link to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church;

https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html