Most catechetical texts and digital materials used in parishes and schools throughout the United States today are the product of thoughtful collaboration between the publishers who create them and the bishops who certify their theological and pastoral integrity.
Most catechetical texts and digital materials used in parishes and schools throughout the United States today are the product of thoughtful collaboration between the publishers who create them and the bishops who certify their theological and pastoral integrity. This collaboration yields catechetical materials that are not only doctrinally sound but also are effective tools for what is known as an evangelizing catechesis. The history and significance of this collaboration is the subject of this article.
An Immigrant Church
Desiring a common language of faith for the children of the many immigrants to their country in the 19th century, the bishops of the United States published the first edition of the Baltimore Catechism in 1885. That catechism was based upon Doctrina Christiana (1598), the catechism of St. Robert Bellarmine published in the wake of the Council of Trent. The Baltimore Catechism would later be divided into three volumes, each volume corresponding to a particular age group. Although over one hundred other catechetical texts for children and youth would be published and used in Catholic schools and parishes, the Baltimore Catechism remained the most widely used catechetical text in the United States until the late 1960s. A four-volume set of the Baltimore Catechism remains in print (the fourth volume is a manual for teachers and catechists).
The Age of the Second Vatican Council
Unlike many previous ecumenical councils, the Second Vatican Council was not convened to address particular matters of faith or morals. Nevertheless, the council that was proclaimed to be pastoral rather than doctrinal in nature gave rise to sweeping changes in the life of the Church, especially in her sacred liturgy and practices of piety and devotion.
For most Catholics, the Second Vatican Council is seen as the council that replaced Latin with the vernacular at Mass, reoriented sanctuaries, introduced modern architectural forms into the building of new churches, and curtailed the requirements for fasting and abstinence. Pope Benedict XVI would note that these and other changes in the life of the Church led many to view the Second Vatican Council only through a particular lens, where one saw the council as a call to discontinuity and rupture from “former” doctrines and practices. As a remedy, Pope Benedict emphasized a hermeneutic of continuity, a lens through which the Second Vatican Council would properly be understood only within the context of the wider and longer Tradition, rather than the converse.
Catechetical texts of this era were not immune to the hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity, nor from a contemporary culture that heralded the benefits of “new and improved” over “tried and true.”[1] Pedagogy of that era generally eschewed the rote memorization that was a staple in earlier times; religious educators attuned to these trends desired catechetical materials of a pedagogy far different from that used by the Baltimore Catechism. Some religious educators expressed a praiseworthy desire for catechetical materials that would place greater emphasis upon Sacred Scripture and offer the rationale for the tenets of Catholic faith and morals. Other religious educators, caught up in the spirit of that age, preferred catechetical materials that ultimately reflected a tendency to relativize Catholic teaching and minimize the gravity of Catholic moral teaching. An influential parish priest once grumbled to me, “The Baltimore Catechism provides great answers to questions that nobody asks.” That same priest would repeatedly express his admiration for the 87 theologians (mostly priests) who publicly expressed their strong dissent from the teachings on the grave evil of contraception in the 1968 papal encyclical Humanae Vitae within hours of its promulgation.
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[1] Consider the trends in the use of artificial materials in kitchen design of the 1960s and 1970s. While Formica countertops, metal cabinets, and avocado-colored appliances were once heralded by many as harbingers of the “kitchen of the future,” they are now commonly viewed as relics of a very different age.
[2] Pope St. John Paul II, “Primo Saluto e Prima Benedizione ai Fideli,” October 16, 1978: “Lo hanno chiamato da un paese lontano” (They [the cardinals] have called him [referring to himself] from a distant country).
[3] Pope St. John Paul II, Fidei Depositum, introduction.
[4] Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, “Oral Report to the Assembly of Bishops,” June 19, 1997, https://www.usccb.org/committees/catechism/oral-report-general-assembly-bishops.
[5] Buechlein, “Oral Report.”
[6] See the list of approved texts at the USCCB website: “Conformity Listing of Catechetical Texts and Series,” https://www.usccb.org/resources/conformity-review-list.pdf.
[7] Institute on the Catechism, Handbook on the Catechetical Accompaniment Process (USCCB, 2024). See the handbook in its entirety at: https://evangelizingcatechesis.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IOC_Handbook_on_the_Cap_2024-2.pdf.
[8] See Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Directory for Catechesis (USCCB, 2020), nos. 57–60.
[9] Pope St. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 41.
Art Credit: Council bishops on Saint Peter’s Square (1961, Italy), Wikimedia Commons.
This article is from The Catechetical Review (Online Edition ISSN 2379-6324) and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of The Catechetical Review by contacting [email protected]
