The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its various editions, gives the faithful a wonderful tool for deepening their understanding of the fundamental Christian teachings. With that in mind, I wanted to point out some great catechism-related tools to be found on the Internet.
The current “major” catechism is available in its entirety on the Vatican and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sites in an outline format. For skimming or printing out entire chapters, this format is fine, but if you’re looking for a particular topic or doing research, it’s really impractical.
After all, even with the book-form catechism, I think it’s easier to find entries using the index than the Table of Contents. Because of this, I suspect that many readers would find information quicker with a catechism search feature, and several of these are available on the Internet. A good one can be found at the Knights of Columbus Web site.
 Web sites mentioned Click here |
Another great tool is the Mary Foundation’s Web site. The site offers a “simplified” catechism, which takes the major teachings in the catechism and edits each down to a few concise sentences. The tool is searchable and contains paragraph references back to the overall catechism, so it can serve as a kind of CliffsNotes to the larger document.
In addition to the “major” Church catechism put out by the Vatican, there are several “minor” catechisms available.
Last year, the USCCB published the new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults and a new Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sometimes referred to as the “mini-catechism.” Other than some excerpts, you can’t read the contents of these books online. The books can be purchased directly from the USCCB, but I will point out that Internet bookstores like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble are both selling these at significant discounts.
Many people who study Church teaching like to refer back to the 19th Century Baltimore Catechism, which is still available in print at most online booksellers. Since the copyright has expired on the original version, several sites like Project Gutenberg and Catholic.net allow you to download the catechism to your computer or palm-top device.
If you’re looking for essays or additional writings on Church teaching, broadcaster EWTN has an extensive catechism page on its Web site. It pulls its contents from a number of minor catechisms as well as the writings of popes, saints and contemporary scholars.
Test Your Knowledge
I think my favorite online catechism resource is the “Test Your Knowledge” quiz at the USCCB Web site. It puts forth hundreds of thought-provoking questions, like, “True or false: Prayer is a battle against ourselves,” or, “Of all human persons, who most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith?” It then answers these questions with passages from the catechism.
The quiz is a wonderful resource for small-group leaders, religion teachers, parents, pastors and others who teach the faith. The quiz is pretty challenging, so it’s probably most appropriate for adults and teenagers.
If you’re looking for a catechism quiz more tailored toward younger Catholics, the Community of the Monks of Adoration in Englewood, Fla., has a free Catholic Catechism Quiz on its Web site. The questions are taken from the Catholic Challenge Catechism Game, a CD-ROM computer game which can be purchased online.
James Little, owner of the Web design firm Mmerse, writes from Sherwood.
Web sites mentioned
Catechism of the Catholic Church: www.vatican.va/archive/ccc or www.usccb.org/catechism
Knights of Columbus Searchable Catechism: www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/
Simplified Catechism: www.catholicity.com/catechism
USCCB Publishing: www.usccbpublishing.org
Baltimore Catechism: www.gutenberg.org or www.catholic.net
Writings on Church Teachings: www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings
“Test Your Knowledge” Quiz: www.usccb.org/catechism/quizzes/
Catholic Catechism Quiz: www.monksofadoration.org/cq/Test.html
Catholic Challenge Catechism Game: www.catholicgames.com
