Baltimore Catechism

  • Thread starter Thread starter brucenow
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

brucenow

Guest
I’m trying to remember what grade I was in when introduced to the Baltimore Catechism in the early 1950’s. Was it 1st. Grade, 2nd, 3rd? 4th? A little research I’ve done makes me think it was the Baltimore Catechism No. 2.
Anybody go back that far that can give me the answer? Was there a recommended age or grade level to begin it or was that up to the Franciscan nuns and the parish priest in the small town parish in Iowa where I grew up?
 
Bruce, I didn’t grow up in your neck of the woods, but in the neck of the woods that I did grow up in, we started with the Baltimore Catechism in the first grade.
 
I was introduced to it in the third grade. I still think it should be used.
 
What’s the difference between the Baltimore Catechism and the current CCC?
 
dje101 said:
What’s the difference between the Baltimore Catechism and the current CCC?
Click to expand...
The CCC was neither written or designed for the laity. It is highly technical in nature and is written in a style that pre supposes that someone reading or referring to it has a solid background in theology. It has numerous footnotes and references. It was not written as an instructional tool but rather as a reference book.

The Baltimore Catechism was written in a very simple question and answer style and was designed primarily to instruct children and teenagers in the basics of the faith. It did not go into anywhere near the detail that is found in the CCC. It came in four versions, each of which went into more detail than the one before it. They were used by different grade levels.

The Church has issued a book called the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is written in a much simpler fashion than the CCC, and is in a basic question and answer format, yet goes into somewhat more detail than did the Baltimore Catechism. I would say that it was written primarily for adults who lack a background in theology. I doubt that it could be used effectively with children under the age of 12 or 13 or so…

Hope that answered your question.
 
Mike30 said:
The CCC was neither written or designed for the laity. It is highly technical in nature and is written in a style that pre supposes that someone reading or referring to it has a solid background in theology. It has numerous footnotes and references. It was not written as an instructional tool but rather as a reference book.

The Baltimore Catechism was written in a very simple question and answer style and was designed primarily to instruct children and teenagers in the basics of the faith. It did not go into anywhere near the detail that is found in the CCC. It came in four versions, each of which went into more detail than the one before it. They were used by different grade levels.

The Church has issued a book called the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is written in a much simpler fashion than the CCC, and is in a basic question and answer format, yet goes into somewhat more detail than did the Baltimore Catechism. I would say that it was written primarily for adults who lack a background in theology. I doubt that it could be used effectively with children under the age of 12 or 13 or so…

Hope that answered your question.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that was a great answer. Thank you very much!
 
Lormar said:
Bruce, I didn’t grow up in your neck of the woods, but in the neck of the woods that I did grow up in, we started with the Baltimore Catechism in the first grade.
Click to expand...
That is what I was thinking too, but then I got to thinking about it. I was just learning to read - “See Spot run.” - the Dick and Jane books. I think we could have copied questions and answers from the blackboard to memorize. On the other hand, I thought well maybe it was third grade as the next respondent remembers.

So first or third? I’m not sure.
 
dje101 said:
What’s the difference between the Baltimore Catechism and the current CCC?
Click to expand...
Also, the Baltimore Catechism was more of a local catechism (i.e. produced in a particular locale) whereas the current CCC is universal. And, of course, since the current CCC was written just 20 years ago, it factors in all the documents from the Second Vatican Council.
 
The Baltimore Catechism was compiled by the order of the Council of Baltimore. There were a series of local Councils of the bishops in the U.S. which delt with the moral, spiritual and practical matters of practicing the Catholic Faith in the U.S. after independence from England. There were any number of issues that had to be solved, some of them were referred to Rome, others decided on the local level. The education of Catholics was one, and the Catechism was one of the answers. The modern day alternative to the Councils of Baltimore would probably be the USCCB.

All catechisms as illuded to above, be they the Baltimore, or the Penny (in England), Fr. Hardon’s or any other, including the Catechism of the Council of Trent (intended as a guide for priests to assure that they covered the faith more fully with their congregations) are a distillation of the teachings of the Church. Much the same as a driver’s handbook that State Motor Vehicle departments issue for the driving exams. They don’t encompass all the traffic laws of the State that issues them, but are a simplified guide for someone who is taking a license exam.

Catechisms are a good starting point in learning the Faith, and hopefully will spark a desire to learn the Faith more fully. There are charges against the Church by some anti-catholics against Catholics that they use the Bible alone, and that Catholics use their Catechims. If they really read through a copy of any good Catholic Catechism, they would find in the information that is covered, and in the footnotes that the catechism does not replace the Bible, but is a great source of learning the meaning of the texts of the Bible, and the rich theology derived from it.
 
Filioque said:
The Baltimore Catechism was compiled by the order of the Council of Baltimore. There were a series of local Councils of the bishops in the U.S. which delt with the moral, spiritual and practical matters of practicing the Catholic Faith in the U.S. after independence from England. There were any number of issues that had to be solved, some of them were referred to Rome, others decided on the local level. The education of Catholics was one, and the Catechism was one of the answers. The modern day alternative to the Councils of Baltimore would probably be the USCCB.

All catechisms as illuded to above, be they the Baltimore, or the Penny (in England), Fr. Hardon’s or any other, including the Catechism of the Council of Trent (intended as a guide for priests to assure that they covered the faith more fully with their congregations) are a distillation of the teachings of the Church. Much the same as a driver’s handbook that State Motor Vehicle departments issue for the driving exams. They don’t encompass all the traffic laws of the State that issues them, but are a simplified guide for someone who is taking a license exam.

Catechisms are a good starting point in learning the Faith, and hopefully will spark a desire to learn the Faith more fully. There are charges against the Church by some anti-catholics against Catholics that they use the Bible alone, and that Catholics use their Catechims. If they really read through a copy of any good Catholic Catechism, they would find in the information that is covered, and in the footnotes that the catechism does not replace the Bible, but is a great source of learning the meaning of the texts of the Bible, and the rich theology derived from it.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
I’m thinking it must have been second grade at our school, because that was the year of our first Confession and First Communion. I can remember reciting answers when Father came to visit our classroom, and studying with my parents at home.

I don’t understand when memorizing became an evil thing, but i remember that my neighbors who went to public schools weren’t doing it. That was back in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s. We memorized the catechism, times tables, poems, and the preamble to the Constitution. It served us Catholic kids pretty well when we got to HS and college.
 
Before third grade, by seventh grade the chruch changed over to, I think, CCD.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top