How to study the Catechism of the Catholic Church

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First off, Apologies if this has been asked or is in the wrong place (I’m still new to the forum)
My question is, In my quest to join the Catholic Church, I recently purchased my own copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My question is: Do you read it cover to cover, or are there certain topics to study?
 
Perhaps you will find the Index of the Catechism helpful:

[Catechism of the Catholic Church](Catechism of the Catholic Church)

In using the Index, you can decided to study first those questions that trouble or puzzle you most, and then go on to other sections. The Prologue may give you some guidance in studying the Catechism, which, as you see, is available in full online.

May God bless and help you. 🙂
 
I don’t know, if you’d be interested in a “Read the Bible and CCC in a year” plan. It’s 20-30 minutes a day, one year commitment. A friend gave me this website, and highly recommended it.

Bible and CCC
 
Thank you both for your (name removed by moderator)ut. Reading the CCC and Bible in a year sounds cool
 
If it were me I wouldn’t read it from cover to cover just as one doesn’t read an encyclopaedia from cover to cover. I would pick a topic in which I am interested e.g. prayer and read what the CCC has to say about that and then pick another topic.

I am reading at the moment The Better Part by Fr Bartuneck and at the end of each meditation are references from the Catechism. I read those and find them very helpful.

If you are just starting off with the CCC maybe the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church or* Youcat*, the youth catechism would be helpful.

The CCC and the Compendium are available online.

I hope to be reading the Catechism and the bible for the rest of my life.
 
Here is the Vatican link -
vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm

The way to study the CCC is really an individual preference.
For the first tiime reading, my husband and I both read it from front to back, cover to cover.
This allows for everything to remain in order, and insures that nothing is skipped.

You may want to have a Bible handy if you wish to read the passages referred to in the CCC’s footnotes as you go along.

When it comes to reading the Bible, I also like cover to cover so that everything remains in historical order. Except, I like to read the New Testament first, then the Old Testament.
 
I forgot to mention that in the CCC and my own Bible, I use a bible highlighter for passages that are especially important to me.
A bible highlighter will insure that markings will not bleed through onto the following page.

Bible highlighters are available through Christian bookstores and most internet Catholic catalogues.
 
batman1973 said:
First off, Apologies if this has been asked or is in the wrong place (I’m still new to the forum)
My question is, In my quest to join the Catholic Church, I recently purchased my own copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My question is: Do you read it cover to cover, or are there certain topics to study?
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It depends, what are you looking for?
there is a guide on the coming home network site which gives you a program to read the CCC and bible in a year, for instance

are you looking for answers to specific doctrinal questions that may be stumbling blocks for you?
the table of contents is exhaustive and well organized but not the easiest to follow but you should be able to find what you want.

there is a good index on catholicity.com, find that link, search for the topic you want. It will give you a short answer and refer you to the catechism sections that you need.

whenever you see a reference, such as CCC 1278-86, that is to paragraph numbers, not page numbers, the boldface numbers at the beginning of each section.

You will also sometimes see smaller, lighter numbers in the margin. They direct you to other sections of the catechism that also refer to the topic being discussed.

When the catechism first came out and I was preparing to be a catechist I read it over several months in the style of lectio divina, that is, as I would a devotional reading of scripture. Reading short sections no more than a page or two, prayerfully, meditatively and very slowly.

since you are preparing to enter the Church I also suggest you read with a highliter and pencil in hand, and mark sections that raise questions and issues so you can ask questions about them when you get to RCIA (or ask questions here).

Welcome home
 
The CCC is a text book. First read over the contents in the very front to give you an idea what is in this book. Then read the Prologue which contains info on how to read it. Then
peruse the index in the back of the book roughly for an idea of how things are listed.
For example, the topic of Priest, under that is listed various interesting subject matter to get a picture of his duties, his relationship to his bishop, etc.

Just start reading. What dosen’t interest you at the moment, skip over. Otherwise just keep reading.

And the most important point of all, at each reading, ask the Holy Spirit to help you read it.
 
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