Preferred Catechism Among Traditionalists?

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bben15

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Hello. 🙂 What is the preferred catechism among traditionalists? The Baltimore Catechism? The Catechism of St. Pius X? The Roman Catechism?

Thank you for answering my question. :blessyou:
 
Although I don’t really identify myself as a traditionalist, I am a huge fan and promoter of the Catechism of Pius X. Really big fan of that.

I like the Baltimore Catechism.

I have never read the Roman Catechism, so I don’t know about that.
 
I really like the Baltimore Catechism; I think it is clear, concise, and to the point.

That’s personal preference, however. I find a lot of traditional parishes favor the Baltimore Catechism, but it’s not like it is a rule or anything serious like that. 😛
 
That is, in the United States. The Baltimore Catechism was obviously never a universal catechism.
 
I prefer the Catechism of the Catholic Church… you know the one the Church calls us to rely on … 😉
 
dshix said:
I really like the Baltimore Catechism; I think it is clear, concise, and to the point
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That is why I like it.

Q. 268. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?

A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

Q. 269. Why was the Blessed Virgin preserved from original sin?

A. The Blessed Virgin was preserved from original sin because it would not be consistent with the dignity of the Son of God to have His Mother, even for an instant, in the power of the devil and an enemy of God.

In two short statements you get fact and reason. Whenever you hear it explained today it seems to be always explained that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant and the New Eve which is definitely true of course and are very useful for expanded discussion but once you bring the devil into the equation it becomes completely clear, no?
 
For me, I’ve come to like the Compendium of the Catechism. But I also like the Catechism of Pius X.
 
I recently purchased a copy of the Catechism of the Council of Trent.

I really like it !!👍
 
Easy answer. 🙂

The only official one that the Catholic Church has.

The CCC. 🤷
 
But Brother, there have always been local catechisms to aid in understanding the content of the universal catechisms, like the Tridentine Catechism and the CCC. 🙂
 
Cojuanco said:
But Brother, there have always been local catechisms to aid in understanding the content of the universal catechisms, like the Tridentine Catechism and the CCC. 🙂
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I know there have. But only one has ever had the privilege of being the official catechism at any one time. If one reads the decree by Bl. John Paul, the current edition of the CCC is an outgrowth of Trent. In Vaticanese language, this makes it the current official catechism.

Personally, I love the Baltimore Catechism, especially the newest edition, because it gives you documents behind the short answers. But the Baltimore Catechism was never approved by the Holy See. In fact, the Holy See has serious reservations about it, because it was not what they asked the bishops of the USA to produce. It’s as you say, a local catechism and as I believe, a good one for what it was meant to do. It was meant for the person who had no theological training. It gives conclusions, without giving argument.

I think this is the weakness of the CCC. The companion, which is the Catholic Catechism for Adults, took too long to come out. What happened was that laymen (I mean lay as in non-theologians) had nothing else but the original CCC. The original CCC, unless you take the time to go and read every article, book, letter, and document in the notes, you came away dizzy. It does not give conclusions. It gives arguments or what we used to call rhetoric when we were in the seminary. It’s one long discussion from cover to cover. The average Catholic, including priests, is not trained to read theology this way. He walks away with a headache or with ??? spinning around in his head.

However, I’ll stick to my vote for the CCC as the catechism that every Catholic should prefer, with its appropriate companions such as the Catholic Catechism for Adults.

usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/us-catholic-catechism-for-adults/
 
bben15 said:
Hello. 🙂 What is the preferred catechism among traditionalists? The Baltimore Catechism? The Catechism of St. Pius X? The Roman Catechism?

Thank you for answering my question. :blessyou:
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The official universal Catechism is the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
Local ones such as the Baltimore may be structured differently and might be preferred by some which is okay as long as there is nothing therein that contradicts what is in the CCC.

Personally, I really like the CCC.
 
Here is the authoritative decree on the CCC APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
FIDEI DEPOSITUM

Here are some sentences that jump out out at me.

**
To respond to this twofold demand, the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the one hand repeats the “old”, traditional order already followed by the Catechism of St. Pius V, arranging the material in four parts: the Creed, the Sacred Liturgy, with pride of place given to the sacraments, the Christian way of life, explained beginning with the Ten Commandments, and finally, Christian prayer. At the same time, however, the contents are often presented in a “new” way in order to respond to the questions of our age. Let’s get this straight. It follows the order of St. Pius V.

**
**
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. So he invokes his Apostolic Authority to defend its content. This is rarely mentioned Traddom when speaking about the CCC.**
**
This catechism is given to them that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms. It is to be the reference for future catechisms.**
**
This catechism is not intended to replace the local catechisms duly approved by the ecclesiastical authorities, the diocesan Bishops and the Episcopal Conferences, especially if they have been approved by the Apostolic See. It is meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to catholic doctrine. Local Catechisms, can remain in place.**

So this catechism is more formal and more official that this forum likes to admit. It’s just one of a bunch of catechism. But at the same time, it’s meant to be a springboard for writing new catechism that are for the common man’s use. That sounds fair to me.
 
But that’s not a catechism, per se. A catechism presents the faith. The word catechism comes from a catechumen. I wouldn’t give a catechumen a book on Modernism.
 
For a Traditionalist, there are many.

The Roman Catechism is your #1 choice, in general.

For America Traditionalists, its the Baltimore Catechism.

For European Traditionalists, it’s the Aquinas Catechism, the Penny Catechism, or the Catechism of St. Pius X

You don’t have to choose one over the other, necessarily. There are others, too, such as This is the Faith by Canon Francis Ripley, Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine by Archbishop Michael Sheehan, and the Douay Catechism.

Any catechism from the Mid-20th Century and beyond is looked upon with suspicion for some of them.

I have the CCC but I’m interested in older ones.
 
My answer would be 'it depends"

As Br JR noted, a catechism is a means to present the Faith of the Church. As such, I commonly look to the CCC, The Roman Catechism and the Catechism of St. Pius. The CCC expands more on the teachings of the Church relative to modern day issues, such as homosexuality and ecumenicalism in the modern world.

The others confirm each other in the consistent teachings of the Church.

None of them are good for teaching younger students, though. I’m not a big fan of the pedagogy in the YouCat. I like the Sacramental specific St. Joseph Baltimore one’s better
 
I personally like the Baltimore Catechism for its simplicity.

I help teach an RCIA class and I use the CCC primarly since it is the one used by the church, but I supllement the Baltimore Catechism with it.

I gave my friend a copy of the Baltimore Catechism and he loves it
 
JReducation said:
Easy answer. 🙂

The only official one that the Catholic Church has.

The CCC. 🤷
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Even the CCC gives credit to the Roman Catechism.
9 "The ministry of catechesis draws ever fresh energy from the councils. The Council of Trent is a noteworthy example of this. It gave catechesis priority in its constitutions and decrees. **It lies at the origin of the Roman Catechism, which is also known by the name of that council and which is a work of the first rank as a summary of Christian teaching. . . **."12 The Council of Trent initiated a remarkable organization of the Church’s catechesis. Thanks to the work of holy bishops and theologians such as St. Peter Canisius, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Turibius of Mongrovejo or St. Robert Bellarmine, it occasioned the publication of numerous catechisms.
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