Which Catechism?

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SuscipeMeDomine

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We want to have each of the people in our RCIA group get a copy of the Catechism. The question is, which one should we use? Our choices are the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Compendium, and the US Catechism for Adults.

I’d appreciate any thoughts comparing the different versions or opinions about why one version or the other is more appropriate for RCIA. Our candidates and catechumens are varied in terms of age, education, previous catechesis, etc.

Thanks!
 
For a varied group, I’d go with the Compendium.

In a perfect world, everyone should have all three.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Why do you consider the Compendium to be the best choice?
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When I was in RCIA, they gave us a Cathecism. The big book. I read the entire thing, cover to cover. I am a geek, and when I tell people that I read the entire thing, they look at me as if I have three arms.

From my observation, most people are intimidated by a massive book. The Compendium is less intimidating, the Q and A format is easy to digest.

Aside from that, on CA Live I remember Jimmy Akin saying that if he were teaching RCIA he’d use the Compendium as the text and I admire the heck out of his opinion.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
We want to have each of the people in our RCIA group get a copy of the Catechism. The question is, which one should we use? Our choices are the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Compendium, and the US Catechism for Adults.

I’d appreciate any thoughts comparing the different versions or opinions about why one version or the other is more appropriate for RCIA. Our candidates and catechumens are varied in terms of age, education, previous catechesis, etc.

Thanks!
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They each need a copy of the full Catechism (green book) with all the cross references as a reference book. The Adult Catechism of the United States would make a great text to use for RCIA as would the Compendium.
 
we give every candidate, adult and teen, for RCIA and Confirmation a bible and a CCC (the inexpensive white pb version) so they have it, but for adults used compendium as in-class reference, not text. this group just needed the black and white Q&A, and did great once they figured out how to move back and forth to find more detail on a topic in the CCC. The new class will use the USCCA as the basic text. in the past catechists have prefered to rely on “handouts” but I am more comfortable having a hard text. we can’t afford to buy these for everyone but will have them available to purchase.

we give them the bible when they start, because we do breaking open the Word with everyone, and do a lot of scripture look-ups, but give them the catechism toward the end (don’t want to scare them) or sooner if they ask for it.
 
Thanks for your ideas. I don’t want to overwhelm people, but I want them to have solid information. We generally cite the catechism when we’re teaching, but haven’t required everyone to have a copy. Now we’ve decided that having their own copies would be good.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Thanks for your ideas. I don’t want to overwhelm people, but I want them to have solid information. We generally cite the catechism when we’re teaching, but haven’t required everyone to have a copy. Now we’ve decided that having their own copies would be good.
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It does no good citing it if they have no means of looking up the citation when they get home? Every Sponsor of course already has a very dog-eared copy of the catechism! Right! I prefere the green version because it has many more crossreferences that the mass market version does not.
 
give them a lesson in how to physically look things up in the catechism, use the references and citations etc.

also give instruction on how to search on this website you link (it is not the easiest except just scrolling).

a simplified catechism easily searchable is on catholicity.com

also reminded to tell you about Outlines of the Faith from Flannery publishing, systematic guide also on what are the main points we should cover in a lesson, with cites to CCC and scripture. a green and white paperback, inexpensive bulk pricing for parishes.

we give this out, about 2/3 of the way into the course, again with instruction on what it is and how it helps them to find a systematic outline to help answer their question, and how to use the CCC to go deeper.
 
Thanks for the additional thoughts, Puzzleannie. I hadn’t even thought about explaining how to look things up and you’re right, the Catechism isn’t exactly easy to use.

Could you provide any more info – perhaps an ISBN – on the Outlines of the Faith book you mentioned. I can’t find it in Amazon and can’t find the publisher in Google.
 
puzzleannie said:
give them a lesson in how to physically look things up in the catechism, use the references and citations etc.

also give instruction on how to search on this website you link (it is not the easiest except just scrolling).

a simplified catechism easily searchable is on catholicity.com

also reminded to tell you about Outlines of the Faith from Flannery publishing, systematic guide also on what are the main points we should cover in a lesson, with cites to CCC and scripture. a green and white paperback, inexpensive bulk pricing for parishes.

we give this out, about 2/3 of the way into the course, again with instruction on what it is and how it helps them to find a systematic outline to help answer their question, and how to use the CCC to go deeper.
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I have a Power Point for RCIA on Catechisms and how to use the CCC. that is a very good point.
 
This year we used the USCCA as a text. The students were also given a copy of the Compendium and the Catechism.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Thanks for the additional thoughts, Puzzleannie. I hadn’t even thought about explaining how to look things up and you’re right, the Catechism isn’t exactly easy to use.

Could you provide any more info – perhaps an ISBN – on the Outlines of the Faith book you mentioned. I can’t find it in Amazon and can’t find the publisher in Google.
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I’ve found that if one puts the name of a Vatican document (such as one of the encyclicals or even the Compendium itself) into Google, it invariably brings up the document as posted in English on the Vatican web site. I’ve had better luck with that than with trying to find it directly from within the Vatican website itself.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Thanks for the additional thoughts, Puzzleannie. I hadn’t even thought about explaining how to look things up and you’re right, the Catechism isn’t exactly easy to use.

Could you provide any more info – perhaps an ISBN – on the Outlines of the Faith book you mentioned. I can’t find it in Amazon and can’t find the publisher in Google.
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Outlines of the Catholic Faith
Teachings, beliefs, practices prayers
Leaflet Missal Co. 976 Minnehaha Ave St. Paul MN 55104
copyright 2000 (revised) Imprimatur Harry J Flynn abp St. Paul-Minneapolis
this is a green & white paperback handbook, follows CCC order, with CCC and scripture references
we give this to all confirmation candidates, teen and adult, as well as to catechists since for my money it is the easiest way to look up the “quick answer” and where to go for more detail, rather than wading thru the CCC or a search engine.

there is another older handbook called Outlines of the Faith by Frank Sheed, used as a guide for sidewalk evangelization which has recently been reprinted, it is readers digest size but thicker, red and black cover, and should be in the library of every apologist
 
MAY I also suggest this website for anyone involved with or responsible for Confirmation preparation at any age, child, teen or adult
ninevehscrossing.com/BestPractices/index.html
Best Practices in Faith Formation
evaluation of instruction, instructors, and learners
what must be taught for Confirmation etc.

you can see his article on this morning’s Catholic Exchange website, which contains this link.
catholicexchange.com/2008/05/01/111937/
Best Practices in Faith formation: confirmation requirements
 
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