YouCat quotes Martin Luther

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My copy hasn’t come yet but I’ve read from many credible sources that this is the case. Shouldn’t this be a warning sign? Do you like YouCat?
 
Sorry. I guess I’d suspect the catechism to have some Protestant bent or maybe whoever wrote it wasn’t very intent on sticking to Catholic teaching.
 
I just looked through my copy, but can find no reference to Luther (or “protestant” or “reformation”) in the index… do you know where this quote is locate in the book?
 
After some digging online I found its on p 92-93

Apparently this is the quote: "“I would be sore afraid, if it were not for secret confession”

Not too bad I guess. But why not a saint instead
 
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Yeah I think I’m fine with it after reading the quote. I assumed it was some point of theology. Nothing to see here
 
Thanks for the reference. I see many quotes in YouCat are of Catholic saints - and I can see SOME reason for saying good things about some persons (such as Luther) who worked against the Catholic Faith (and for apostasy) - but I’d hate to end up justifying the breaking up of the one Catholic Church, or seen as promoting religious pluralism.
 
Although the vast majority of the marginal quotations in the YouCat are from Catholics and Catholic sources, such as popes and saints, there are a significant number of such quotes from non-Catholics, such as Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans (including at least three quotes from Martin Luther), Jews, Agnostics, Atheists, and ancient Pagans.

YouCat probably could have done a better job differentiating between Catholic and non-Catholic sources.
 
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teamjesusnumber31 said:
I guess I’d suspect the catechism to have some Protestant bent
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Well, it was commissioned by the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and endorsed by Benedict XVI specifically. So, I think a suspicion of “Protestant bent” is completely misplaced.
teamjesusnumber31 said:
or maybe whoever wrote it wasn’t very intent on sticking to Catholic teaching.
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You mean Cardinal Schönborn? He was the one who commissioned it. A committee under his direction produced it. I really don’t think it’s prudent to make such an accusation.
 
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There’s a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche (alongside question 464):
“Shame exists wherever there is mystery.”
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And Ludwig Feuerbach (alongside question 479):
“Where faith in the Mother of God declines, so does faith in the Son of God and in the Father.”
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(Are we scandalized yet? :roll_eyes:)

YouCat is a fine catechism for today’s youth in search of a deeper understanding of their Catholic faith. It expounds upon all the essential truths of the faith, addresses many contemporary issues, cross-references with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Church documents, and supplements questions with thought-provoking quotations from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, showing that truth can be found from those even outside the Church (though, of course, the fullness of truth is found within the Church).
 
For those of us unfamiliar with YouCat content, approximately what percentage of the book uses quotes by non- or anti-Catholics (Luther was anti-Catholic, for example), and discusses related issues? Is the Catholic faith denigrated?
 
Aside from this quote I find youcat problematic on several levels. I understand however, it is approved. But I find it condescending and it’s masturbation content Is troubling. Personally, I give the youth more credit than a dumbed down version of the CCC. They are capable of reading, studying and dissecting far more technical and complicated subjects.
 
Mrchatsworth said:
Aside from this quote I find youcat problematic on several levels. I understand however, it is approved. But I find it condescending and it’s masturbation content Is troubling. Personally, I give the youth more credit than a dumbed down version of the CCC. They are capable of reading, studying and dissecting far more technical and complicated subjects.
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If you are referring to topic #409, yes, that’s a pretty anemic condemnation of the absolutely most problematical mortal sin of the flesh for many young people. Yet one more reason why I use traditional catechisms. Father John Hardon’s The Catholic Catechism is one of my favorites as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Catechism-Contemporary-Teachings-Church/dp/038508045X
Minks said:
For those of us unfamiliar with YouCat content, approximately what percentage of the book uses quotes by non- or anti-Catholics (Luther was anti-Catholic, for example), and discusses related issues? Is the Catholic faith denigrated?
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Depends on how the quotations are used, and whether they are clearly shown to be in error, or, as in the case of the quote about confession, how even Protestants have to admit the truth and goodness of Catholic belief and practices. The old Radio Replies series (Fathers Rumble and Carty from Australia) would frequently quote or cite Protestant and other sources, either to refute their arguments, or to demonstrate the truth of Catholicism. Now there was a good catechism! Love it!

https://www.amazon.com/Radio-Replie...s=radio+replies&qid=1593134657&s=books&sr=1-2
 
I agree. When Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door, most people don’t realize that most of them, some scholars say as many as 90, were sound Catholic teaching. Not everything he ever said or wrote needs to be dismissed.
 
EricF said:
I agree. When Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door, most people don’t realize that most of them, some scholars say as many as 90, were sound Catholic teaching. Not everything he ever said or wrote needs to be dismissed.
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That’s not quite what I was driving at, but you are right, Luther was not wrong about everything.

I am willing to grant that he started out with the best of intentions, but things went too far.

I have to wonder how things would have turned out, if there had been an Internet in those days, and if he had created a website — 95theses.com? — for free discussion of the issues.
 
Mrchatsworth said:
Personally, I give the youth more credit than a dumbed down version of the CCC. They are capable of reading, studying and dissecting far more technical and complicated subjects.
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YouCat is written for (younger) teens iirc. the CCC is, at the best of times, a rather dense document, with language prone to misinterpretation by the uninitiated (e.g. intrinsically disordered). If anything, a comprehensive understanding of the CCC requires following up its footnote whcih few people do.

Tbh I think that what it says about masturbation (albeit brief) avoids condemning those who struggle with that sin by noting that the Church doesn’t “demonize” the sin, while still describing it as an “offence against love” and appropriately highlights its addictive nature through linking it to loneliness. It’s written in a language and style appropriate for its audience and given that it was approved by the CDF, I fail to see the problem.
 
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