Lotsa good stuff in the news about the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCCC or 4C).
HERE’S A BASIC ARTICLE ABOUT IT BEING RELEASED.
Highlights of this piece include the facts that the Compendium is 200 pages long and has 598 questions in it (so, I guess about three or so questions per page on average, which would suggest really small pages given what we’ll see below).
The Compendium is divided in the same four parts of the Catechism.
Part I, "The Profession of Faith," includes 217 questions; Part II, "The Celebration of the Christian Mystery" covers questions 218 to 356; Part II, "Life in Christ," questions 357 to 533; and Part IV, "Christian Prayer," questions 534 to 598.
The book ends with a double appendix on "Common Prayers" (from the sign of the cross, the Gloria and the Our Father, to the Prayer for the Dead and the act of contrition) and "Catholic Doctrine Formulas" (such as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, corporal and spiritual works of mercy, the Beatitudes, etc.).
It’s also (unfortunately) out only in Italian at the moment, so we’ll have to wait to get an English version. (I’m currently being tempted to order the Italian version and start studying Italian. . . . Subito, y’know?)
Now: HERE’S THE MOTU PROPRIO (A KIND OF PAPAL DOCUMENT) IN WHICH B16 AUTHORIZES THE WORK.
The money passage of this is the following:
The Compendium, which I now present to the Universal Church, is a
faithful and sure synthesis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
This conveys the level of authority for the Compendium. It is describe as "a faithful and sure synthesis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church," which makes its authority corelative to that of the Catechism. The Catechism, as we’ve quoted Ratzinger here before to demonstrate, synthesized Catholic teaching without changing the authority level of any of the teachings. Since the Compendium doesn’t do anything but synthesize the Catechism accurately, it therefore also doesn’t affect the doctrinal authority of any of the teachigns it contains.
B16 also goes on to make a rather interesting claim:
It
contains, in concise form, all the essential and fundamental elements
of the Church’s faith, thus constituting, as my Predecessor had wished,
a kind of vademecum which allows believers and non-believers alike to
behold the entire panorama of the Catholic faith.
It is important to note here that this does not claim that everything in the Compendium is an essential or fundamental element of the Church’s faith. It would be a basic logical fallacy to take that from what the pope said. ("This contains all X" is not equivalent to "All this contains is X.") Undoubtedly there will be items in the Compendium of different levels of authority, and some may not fit the bill of being "essential and fundamental."
I’m a little surprised, though, that he would claim that the Catechism contains all the essential and fundamental elements. I haven’t read the text, of course, but my native instinct would be to shy away from claims of that nature on the off chance that someone could mount a case that we left out something that is essential or fundamental. Nevertheless, he’s probably on safe ground here because (a) it probably does contain all such truths and (b) because "essential" and "fundamental" are sufficiently ambiguous words that one could defend the claim in any event.
One other tidbit: You may remember that when the Catechism was released there were all kinds of theological dissidents in the catechetical establishment (and elsewhere) who tried to assure us that the Catechism was "just for the bishops and experts" and that we layfolk need not trouble ourselves with reading it as it would be too much for us and that the Vatican never intended for us to read it. This was part of a strategy to minimize the impact of the Catechism and allow faulty catechetical texts to stay in place.
The reception that the Catechism got–at least in many places (the U.S. among them) totally steamrollered this stratagem.
Well, there’ll be none of that this time. Not only does the format of the work itself cry out that it is meant for the common layperson, the pope himself in his motu proprio says:
I entrust this Compendium above all to the entire Church and, in
particular, to every Christian, in order that it may awaken in the
Church of the third millennium renewed zeal for evangelization and
education in the faith, which ought to characterize every community in
the Church and every Christian believer, regardless of age or
nationality.But this Compendium, with its brevity, clarity and
comprehensiveness, is directed to every human being, who, in a world of
distractions and multifarious messages, desires to know the Way of
Life, the Truth, entrusted by God to His Son’s Church.
I think I prefer the handle “C4” – spiritually explosive.
+J.M.J+
I’m guessing this is an adult’s catechism, not a modern equivalent of the Baltimore Catechism?
In Jesu et Maria,
From “Fidei Depositum” — the Apostolic Constitution on the publication of the Catechism… some excerpts:
For this reason we thank the Lord wholeheartedly on this day when we can offer the entire Church this “reference text” entitled the Catechism of the Catholic Church for a catechesis renewed at the living sources of the faith!… Following the renewal of the Liturgy and the new codification of the canon law of the Latin Church and that of the Oriental Catholic Churches, this catechism will make a very important contribution to that work of renewing the whole life of the Church, as desired and begun by the Second Vatican Council…..Therefore, I ask all the Church’s Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the Gospel life. 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 also offered to all the faithful who wish to deepen their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Eph 3:8). …. 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.
As an active pastor of a parish at the time of the publication of the English Edition (First Edition) I promoted it, took orders for either hard or paper bound copies and personally drove the 6 hour turn-around to a book wholesaler to bring back literally a pickup load of cases of copies for those who wished them!
Yes… it is primarily a tool for the “students” and that’s why the Compendium is and will be (in English) so welcome… get “the short answer” in the Compendium and to study more go to the Catechism itself! I also can’t wait for the English Edition of the new Compendium. But please note… The Catechism belongs to everyone… not just the “power structure” folks!
I’m surprised you didn’t cite this and explain it’s meaning. What should we understand this to mean? Obviously not infallible, but what?
Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, may everyone who reads this authoritative text recognize and embrace ever more fully the inexhaustible beauty, uniqueness and significance of the incomparable Gift which God has made to the human race in His only Son, Jesus Christ, the “Way, the Truth, and the Life”
I know you said above that its authority was that of the catechism itself. But what is that on a practical basis?
One more question. What would your personal guess be as to when we might see an English version? Weeks, Months, Years? If I’m not mistaken, we’re still waiting on an English Sacramentary 5 years in…
Chris et al.,
My bet is that if the USCCB doesn’t release an English version by Labor Day, someone will pull a Fr. John Hardon and translate it himself. (Fr. Hardon took the French text of the CCC before its U.S. release and translated it into an excellent Q&A catechism called “The Faith”.)
Chris, et al: I am taking “authoritative” in the sense of the “ordinary magisterium” as distinct from the “extraordinary magisterium” which is exercised only rarely as with “Immaculate Conception” and “Assumption” dogmas. Beyond that as to how “fallible” or “infallible” one should understand the Catechism to be I leave to others to debate because the use of those terms is not univocal. Does “infallible” mean simply “free from error” or does it mean “dogma” in the sense of must be taken whole, “lock, stock, and barrel?” The Catechism is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to delve more deeply into an understanding of the “depositum fidei” and a basis, as noted, for other catechisms to be developed as needed to re-present the teaching in an understandable fashion given age, education or cultural factors. As to a date for an English edition of the Compendium, I have a suspicion that rather quietly but vigorously, work has already begun… because I’ll bet the collection the translation will have to be approved by the SCDF or some other dicastery before publication can happen!