Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

The Baltimore Catechism

One of the greatest gifts of Pope John Paul II’s papacy was the publishing of the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church. However, here in the United States a whole generation of Catholics learned the basic tenets of the faith by learning the questions and answers found within the pages of the Baltimore Catechism. This catechism was written to fill a need in the United States for a common tool for teaching American Catholics about their faith. The Baltimore Catechism was produced at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore and was the primary tool for passing on the faith to Catholics in the US from 1885 until the 1960′s.

Recently I have been looking through it and find that while it is not a perfect rendering of the faith, it is nonetheless a strong introduction to it. Our current Catechism goes into much greater depth, but it is important to remember that one must walk before setting out to run. It is my firm belief that as Catholics we need desperately to get back to the basics. One way I hope to explore those basics is to begin looking at the questions and answers presented in the Baltimore Catechism in order to reflect more deeply on the fundamental teachings of Catholicism.

The Baltimore Catechism is broken into three parts:

1. The Creed

2. The Commandments

3. The Sacraments & Prayer

Stay tuned for the coming reflections on these foundations of our Catholic faith and please feel free to share your experiences with the Baltimore Catechism.

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This entry was posted by on Sunday, September 25th, 2011 at 7:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    I am one of those who was formed by the use of the Q & A method.  I still have a copy of the one that was used in the Archdiocese of Chicago.  It is called A Catechism of Christian Doctrine: Revised Edition of the Baltimore Catechism, No. 2.  The copyright is 1941, several years before I was born! 

    Another blogger I visit has been excerpting sections of the old catechism and commenting on them.  I will be interested in your approach.

    There are two reasons why I think I remember so many of the answers in the old catechism.  First, in class, we had 50 children or more, and the teacher would ask the question and everyone in the class had to give the answer.  After 50 recitations, it sinks in.  Second, my father spent time in the evening helping me memorize the answers so I would be prepared for class.  He also explained words and concepts that I did not understand, which is something that didn’t always happen at school.

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    Yes, the benefit of memorizing things, whether it be the Catechism, the Bible, or the prayers of the mass is that we have  ready made resources to deepen our faith. It also means we have to reflect more deeply on them. 

    I like to use the current catechism for that too. It is a powerful resource now available to us and I find it used best when used as more than a reference book.

  • mgalbaugh

    I still teach from the Baltimore catechism with my 6th graders, though not exclusively, of course. 

    On day 1, we learn why God made us (which I’m sure you can all recite by heart). I tell them that if that’s the only thing they learn the whole year, that’ll get them mighty far in the life of faith.

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    Indeed it will.

  • Meredith

    Our parish used this for First Communion preparation in Religious Education class. For this mom, catechized in the 1980′s, I learned more from the book than my son probably did!

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    Learning the simple things are good for both ourselves and our kids!

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