Catechism of the Catholic Church in Urdu for Year of Faith

(February 27, 2012) The Catholic Church in Pakistan is preparing to publish a part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the national language, Urdu. The Rome-based Fides news agency said that the initiative will be launched on the occasion of the Year of Faith, which Pope Benedict XVI has called in order to deepen the faith life of Catholics worldwide. The translation and revision of the first two parts of the Catechism, namely, "The profession of faith" and "The celebration of the Christian Mystery" will be completed within two months and will be given to the press by October 11, when Pope Benedict will inaugurate the Year of Faith. The year will conclude on Nov. 24, 2013. A few more years will be needed for the Urdu translation of the remaining half of the Catechism, as it is a long and difficult work, according those behind the translation - layman Emmanuel Nino, Secretary of Pakistan’s Catholic bishop’s Commission for Catechesis, and Australian Columban priest, Fr. Robert McCulloch. The priest said that the first half of the work is coming after about 8 years of hard work. He explained that they often had to coin a new terminology for a Church concept that does not exist in Urdu; therefore it represents a contribution to the national language, showing that it is appropriate to the terminology and the Christian message. "It will be useful to young people, since they can convey the contents of faith in Urdu in social media and text messages in their language," Fr. McCulloch added.