YouCat will make ‘gripping’ reading, Pope says

(04 February, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI has great expectations for the "YouCat," short for Youth Catechism, a faith manual designed to teach young people the basics of Catholicism using a language tailored to their generation. The 300-page volume, soon to be published in 7 languages, is the new and official Catechism of the World Youth Day. A team has produced the volume and enlisted its translations under the guidance of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, Austria, who also served as the editor of the universal 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church. In the forward to Youcat, Pope Benedict refutes the idea that “the youth of today are not interested in the catechism,” saying they are not as superficial as they are accused of being. Young people want to know what life really is about. A crime novel is engrossing because it involves the fate of other people, but it could be our own, and this book will make ‘compelling’ reading because it speaks to us of our own destiny and therefore is closely related to each of us, the Pope wrote. Written for high-school age people and young adults, YOUCAT is an accessible, contemporary expression of the Catholic Faith. The popular format includes Questions-and-Answers, highly-readable commentary, margin pictures and illustrations, summary definitions of key terms, Bible citations, and quotes from the Saints and other great teachers. The YouCat project was begun by Pope John Paul II who first entrusted the task to Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. Organizers of the World Youth Day in August this year in Madrid, Spain, have ordered 700,000 copies for the backpack kits to participants. The resource will be available in 13 languages by April 4.