Catechism

CATECHISM. - The term c. is used today to indicate a brief compendium of the principal truths of the Christian faith and morals, set out in a clear, precise manner, easy to understand and retain, and predominantly in the dialogic form of questions and answers between master and disciple (c.-book).

Originally, however, it indicated a set of questions put to the baptizands, in the atrium of the church, by the godparents, or to the godparents by the priest, and the answers obtained. « Ante Baptismum fit catechismus et exorcismus... Illa autem interrogatio et responsio fidei fit in catechismo » (Peter Lombard, Sentent., I, 43); and also the oral and familiar teaching of the essential religious truths, addressed to children and to adults still ignorant, after Baptism. From this meaning of catechetical exposition the term finally came to indicate the text that contained it.

The transition, however, did not occur so early; the term c., in the sense of book, was at first used rather sporadically; then it received a kind of official sanction, above all from the great propaganda made for Luther's c.; then, almost immediately, the official Catholic sanction took place on the part of the Council of Trent; which was followed by the confirmation of the constant and almost general use of the Church. Some, however, such as St. Peter Canisius, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Francis de Sales, preferred, and still prefer today, the term "Christian doctrine."

The variety of c., in the different centuries, is notable; in all of them, however, after a collection of prayers and formulas to be learned by heart (Creed, Acts of faith, hope, etc., Commandments of God and Precepts of the Church) there are more or less three parts: one concerns the truths about God, Jesus Christ, and the Church; another concerns morals; the third concerns the means provided by Grace. Often a fourth part follows, concerning the liturgy in its rites and feasts.

I. THE CATECHISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES FROM THE 7TH CENTURY TO THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

When whole tribes began to be converted en masse and were baptized before having received sufficient instruction; and when the practice prevailed of baptizing children shortly after birth, the necessity arose for the Church to continue or begin religious instruction even after Baptism. On this duty incumbent upon parents or godparents, at home; upon religious in convents and the schools attached to them; upon priests in church, both the bishops of individual dioceses and synods and councils insisted much and constantly (v. CATECHESI). It was therefore natural that, in order to facilitate the task of instructing and at the same time to preserve a certain uniformity, catechistical manuals should be composed for instructors, sometimes in dialogue form, and that some should be written more suited to the mentality and understanding of children and of the common people.

Among the most representative manuals, mention should be made of the Disputatio puerorum per interrogationes et responsiones (PL 101, 1097-1144), from the time of Alcuin, which treats in ten chapters of the work of creation, of God, of the angels and of man, of the Old and New Testament, of the Church and of the Sacraments; and in two others contains an Expositio Symboli et Orationis dominicae, in dialogue form, in which the pupil asks questions and the master answers. This work constituted, as it were, the normal catechesis from the 11th to the 13th century. Under the title Incerti monachi Weissenburgensis catechesis theatisca aacc. IX (Hannover 1713, pp. 60-73), J. C. Eckard published a catechistical formulary, which he erroneously attributed to the monk Otfrid of Weissenburg, containing in Old German an explanation of the Pater, followed by a list of twenty "peccata criminalia per quae diabolus mergit homines in infernum" against the twofold precept of charity and the decalogue; then the Apostles' and Athanasian Creeds and the Gloria in excelsis. Other similar formularies follow, attributed to Charo, abbot of St. Gall (ca. 750; ibid., pp. 81-86), and to Notker the Stammerer (d. 1022; ibid., pp. 79-81); and two formularies for confession (ibid., pp. 93-99) in which we see that the penitent accuses himself not only of the failings committed in thoughts, words and deeds against the commandments of God, but also concerning frequency of and assistance at Mass, fasting, and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. One may further cite among many others: Bruno of Würzburg (d. 1045), who left several explanations of the Pater and of the Creed, two of which reproduce literally from the Disputatio puerorum (PL 142, 557-68); Abelard, who composed an exposition on the same subjects (PL 188, 611-32); Bonizo, bishop of Piacenza (d. ca. 1090), with his Libellus de Sacramentis (PL 150, 857-66).

A more noticeable step toward modern catechisms is seen in the 13th century with the characteristic "lucidaria" or "dichiaratori," the first and most important of which is that of Honorius of Autun: Elucidarium, sive dialogus de summa totius christianae theologiae (PL 172, 1109-76). It is arranged in questions and answers and divided into three parts: the first explains the Creed, the second treats of physical and moral evil, the third of the last things. This notable work had an Italian translation and various reprints (Ferrara 1490; Milan 1493, 1496; Venice 1508) under the title: Libro del maestro e del discipulo. And a profound connoisseur of "lucidaria" must have been the anonymous Milanese who composed one to bring light to children and to the simple, under the title: Qui incommence al Libro del maestro e del discipulo (Milan 1521 [cf. Tamborini, p. 39]).

After the "lucidaria" came the "settenari," brought into vogue by Hugh of St. Victor with his De quinque septenis, seu septenariis (PL 175, 405-14), so called because in them dogma and morals were expounded in relation to the number seven (the 7 petitions of the Pater, the 7 beatitudes, the 7 capital sins, the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 7 works of mercy, etc.). The method, however much it smacked of artifice and did not proceed so logically, and therefore was not approved by all, nevertheless took good hold and maintained a notable influence. It is followed, for example, by St. Edmund of Canterbury (d. 1242) in his Speculum Ecclesiae, chaps. 8-18 (Maximus biblioth. Patrum, XXV, Lyon 1677, pp. 319-23) and by the Dominican Laurent in his Sommele-Roi (so called because composed by order of Philip III the Bold, his penitent), reprinted many times and propagated under various titles, for example, Le miroir du monde, Somme des vices et des vertus (published in 1481, s. L).

St. Thomas Aquinas also applies it in his opuscules, begun in 1256 and representing an even more notable contribution to the formation of modern catechisms: Expositio Symboli apostolarum (opusc. 16); Expositio Orationis dominicae (opusc. 7); Expositio Salutationis angelicae (opusc. 8); De decem praeceptis et lege amoris (opusc. 4); De articulis fidei et Ecclesiae Sacramentis (opusc. 5). In them the Angelic Doctor omits in his simple and clear exposition the demonstrations and subtle questions, makes use of examples and comparisons drawn from ordinary life and deduces from them practical norms of Christian life; above all he demonstrates how the formulas of the catechism are coherent and interdependent among themselves in such a way as to form an organic whole. Three things, indeed, he observes, are necessary to man for salvation: to know what he must believe, hope, and do; now the first he learns from the Creed, the second from the Pater, the third from the Decalogue and from the two commandments of love, proclaimed by Jesus Christ. And since for all this Grace is needed, there are the Sacraments (cf. C. Werner, Der M. Thomas v. Aquin, I, Regensburg 1858, pp. 123-58). These opuscules of the holy Doctor, joined together and variously arranged and adapted, formed the framework of catechesis down to the 16th century.

The 14th century offers us, among others, two works worthy of note: the Catechismus Vauriensis and the Lay Folks Catechism. The Catechismus Vauriensis represents the first text to which the name of catechism truly belongs, and we owe it to the decisions of the principal Synod of Lavaur, near Narbonne, held in 1369. St. Thomas's opuscules contributed much to its composition; but the doctrine is expounded in a strictly logical order and in a complete manner

(Mansi, XXVI, coll. 484-93). The Lay Folks Catechism was composed by Card. Thoresby, archbishop of York, and published in Latin and in English in 1357 to implement the constitution (1281) of J. Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, who had ordered that every priest four times a year should explain to the people "vulgariter, absque cuiuslibet subtilitatis textura phantastica" the Creed, the Sacraments, the two precepts of charity, the seven capital sins and the seven virtues (theological and cardinal) and had also issued a brief instruction on the individual points to serve as an outline (cf. Cath. Enc., V [1909] p. 78). It should be noted that here the term catechism is found in use a century before Luther.

The 15th century took a more decisive step toward the people and the children. Until then, with a few exceptions, catechistical manuals were for the most part accessible only to priests for the instruction of the faithful; now, instead, thought was given, with greater urgency, because its pressing necessity was ever more clearly recognized, to a text to be placed directly in the hands of the people. Much of the credit belongs to G. Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris (1362-1428), who in his letter on the reform of the faculty of theology called attention to the great usefulness of publishing and disseminating « aliquis tractatulus super punctis principalibus nostrae religionis et specialiter de praeceptis ad instructionem simplicium, quibus nullus sermo, aut raro fit » (Opera, I, Antwerp 1706, col. 124). And since no one took up the invitation, he himself composed three works: Compendium theologiae breve et utile (ibid., coll. 238-242); Opus tripartitum de praeceptis decalogi, de confessione et de arte moriendi (ibid., coll. 425-50); L'ABC des simples gens de très grande utilité et proufti; and to defend himself against adversaries who accused him of having all but betrayed his dignity by teaching doctrine to children, he wrote De parvulis ad Christum trahendis (ibid., III, coll. 277-91). The same observations and invitations were proclaimed by the provincial Council of Tortosa in 1429 (Mansi, XXVIII, col. 1147, n. 6).

The invention of printing, however, contributed greatly to furthering this movement; without it, the suitable little booklets could not easily have been disseminated among the people, as was likewise becoming necessary. One of the oldest, earlier by at least sixty years than Luther's catechisms and which, from the arrangement and division of its 13 parts, is clearly a true catechism in the modern sense of the word, is the one attributed to St. Antoninus, archbishop of Florence, entitled: Libreto della doctrina christiana, la quale è utile et molto necessaria che li putti piccoli et zovenzelli limpara per sapere amare, servire et honorare idio benedetto et schivare le temptazioni et peccati. It must have circulated first in manuscript; the date of the first edition is unknown; the oldest reprint now known is that of Venice, 1473 (cf. P. Guerrini, Gli incunaboli del c., in Suppl. pedagogici della scuola ital. moderna, 5 [1937-38], pp. 96-97; P. Tacchi Venturi, pp. 337-39). It went through various reprints, but did not enjoy wide diffusion.

Meanwhile Luther appeared on the scene. To spread his ideas among the people, he published in 1528 a small catechism for « simple children », the Klein Katechismus, first in the form of placards so that it could be hung in homes, as had already long been done among Catholics since the time of Charlemagne; then as a little book, with the subtitle Enchiridion. In setting out the individual parts (Commandments, Credo, Pater noster) he adhered to traditional usage, only adding two further parts on Baptism and Communion. The form is in questions and answers, a model of simplicity and clarity, and in expounding the new doctrines it avoids any hint of polemic against the old Church, from which he had separated. The following year he published the Der grosse Katechismus, in which he intended to give parish priests a guide and a fuller explanation. The style is lively and fluent; but it is not in questions and answers. Here too Luther avoided polemics and even omitted some of his characteristic doctrines (for example, original sin, which destroys every disposition to good, the free interpretation of the Bible, predestination to Hell).

Both catechisms had a very wide diffusion, also as a result of the ordinances of Protestant princes, who imposed their use; and subsequently they were received into the Formula concordiae (25 June 1580), as a symbol of the Lutheran Church. But the assertion on the Protestant side, that they were like a new creation springing from the brain of the Reformation, is far from the truth, and requires a thorough revision (cf. H. Grisar, Luther, III, Freiburg im Br. 1912, pp. 408-17), all the more so since within the field of the Reformation itself they were not even the first; but had been preceded, in the four-year period 1522-26 alone, by 39 others (cf. Monumenta paedagogica, XX-XXIII, Berlin 1900-1902; F. Mangenot, s. v. in DThC, II, coll. 1907-1908).

In the same way the other sects too had their catechism. To cite a few: Calvin, after his major work De christianae religionis institutione libri tres (Basel 1535), which became the catechism of the Reformed in France, published two in French in 1534 and 1537; Martin Bucer (Butzer) disseminated his Katechismen (Strasbourg 1534 and 1537), later reworked in a Zwinglian sense in 1545; at Heidelberg in 1563 appeared the Katechismus Heidelberger, composed by two Calvinists by order of the Palatine elector Frederick III, which spread widely in Switzerland, Austria, Holland and was the most celebrated among the catechisms after those of Luther (Z. Ursinus and C. Olevianus, Catechesis religionis christianae, quae traditur in eccles. et scholis palatinatus).

II. AROUND THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

The desire not to be outdone and also the necessity of preventing dangers among the people and of combating the adversary with equal weapons, even in the method of teaching, proved very useful to Catholic catechesis, which produced a true flowering of catechisms that was never again to cease. In Italy, at least as early as 1540, there was printed at Milan that of Fra Tommaso Reginaldo, a Dominican, who composed it at the request of St. Jerome Emiliani, and which the Somaschi used for a long time: Simbolo de Athanasio exposto per modo de dialogo dal ven. p. frate Reginaldo... per exercitio spirituale delli poveri orfanelli; it had various editions under different titles. Castellino da Castello elaborated as early as 1537 the Interrogatorio del maestro al discepolo per istruire li fanciulli e quelli che non siano nella via di Dio (cf. A. Sala, Dissertazioni e note circa la vita e le gesta di s. Carlo Borromeo, Milan 1858, pp. 68-84). Also to be noted are Tullio Crispoldi, a pupil of the oratory of the Divino Amore in Rome, with Alcune interrogazioni delle cose della fede et del stato, overo vivere dei cristiani (Verona 1540); Bishop Luigi Lippomano with Esposizioni volgari sopra il Simbolo apostolico (Venice 1545); Bishop Leonardo de Marini with C., overo instrutione delle cose pertinenti alla salute delle anime... per la diocesi di Mantova (Mantua 1555). To these there was added almost contemporaneously a group of Jesuits, each with his own catechism, inspired by the needs noted in the field of ministry: G. Lainez at Parma; G. Domenech in Sicily; G. F. Araldo at Naples; A. Gagliardi at Milan by commission received from St. Charles Borromeo; G. Ledesma in the Roman College at Rome; E. Augier in France, etc.; then the Barnabites and the Scolopi with the texts already cited in the entry catechesi (v.).

But the best and most widespread Catholic catechism in the 16th century was that of St. Peter Canisius in its three redactions: Summa doctrinae christianae (Vienna 1555, German trans., ibid. 1556), for the use of catechists and educated persons, called the larger catechism; the very brief Summa doctrinae christianae per quaestiones tradita et ad captum rudiorum accommodatae (Ingolstadt 1556, German trans., ibid. 1557) for children and the common people, in 59 brief paragraphs, called the "c. minimus". At first it appeared anonymously, as an addition to the first rudiments of Latin grammar, Principia grammatices, of Fr. A. Codret, in order to counter with the same device the Protestants, such as Melanchthon, who sought to propagate their errors by means of schoolbooks. But, having understood the necessity of an intermediate text for studious youth, Canisius published two years later: Parvus catechismus catholiorum (Cologne 1558), called the smaller catechism and issued also under various titles: Catechismus catholicus and Instructiones doctrinae christianae; a German version and versions in other languages were soon available, with and without illustrations.

It was the most used text and counts more than 400 editions. The three catechisms in substance form only one, differing only in the number and extent of the paragraphs, naturally, and in the breadth and depth of the questions; but the criterion is single and the division into four parts is single according to this concept: Christian doctrine can be reduced to the knowledge and practice of wisdom and justice (Eccl. 1, 33); wisdom comprises the theological virtues and the Sacraments; hence the first four parts: 1) faith = the Creed; 2) hope = the Pater; 3) charity = Commandments and 4) = Sacraments. Justice consists in doing good and fleeing evil; hence: 5) sins, the works of mercy, the virtues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the beatitudes, the evangelical counsels, the novissimi. The expression is far from abstractions, concrete, practical and above all permeated by the very words of Scripture and of the Fathers, without any mention of controversy, nor of the errors of the innovators: merits and advantages recognized by the Protestants themselves (cf. O. Braunsberger, Entstehung und erste Entwicklung der Katechismen des sel. P. Canisius, Freiburg im Br. 1893; S. P. Canisii Catechismi latini et germanici, ed. F. Striecher, Munich 1933). The first Italian version of the Summa doctrinae christianae appeared at Venice in 1560 and was the work of Fr. Angelo Dovizi.

III. THE CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

The Council, after mature examination and having established the religious ignorance of the people, had ordered the composition and publication of a manual, which the parish priests were to use, preaching and catechizing, in order to set forth Christian doctrine in logical order (Sess. XXIV, de reform., chap. 7; Sess. XXV), while still leaving the freedom to change the usual order (Creed, Sacraments, Commandments, Prayer) according to the needs of the hearers. The Council also aimed at providing a single and uniform text, just as the rule of faith was single and uniform. Pius IV immediately appointed a commission composed of four distinguished theologians: Leonardo Marini, archbishop of Lanciano; Muzio Calini, archbishop of Zara; Egidio Foscarini, bishop of Modena, and the Portuguese Dominican Francesco Foreiro, under the direction of St. Charles Borromeo. After a year the draft was ready; there followed the revision into classical Latin by the humanists Giulio Pogiani and Paolo Manuzio, who printed it under the title Catechismus ex decreto Conc. Trid. ad parrochos (Rome 1566); it is better known under the current abbreviation of Catechismus romanus. The Italian version made by order of the Pope by the Dominican Alessio Figliucci appeared at once (ibid. 1566; cf. the recent version by L. Andrianopoli: Il c. romano del Conc. di Trento, Vatican City 1946); then versions in other languages followed (cf. S. L. Skibniewski, Gesch. des röm. Katech., Rome 1903; P. Paschini, Il c. rom. del Conc. di Trento. Le sue origini e la sua prima diffusione, Rome 1923; Pastor, VII, pp. 288-92; VIII, pp. 133-34). The work was received with universal praise, and extracts and compendia were also made from it for the use of children. As for authority and dogmatic value, it maintains primacy over all similar works (cf. I. B. de Toth, De auctoritate dogmatica c. romani, Budapest 1941).

Following the fourfold division of the Roman catechism — 1) Faith and the Creed; 2) Sacraments; 3) Commandments; 4) the Pater and prayers, with the addition of a 5th part (virtues, works of mercy, sins, the last things) — Cardinal Robert Bellarmine composed, at the request of Cardinal Francesco Tarugi and by order of Clement VIII, his two most celebrated catechisms: the Dottrina cristiana breve perché si possa imparare a mente (Rome 1597), in which the teacher asks questions and the disciple answers; and the Dichiarazione più copiosa della dottrina cristiana per uso di quelli che insegnano ai fanciulli e alle altre persone semplici (ibid. 1598), in which the disciple asks questions and the teacher answers. Both works enjoyed exceptional success; but the first more than the second, for it numbers more than 351 editions and translations into 58 different languages and dialects, including those of the mission countries (cf. Sommervogel, I, coll. 1187-1204; J. Brodrick, Blessed R. Bellarmin, I, London 1928, pp. 389-99; see also the recent edition: S. R. Bellarmino, I c., Milan 1941). St. Francis de Sales used them in his catechesis and prescribed them to his priests. In Milan Cardinal Federico Borromeo adopted them for his schools of Christian doctrine; while later strong opposition was made to them by the Austrian government under the influence of Josephinism and the Enlightenment (cf. G. Schio, La « Dottrina cristiana » del b. R. Bellarmino prescritta nella Lombardia austriaca, in Civ. Catt., 1925, 1, pp. 403-15, 516-22). At the Vatican Council, in the proposal made for the compilation of a universal catechism, Bellarmine's short one was designated as the model.

IV. FROM THE COUNCIL OF TRENT TO OUR DAYS

In the following centuries the production of catechisms multiplied so greatly as to make even a simple enumeration of them impossible; moreover, it would be of no use. It suffices to recall the catechisms of Cardinal Fleury (1679) and of Bossuet (1687), which were of particular importance because in them the religious truths were derived from historical facts, especially biblical ones; the catechism of St. John Baptist de la Salle (1703) entrusted to his Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; the three catechisms of Benedict Strauch, the first for the memory, the second for the understanding, the third for the will, at once adopted by Abbot Ignatius Felbiger (to whom they are erroneously attributed) for the schools of Sagan in Silesia (whence the name "Sagan catechisms") and then imposed on all the dioceses of Austria; the catechism of the Theatine Michele Casati, bishop of Mondovì (1765), which held the field throughout the 19th century; the catechism of Dupanloup (1862) and that of Rosmini (1838), composed "according to the order of ideas"; that of Christoph Schmid (1836) and finally that of Joseph Deharbe (1847).

Several catechisms appeared infected with Jansenism and Gallicanism and were therefore condemned by the Church; for example, that of Claude Fleury (Paris 1695), of François Philippe Mesenguy (Utrecht 1744), of Charles Colbert de Croissy, bishop of Montpellier (Paris 1702), of Pierre Étienne Gourlien (ibid. 1777). The last three, translated into Italian and published in various editions, were adopted in their dioceses by Scipione de' Ricci, bishop of Pistoia, and Andrea Sarao, bishop of Potenza (cf. F. Guara, Sui c. moderni. Saggio critico-teologico, Ferrara 1788). In Italy too the Napoleonic catechism was imposed, by decree of the viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais, in 1807 — doctrinally sound, moreover (translated from the Catéchisme à l'usage de toutes les Églises de France [Paris 1806]) — in which, at the 4th commandment, a special lesson was added: "Duties toward Napoleon I, emperor and king our sovereign." This catechism aroused opposition on the part of Pius VII, who did not wish the bishops to be deprived of the freedom to choose the catechism for their dioceses, because the power to teach the faith belongs to the episcopate. But the Pope did not succeed in preventing its publication (cf. DThC, II, coll. 1951-53).

V. THE SINGLE UNIVERSAL CATECHISM

The diversity of catechism formulas has always been an inconvenience, which people have sought to remedy ever since the need for a catechism-book arose. Already at the Council of Trent thought had been given to compiling a single text for the whole Church; but the result had been only to provide one for the use of parish priests and catechists, and nothing for the people. At the Vatican Council the question was taken up again and debated at length; but the difficulties raised, inherent in the variety of languages, temperaments and needs of the various nations, were so many that no conclusion was reached. A certain unity has instead been achieved in some nations.

In Italy the first attempt at unifying the various catechisms was made by the bishops of Piedmont and Lombardy, who adopted, with slight revisions, the catechism of Msgr. Casati, bishop of Mondovì (1765). Subsequently it was adopted also by the bishops of Liguria, Emilia and Tuscany. Pius X, introducing some modifications, prescribed it (1905) for the dioceses of Rome and the Roman province, trusting that the others too would adopt it "so as to arrive at that single text, at least for all of Italy, which is the universal desire." In 1913, moreover, he issued the universal catechism, in which the material is reduced to the bare essentials, so as not to burden too heavily the minds of children. In Austria there was a single catechism in 1891, in Germany in 1924, following the decision of the episcopal conference of Fulda of 1921; in France in 1928; in Holland in 1948. The episcopate of the United States of America, where the so-called Baltimore catechism had been in use since 1885, made a revision of it, published in 1941.

A notable attempt was that of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri with his Catechismus catholicus (Vatican City 1930; Italian trans., Brescia 1932) in three parts or distinct catechisms, the first for children to be admitted to first communion; the second for those who have already been admitted to it; the third for adults; with copious notes on the sources and abundant testimonies from the councils, the supreme pontiffs, the Holy Fathers and the Roman Congregations. But it was not officially approved and imposed for the whole Church, and therefore remains a private work. - See Pl. LXII.

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