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Over the Tavern

A catechism is a written “catechesis” or imparting of knowledge by teaching. The original Greek word katechesis implies instruction by word of mouth, especially using questions and answers. Since the earliest days of the Catholic Church, catechetical writings have given permanence to the doctrines that were being taught orally … sometimes with the assistance of manual aids like Sister Clarissa’s ruler!

The invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s helped to renew interest in catechetical instruction. A century later, the Protestant Reformation brought into sharp focus how poorly people had been educated in the faith. Some popes had tried to reform the Church from its erring ways to no avail, until the problems led to the loss of many members to “protest-ant” adaptations of the faith. In response, the Council of Trent, the 16th century version of Vatican II, created the Roman Catechism. Not a catechism in the ordinary sense, it was written to teach the clergy how to accurately explain the faith to the laity; from this, the Church then produced smaller catechisms for the religious education of adults and children, suited to their own cultures and needs.

During the founding days of the United States, priests had no time to write new catechisms, so they adapted European versions for the local culture. Early editions of Christian Doctrine contained only the most basic essentials of the faith, 36 to 48 pages; the first Bishop of Charleston published a larger version in 1821 along with numerous variations that popped up all around the country. The young Church in America now needed a standardized textbook of Christian Doctrine that would be used by all U.S. Catholics. The First Provincial Council of Baltimore established a committee of bishops who published the first Catechism of Christian Doctrine in 1891, better known as the Baltimore Catechism. It was a 100-question-and-answer summary of the Roman Catechism for the American culture. A larger edition, No. 2, held 421 questions, No. 3 had 1,274 questions plus prayers … and the whopping No. 4 included detailed “explanations” for the teachers.

During Vatican II the old catechism fell out of favor and a gathering of bishops in Rome proposed a new publication that would provide uniformity throughout the entire, global Church. In 1994, Pope John Paul II announced the completion of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. No longer a question-and-answer format, it is designed for lay use and can be read from cover to cover or used as a resource to find a specific doctrinal topic.

It is Baltimore Catechism No. 2 that becomes the plague of Rudy Pazinski’s life as a seventh-grader in Saint Casimir’s Parochial School. Sister Clarissa expects him to memorize all 421 answers in preparation for his confirmation … but Rudy is full of questions (and creative answers) of his own. Exactly why did God make us? To have fun! And what must we do to gain the happiness of heaven? Out think the Baltimore Catechism! The battle lines are drawn … in the classroom and Over the Tavern.

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