Vatican's new Catechism app aims to spread faith worldwide

Vatican City, Sep 20, 2013 / 06:47 am

A pontifical council is preparing to launch a new app on the Catechism of the Catholic Church in order to help promote and better expand Church teaching throughout the world.

"Catechesis is important for the church first of all because it is the attempt we had from the beginning of our faith to put together the knowledge, the content of our faith, and the coherent witness that we should have," said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

The app – which will be released first in Italian and available on mobile phones and tablets –  is important in that it provides "a possibility of using the Catechism in a new way, and to challenge people also to use it," he said.

Although there is no definite launch date for the Catechism app, it was mentioned in a Sept. 19 press conference that it might be expected within a month.

During an interview with CNA, Archbishop Fisichella reflected on the need for catechesis globally, saying that those who teach the faith play a crucial role, particularly in Africa and Latin America.

He also reflected on the role of women engaged in catechesis, reflecting that in "the majority in our parishes, and with generosity, they work in order to transmit faith to the new generations."

The archbishop is one of several experts currently present in Rome for the International Congress of Catechists, which will be held Sept. 26-28 to discuss the topic of catechesis throughout the world, and to examine new methods to promote a better means of spreading the gospel, including the new app.

"The congress," he said, "will attend more than one thousand and six hundred people waiting for a common understanding on catechesis but also in order to dialogue with each other and to check and to verify the different experiences we have in this field and the world."

Pope Francis will give an audience to those in attendance at the conference, which, according to Archbishop Fisichella, will be especially important for the New Evangelization council.