Catechism Compendium already best-seller in Spain

Madrid, Spain, Sep 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Weeks before it hits bookstores, the Spanish translation of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church has already become a best-seller in Spain. The Bishops’ Conference in that country reports that 20,000 copies have already been ordered.

“We think the first copies of the Compendium will be ready by the beginning of fall. The good news is that there are already more than 20,000 orders for the publication,” Juan Ignacio Rodriguez, director of the Secretariat of the Bishop’s Subcommittee on Catechesis, told Europa Press.

Rodriguez said the Compendium “will provide a very important service to catechesis in the world.”  Likewise, he pointed out that the text is divided into four parts in order to make it more attractive and easier to read.

The Compendium was presented on June 28 in Rome and summarizes in 150 pages the fundamental truths of the faith, the liturgy, morality and Catholic prayer, using as a basis the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992 and available in more than 60 languages. The Libreria Editrice Vaticana is publishing the new text, but translations will be the task of the different bishops’ conferences.

As an example, Rodriguez explained, “a question such as, ‘What is God’s plan for mankind’ is faithfully answered in ten lines in the Compendium while the Catechism addresses it in 25 points.”

Pope Benedict has called the Compendium an “instrument” with which the Holy See has sought to respond to the demand for a synthesis of the Catechism in which “all of the essential and fundamental elements of the Catholic faith and morality” would be included.

During World Youth Day in Cologne, the Holy Father reminded young people that the Compendium would be fundamental, and he encouraged them to study it.