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Email a FriendMy two oldest children are using this as their textbook for confirmation class. My daughter has already given one away to one of her friends. I highly recommend it. I purchased a copy for myself as well, finding it much more user-friendly than the “adult version!”
Youcat!
The Number One Top-selling Catholic book
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:01 PM
The best selling Catholic book in the world right now belongs to the youth.
Youcat, a catechism book geared for young people, is a hot-selling book. According to the book’s editor, over 1.7 million copies have been sold, with more good news coming from there.
“Young people are evangelizing their peers as well as deepening their own faith,” said Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., founder and editor of Ignatius Press. “A special institute in Germany, staffed by young Catholics, is organizing international study groups and preparing new YOUCAT-centered activities and publications. Like its big brother, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, YOUCAT isn’t a one-time publication. It’s a point of reference for young people around the world and a cornerstone of the New Evangelization.”
A recent press release from The Maximus Group touts that YOUCAT “adapts the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a format intended to engage young people and young adults. It is an accessible and contemporary expression of the Catholic Faith, and served as the official Youth Catechism of 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid.”
YOUCAT’s attractive format includes questions and answers, highly-readable commentary, margin photos and illustrations, summary definitions of key terms, Bible citations and quotes from the Saints and other great teachers. The questions are direct and honest, even at times tough; the answers straightforward, relevant and compelling.
Check it out here! Maybe this is the answer to your confirmation gift quandary?
Comments
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Posted by Melissa Buttry on Tuesday, Apr 17, 2012 11:33 PM (EDT):
We are using this wonderful book in the confirmation class I am teaching. The only “problem” is our kids parents keep taking the kids book to read and look up stuff themselves. I have kids coming in saying they couldn’t find their book and it turns out their parents had it and were loving it. It is a great recource.
Posted by Patricia on Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 9:51 AM (EDT):
Our parish purchased copies of the YouCat for use by the high school religious education class. While I do find the YouCat overall to be user-friendly, I think there are serious errors & ambiguities in the text which could make it a danger to the faith of those who are not properly catechized. I won’t go in to quoting from the YouCat itself, for that would take too long. Some examples: undermining of the doctrine of the inerrancy of Sacred Scripture, confusing & ambiguous language on end-of-life issues & human sexuality (homosexuality, masturbation, contraception), greater weight is given to modern scientific speculation than on the Church Fathers’ unanimous interpretations of the first chapters of Genesis. One example is where homosexuality is mentioned in the section on the creation & nature of man—this might lead one who is not well-catechized to believe that God created homosexual tendencies, therefore, how could homosexuality be sinful or wrong? Many secular sources are quoted in the margins of the book. While this isn’t necessarily a problem so long as the quotes do not contradict or undermine the truth…the Church has such a rich treasury of quotes from the Saints that could have been used more fully. I think we would do well to encourage our youth to read he lives of the Saints, as well as the Fathers & Doctors of the Church.
Additionally, I know that some find the stick figures that appear throughout the YouCat to be appealing, but I (along with our 2 eldest children) find them a bit childish. That is just my personal preference…however, I find some of the figures to be borderline inappropriate in their cartoon-like approach to very serious issues/sins (see sections 411 & 412 on prostitution & pornography).
Italian & French translations of the YouCat had even more serious errors. I believe the Italian version was pulled & rewritten, but am uncertain as to whether the French version was corrected before publication or not.
We all know the utmost importance of proper catechesis. Our Catholic youth (or anyone seeking the truth of our Faith) deserve to be given a document that is entirely sound & that does not contain problematic or ambiguous statements which could appear to contradict the solemn teaching of the Catholic Church.
Posted by anon on Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 11:50 AM (EDT):
I agree with what Patricia sighted as worries about YouCat. I read it and was really disappointed. The original CCC has *beautiful* and *poetical* quotes from the saints, Church Fathers, etc. These quotes are NOT hard to understand… they are written in plain English, not like reading Shakespeare or something less-readily-understandable. Also, the very beautiful “flow” of the original CCC is just all chopped up into bits to fit the Q&A format of YouCat. But all those are just style issues (which, still matter, I think because we want the Faith to be presented as beautifully as possible, right?) Anyway, my main concerns are the ones Patricia stated: areas of ambiguity, particularly dealing with sexual matters/sins. If I didn’t know better I would think YouCat said masterbation is okay, for example. :(
Posted by Monica (momof2) on Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 1:04 PM (EDT):
I also agree with Patricia. I bought it but found it “light"compared to the other homeschooling materials I have been using. Not saying it is a bad resource, just not as great as I had been led to believe. I will probably end up giving it away since we have better stuff.
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