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Pope presents new summary of Catholic doctrine

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 June 2005, 11:53 CDT

By Shasta Darlington

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict presented a newsummary of the Roman Catholic Catechism on Tuesday, with aquestion-and-answer format aimed at making the doctrine"accessible to all."

The 205-page "Compendium of the Catechism of the CatholicChurch" lays down Church teaching on everything from thecreation of man to the protection of embryos in a book that hasalready caused some controversy in Italy.

"The demand has been growing for a catechism in summary, inbrief, that contained all of and only the essential andfundamental elements of the Catholic faith and morality," thepope said at a ceremony in the Vatican's Clementina room.

He said it was formatted "in a simple manner, accessible toall."

The book, which comes in a pocket-size version and aslightly larger edition, is not a new Catechism but a synthesisthat "faithfully mirrors" the Catechism published in 1992.

It has been published just in time for the Church's WorldYouth Day, to be held in Germany in August, which will markBenedict's first papal trip abroad since his election in April.

One of Benedict's biggest challenges is keeping youngpeople interested in the Church as his predecessor John Pauldid.

By employing the question-and-answer format, long used inthe traditional U.S. Baltimore Catechism for primary schools,the Vatican hopes to make it more accessible and engaging forthe faithful of all ages.

Most questions review the Ten Commandments and traditionalBiblical teachings, such as "What is heaven?" but they alsoaddress more contemporary concerns, maintaining the Vatican'sconservative stance on issues like marriage.

The compendium says the "true nature of marriage," which itdefines as a union between a man and a woman, "must beprotected and favored."

The sections on the protection of embryos and artificialinsemination have already made headlines in the Italian media.

"Why should society protect embryos?" reads question number472 of the Compendium. "The inalienable right of every humanindividual, from the point of conception, is a constitutiveelement of civil society and its legislation," it says.

The late Pope John Paul set up a commission in 2003 chargedwith drawing up a Compendium. That commission was overseen byCardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict.

The Compendium also includes an appendix with commonprayers in Latin, an attempt to encourage its use as a kind ofcommon religious language that all can share.

Source: REUTERS

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