Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/107

 DOCTRINE

81

DOCTRINE

and one with some alterations in the language in Balti- more in 1809 (108 pp.). Many editions were published of the catechism entitled "A Short Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, Newly Revised for the Use of the Catholic Church in the United States of America". The size of these small catechisms is from 36 to 48 pages. One edition, with title page torn, bears on the last page the record: "Bought September 14, 1794". The Philadelphia edition of 1796 is styled the thir- teenth edition ; that of Baltimore, 179S. the fourteenth. Whether all these editions were printed in America, or some of the earlier ones in Europe, cannot be ascer- tained.

This "Short Abridgement of Christian Doctrine", approved by Archbishop Carroll, was generally used throughout the United States until about 1821. In that year Bishop England published his catechism for his own diocese, and in 1825 appeared the " Catechism of the Diocese of Bardstown", recommended as a class-book by Bishop Flaget of Bardstown, Kentucky. The author of the latter catechism was Jean-Baptiste David, coadjutor of Bishop Flaget. It comprised the "First or Small Catechism for Little Children" (1.3 pp.), and the "Second Catechism" (149 pp.). The English was criticized by Archbishop Marechal and others. Still more defective and inexact in language was the catechism of Bishop Conwell of Philadelphia, and, at the request of the archbishop, the author sup- pressed the book. An old English catechism, the "Abridgement of Christian Doctrine", by Henry Tur- berville, first published at Douai in 1649, was re- printed in Xew York in 1833. Whereas this edition preserved the quaint old language of the original, an- other edition of the same book appeared in Philadel- phia, as " revised by the Right Rev. James Doyle and prescribed by him for the united dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin" (Ireland). In the New England States the "Boston Catechism" was used for a long time, the "Short Abridgement of Christian Doctrine", newly revised and augmented and authorized by Bishop Fenwick of Boston. But the catechisms which were used most exclusively during several decades were Butler's "Larger Catechism" and "Abridged Catechism". In 1788 Samuel Campbell, Ne%v York, published " A Catechism for the Instruction of Chil- dren. The Seventh Edition with Additions, Revised and Corrected by the Author". This seems to be the first American edition of Butler's Catechism; for Dr. Troy, Bishop of Ossory, wrote, soon after Butler's Catechism had appeared: "It has been printed here under the title: 'A Catechism for the Instruction of Children', without any mention of Dr. Butler". But- ler's Catechism became very popular in the United States, and the First Provincial Council of Canada (1851) prescribed it for the English-speaking Catholics of the Dominion. Some other American catechisms may be briefly mentioned: the so-called "Dubuque Catechism" by Father Hattenberger; the Small and the Larger Catechism of the Jesuit missionary. Father Weninger (1865); and the three graded catechisms of the Redemptorist Father MuUer (1874). Far more ex- tensively used than these was the English translation of Deharbe. From 1869 numerous editions of the small, medium, and large catechisms, with various modifications, were published in the L'nited States. An entirely new and much improved edition was issued in New York in 1901.

Repeated efforts has-e been made in the United States towards an arrangement by which a uniform textbook of Christian Doctrine might be used by all Catholics. As early as 1829, the bishops assembled in the First Provincial Council of Baltimore decreed: "A catechism shall be written which is better adapted to the circumstances of this Province; it shall give the Christian Doctrine as explained in Cardinal Bellar- mine's Catechism, and when approved by the Holy See, it shall be published for the common use of v.— 6

Catholics" (Deer, xxxiii). The clause recommending Bellarmine's Catechism as a model was added at the special request of the Congregation of Propaganda. It may be mentioned here that Bellarmine's "Small Catechism", Italiantextwhh English translation, was published at Boston, in 1853. The wish of the bishops was not carried out, and the First and Second Plenary Councils of Baltimore (1852 and 1866) repeated the decree of 1S29. In the Third Plenary Council (1884) many bishops were in favour of a "revised" edition of Biitler's Catechism, but finally the matter was given into the hands of a committee of six bishops. At last, in 1885, was issued "A Catechism of Christian Doe- trine, Prepared and Enjoined by Order of the Third Coimcil of Baltimore". Although the council had desired a catechism "perfect in every respect" (Acta et Deer., p. 219), theologians and teachers criticized several points (Nilles, "Coramentaria", II, 265, 188). Soon various editions came forth with additions of word-meanings, explanatory nc^tes, some even with different arrangements, so that there is now a con- siderable diversity in the books that go by the name of Catechism of the Coimcil of Baltimore. Besides, in recent years several new catechisms have been pub- lished, "one or two a decided improvement over the Council Catechism" (Messmer, "Spirago's Method", p. 558). Among the recent catechisms are the two of Father Faerber, the large and small catechisms of Father Groenings, S. J., and the "Holy Family Series of Catholic Catechisms", by Francis H. Butler, of the Diocese of Boston (1902). The three graded cate- chisms of this series give on the left page the questions and answers, on the right a "Reading Lesson", deal- ing in fuller, and connected, form with the matter con- tained in the questions and answers. Some very prac- tical features (reading part, followed by questions and answers, appropriate hpnns, and pictorial illustra- tions) mark the "Text-books of Religion for Parochial and Sunday Schools", edited since 1898 by Father Yorke. These last two series to some extent depart from the traditional method and indicate a new move- ment in catechetical teaching. A more radical change in the style of the catechism, namely the complete abandonment of the question-and-answer method, has recently been proposed (see below, imder II and III of this article, and "Am. Eccl. Rev.", 1907; Jan. and Feb., 1908). The First Plenary Council of Balti- more (1852) appointed Bishop Neimiann to ■nTite, or revise, a German catechism the use of which, after its approbation by the archbishop and all the German- speaking bishops, should be obligatory. ' This decree shared the fate of the coimcil's demand for a imiform English catechism. The Third Plenary Council (1884) decreed that the catechism to be issuetl by its order should be translated into the languages of those par- ishes in which religious instruction is given in any other than the English tongue. But the translation of the council catechism met with little favour. Another regulation, however, contained in the same decree of the council (ccxix), was gradually carried into effect. The bishops assembled expressed an earnest desire that in schools where English was not used the Christian Doc- trine should be taught not only in the foreign tongue there used, but also in English. Undoubtedly this was a wise provision. For the young people of the second or third generation find it difficult to understand the native language of their parents; hearing discussions or attacks on their religion, they are hardly able to answer if they have not learnt the catechism in Eng- lish. Moreover, after leaving school many young peo- ple have to live among English-speaking people, in places where there is no congregation of their own nationality; if they have not been taught religion in English they are tempted not to attend sermons, they feel embarra.ssed in going to confession, and thus may gradually drift away from the Church. In order to obviate these dangers, various catechisms (Deharbe,