The Catechism Yesterday and Today: The Evolution of a Genre

by Berard L. Marthaler

The publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church has generated new interest in catechisms. Berard Marthaler's The Catechism Yesterday and Today presents it as the latest version in a genre of works that, over time, have served the cause of religious instruction, Church reform, safeguarding orthodoxy, inculturation, apologetics, and, even, political agendas. In tracing the evolution of the catechism-genre, The Catechism Yesterday and Today presents a survey of Catholic history that recalls individuals and incidents, some little known, some forgotten, that shaped the Church's catechetical ministry. It is a study of faith and culture addressed to the general reader as well as to historians, religious educators, and theologians. Marthaler begins with a look at the development of this tool for lay instruction and its evolution from the Council of Trent through the Counter-Reformation. The effects of world mission on catechism development and a special look at early English and Irish Catechisms precede an exploration of the American Baltimore catechism. The work concludes with a look at the Dutch catechism that forged the way for the Catechism of the Catholic Church before finishing with a discussion of that catechism as it now appears in English.

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Rev. Dr. Berard Lawrence Marthaler (Ph.D., Ancient History, University of Minnesota) was a professed member of the Louisville Province (Our Lady of Consolation) of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.) who served as Assistant Professor of Religion and Religious Education at The Catholic University of America, and later as editor-in-chief of the revised edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia. He was ordained in Rome on March 29, 1952, and was named an Associate Professor and became head of the graduate Department of Religious Education in 1967.

In 1972 he succeeded Mary Perkins Ryan as executive editor of The Living Light, a journal published by the Department of Education of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Pope John Paul II awarded Marthaler the Benemerenti Medal in 1988 for twenty-five years of distinguished service at The Catholic University of America. In 1990 Dr. Marthaler was named Warren-Blanding Professor of Religion at CUA. He retired in 1997.