VATICAN CITY (CNS): Following a request by bishops, Pope John Paul II has ordered the preparation of a shorter, simpler official version of the 865-page Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Vatican said.
The goal of the new text will be to present the basics of Catholic faith and morals “in a simple and clear manner” and to serve as a reference point for the preparation of local catechetical materials, the Vatican said on March 7.
The Vatican released a papal letter to prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, authorising him to create a commission, which the cardinal will head, to prepare the new text.
The new Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will “allow people – believers and not – to embrace in one unified glance the entire panorama of the Catholic faith”, the Pope wrote in the letter, dated February 2.
He said the text, to be completed “in a relatively short time”, would be submitted to the world’s cardinals and to presidents of bishops’ conferences before final approval.
