Some good news at last from the Irish Bishops' Conference. The new Irish Catholic Catechism for Adults (ICCA) has been published by Veritas.
I only had a chance for a quick flick through it and may come back later declaring it to be a heterodox outrage. But at first glance it seems like a worthwhile effort.
On the plus side, the format is much more readable as a book than the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which has multiple paragraphs, each numbered and cross referenced. The CCC is undoubtedly an essential resource, but for most people not a book that you sit down and read in sizeable chunks.
Following the format of the United States Catechism for Adults, there are frequent insertions about people of faith from Ireland and these are welcome. They point to the saints in a way that the Irish church sometimes fails to do.
The negatives?
There is only one format which is the oversized paper-back. I like a more compact version.
It is pricey - €24.99 or £19.99. And the study guide, at €12.99 for 92 pages, is very pricey. That said, it is A4 and lends itself to easy photocopying.
It was launched amidst the Tuam baby crisis/scandal.
It was launched by Sean Cardinal Brady - not really the image we want going forward as they say.
It undoubtedly fills a gap - but I'm not entirely convinced as to who the readership will be. It is described as for adults but it strikes me as possibly most suited to older children in schools who continue to be fed a very poor diet of religious education.
Why does Veritas produce these books in an inconvenient size? Their supplement of Irish Saints was A4 too. Very amateur approach to publishing.
ReplyDeleteWell it's the study guide that's A4. Cheap to produce, no binding, just a staple. But easy to photocopy. Wouldn't mind if they were cheap. the Irish supplment to missal, well at least the page stays open on the altar, but not exactly a quality print.
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