Simplified catechism to be released June 28 at Vatican liturgy

Published: 2005-06-15

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The shortened, simplified version of the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" will be presented by Pope Benedict XVI during a June 28 liturgy at the Vatican and will be available in Italian bookstores the following day. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said national bishops' conferences would be responsible for translating the volume into their local languages and for publishing the volume in partnership with the Vatican publishing house. The "Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church" was drafted by a committee led by the new pope while he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A draft of the volume, in which church teaching is presented in a question-and-answer form, was sent for comment in early 2004 to all the cardinals and the presidents of bishops' conferences around the world. A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' publishing department said he expected the minicatechism to be released "later in 2005."

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