Sunday 24 April 2022

Catechism of the Catholic Church with Theological Commentary - Cardinal Rino Fisichella

Catechism of the Catholic Church with Theological Commentary
Cardinal Rino Fisichella (Editor)
ISBN 9781681922744


I have mixed feelings about this book. First it is an excellent resource. It was well worth the time and effort to read. It could really use better indexes. Specially a topical index, and key word index. Someone else referenced capital punishment as an example. Second, when it was published there was an eBook edition listed. With my dual form of dyslexia I would have read this in a much shorter time frame as an eBook rather than struggling to find time with the physical edition. The eISBN is listed in the front of the print edition, and I reached out to the publisher a few times and never received a response. I waited 2 years for the eBook to show up and then finally spent the money on the physical edition. It took me 8 months to work through the physical book. 

About 15 years ago I wrote short reviews of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition, The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and also the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. At the time I was a team of bloggers working through blogging the daily reading of the Catechism is you were working through it in a year, it was called the Catholic Catechism Dialogue Blog, and though now defunct it was a great pleasure being part of the project. This book would have been an excellent resource for that endeavour or similar future efforts. 

The description of this book is:

“”The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, 25

While the Catechism of the Catholic Church is considered "useful reading" for all the faithful, it is often necessary to turn to bishops, pastors, catechists, and scholars for assistance in understanding its meaning and purpose in our lives.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church with Theological Commentary, forty-two of those experts illuminate the four parts of the Catechism, each using a variety of Church documents, Scripture, and writings of the saints to dive deeply into each article of our Catholic Faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church with Theological Commentary includes the full text of the Catechism, followed by the commentary.

Authors include:
     • Rino Fisichella, president, Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization
     • Luis F. Ladaria, prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
     • Raffaello Martinelli, bishop of Frascati, Italy, former secretary of the Commission for the Preparation of the Catechism
     • Christoph Schnborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and the editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
     • And many more
Perfect for priests, deacons, catechetical leaders, teachers, seminarians, and anyone who wants to dive deeply into the truth and beauty of the Catholic Faith.”

With all of that being said this volume was well worth the read. It really takes us deeper into the teachings and meaning of the Catechism. It is a book that I believe most Catholics would benefit from reading. I just really wish the eBook was available for accessibility access. I think the last line of that description of the book is the key one “and anyone who wants to dive deeply into the truth and beauty of the Catholic Faith.”. That is what this book will help with. I believe ever Catholic should be reading a Catechism and their bible frequently. This book will serve as a great resource for going deeper with the Catechism. It is excellent commentary and a rich resource for the church.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!

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