US Catechism for Adults, Second Printing

The United States Catechism for Adults is about to go into its second printing. Scheduled to change is a portion which addresses the covenant with Jews. The USCCB has just received recognitio from the Vatican and in recent statement released by the USCCB, they state the following:

The change clarifies Catholic teaching on God’s covenant with the Jews. The first version, in explaining relations with the Jews, stated, “Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them.” The revised text states, “To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his Word, ‘belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ.’ (Romans 9: 4-5; cf. CCC, no 839)

The change was approved by the U.S. bishops following the bishops’ 2008 June meeting in Orlando, Florida.

The clarification is not a change in the Church’s teaching.

The clarification reflects the teaching of the Church that all previous covenants that God made with the Jewish people are fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the new covenant established through his sacrificial death on the cross. Catholics believe that the Jewish people continue to live within the truth of the covenant God made with Abraham, and that God continues to be faithful to them. As the Second Vatican Council taught and the Adult Catechism affirms, the Jewish people “remain most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts he makes nor of the calls he issues.” (Lumen Gentium, no.16).

If you have not yet read the United States Catechism for Adults, the first official catechism from the US Bishops since the Baltimore Catechism, I suggest you take a look at it. It is indispensable in the parish setting as well as the domestic church for ongoing adult catechesis. In our home, it served as bedtime reading with the family before prayer time.

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To purchase a copy, please visit your local Catholic bookstore or order from a Catholic source online such as The Catholic Company.

View sample of Chapter 7 of the US Catechism for Adults HERE in .pdf

For more information and suggestions on how to use the catechism in your catechetical program, click HERE.