>>The New Catechism is a wonderful resource. It not only presents WHAT the Church teaches, but WHY She teaches it. I believe it is much more useful for Catholics in the modern world, who need to be able to explain their beliefs to non-Catholics, and have it make sense.<<
You may be correct; however, why was it necessary to create a NEW Catechism when there was a perfectly good one to begin with?
As to explaining the Catholic faith to others, it is infinitely more important that Catholics know what the Church teaches.
The mentality that permeated the Church in the 1960’s - “If it’s old, it’s out” - has put the Church and Catholics in the position they are in today - leaderless, faithless and ignorant.
But the Baltimore Catechism didn't explain WHY the Church teaches what she does. I believe that having a more complete understanding of the Faith grounds people in it even more. With the Church under attack in the larger society, it's important for us to be able to explain why we believe what he do.
My husband and I attended several meetings hosted by Fr. Alfred McBride, who discussed the editing of the Catechism. They were great, because it showed us just how important it was to have something that post Vatican II Catholics can use when we're defending our Faith.
My b-i-l is a priest, and he uses the New Catechism in his Confirmation Preparation classes. He said it works very well, with a little tweaking, for the teenagers.