[boatbums]

Do you know when the Catechism of the Roman Catholic church came into existence? Has there ALWAYS been such a document for Catholics?

[Mrs. Don-o]

No, actually, as I understand it, a catechism issued from Rome is actually a new thing, i.e. in the last few centuries. I have not familiarized myself with the whole history of catechism, but I do know that earlier catechisms were generally not promulgated out of Rome for the use of the whole church, but were published by bishops for their own dioceses. The Didache (which was a first-generation work, written before 100 AD) would be the earliest example--- maybe even earlier than the Apostles' Creed.

The AP was the basis for most subsequent catechetical materials: the catechism consisted of the creed taken line-by-line, with an explanation of each line. Many catechisms followed that up with the Creed + the Seven Sacraments + the Ten Commandments + the Eight Beatitudes --- the present "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (1997) pretty much follows that pattern, which you will see if you skim over the Table of Contents

Before the present Catechism, a lot of dioceses relied on the "Baltimore Catechism," which was approved by U.S. Bishops in the late 1800s.