Understanding the structure and how the numbers guide the user can make this formidable text less intimidating. However, when I was a youth minister it was not a text I could just hand to someone, especially a child or teen, without some support or introduction.

Fortunately, there are great resources for empowering younger generations to understand and appreciate the Catechism. The YouCat and YouCat for Kids were crafted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome (although printed by various publishers in different languages around the world).

Both are organized under four pillars: the Creed, sacraments, morality and prayer, and are intended to present the faith in an understandable way for kids. The YouCat for Kids is intended for children ages 8-12, and the YouCat is for teens and young adults.

As a youth minister, I often used the YouCat to introduce students to the idea of an authoritative text — that when they had questions, they could flip to the index and find definitive answers — not whatever was trending on social media. Parents and small-group leaders often shared that they found the content easy to navigate, and that they would sometimes use their child’s text as a reference for their own questions.

The YouCat Foundation has more publications and bonus materials that can be viewed and printed for free on their website. These activity sheets and reflection pages are great ways for the young and young at heart to learn their Catholic faith.

Since the YouCat wasn’t around for my teen years, I relied on the “In Brief” sections of the Catechism as I began reading the text for myself. Another way to make the extensive content more approachable, the “In Brief” sections provide a summary of the content presented in a given section. Spanning between a half page to two pages, nothing new is introduced in these paragraphs. Instead, it provides essential points to the doctrine that prior pages expounded on.

If you’re new to using the Catechism — or if you are a college freshman cramming for exams, and I know what that’s like — the “In Brief” sections provide a digestible summary. Bookmarking an “In Brief” section can also help high schoolers and anyone new to the Catechism get started. Also, reading the “In Brief” before you read the content it summarizes can be a useful strategy for study. 

As parents and adults in leadership, our example can also make the Catechism more approachable to younger Catholics in our lives. While there was once a time when I had several copies of the Catechism on my shelf at home and work, in this digital world, I often find myself just searching vatican.va or usccb.org because the online editions are quick and easy.

While there’s nothing wrong with that, if I want my kids to learn to use the Catechism, I have to model actually reading it myself! As I’ve unpacked the Catechism this year I’ve been intentional about reading the physical book, and not just a website, in front of my kids so they know this analog source exists in an increasingly digital world.

There are many strategies for integrating the Catechism of the Catholic Church into the lives of young people and new Catholics. The YouCat resources and “In Brief” sections are just a few ways to help make this important text more approachable, and you just might learn more about your faith, too.

Learn more 

To purchase copies of the YouCat, download the app, find resources, books and more, visit youcat.org. Free downloads and activities are available at youcat.org/bonus-material.