Background Information

The Catholic Church Catechism is an organized presentation of the essential teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to both faith and morals.

The creation of an official, authoritative, and authentic reference text for teaching and transmitting Catholic doctrine was not new, however. In 1566 the so-called Roman Catechism was published in response to the request issued three years earlier by the Council of Trent. Used until 1978, it inspired, as intended, the creation of many national catechisms.

Often these national catechisms were in a question-and-answer format, bringing to life the very meaning of the word catechism, derived from the Greek verb “to echo.” Students would, for centuries to come, repeat or echo the answers to the questions back to their teachers, who maybe hoped that the pupils would not only learn Catholic doctrine but echo the faith in their own lives.

Source: uscatholic.org