Pope on new catechism for the young
Sandro Magister reports on a new catechism for young people: A Book in the Backpack. With the Pope's Autograph. He also gives an English translation of the preface to "You Cat" written by Pope Benedict. He says to young people:
The Holy Father encourages young people to have the same level of commitment to knowledge of their faith as they have to knowledge and expertise in other areas:
This supplement to the catechism does not flatter you; it does not offer easy solutions; it demands a new life on your part; it presents you with the message of the Gospel like the "pearl of great price" (Matthew 13:45) for which everything must be given. And so I ask you: study the catechism with passion and perseverance! Sacrifice your time for this! Study it in the silence of your room, read it with someone else, if you are friends, form groups and study networks, exchange ideas on the internet. In whatever way, remain in dialogue on your faith!To be honest, the title "You Cat" could be off-putting to some serious young people but I hope that the content will dispel any initial impressions that it might be a dumbed-down youth book.
The Holy Father encourages young people to have the same level of commitment to knowledge of their faith as they have to knowledge and expertise in other areas:
You must know what you believe; you must know your faith with the same precision with which a programming specialist knows the operating system of a computer; you must know it like a musician knows his piece.I look forward to seeing "You Cat" and hope that it will be another help in the recovery of some of our young people for the faith.