Ever since its first publication in 2011, each pope has provided a preface and recommendation to youth in a book of the YOUCAT series.
When St. John Paul II published the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, the faithful were given an incredible gift: Delving into the history and teaching of the Church suddenly became much easier.
Since then, the Catechism, of the CCC as it's commonly referred to, has been the source book for a variety of initiatives. One of those is the YOUCAT, or Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. This series of books aims to make the teachings of the Church found in the CCC more available to youth, through language and imagery that is focused on young people.
What initially began as a single book that provided a synthesis of the original Catechism of the Catholic Church, has grown to become a series of books.
Interestingly, the recent popes have supported this goal with a series of prefaces to the books.
YOUCAT - preface by Pope Benedict XVI
Published in 2011, the first book in the series, simply named, "YOUCAT," was recommended by Pope Benedict XVI. He wrote a preface to the youth catechism that gave young people a little glimpse into the creation of the original Catechism, which he helped develop:
I was frightened by this task, and I must confess that I doubted that such a thing could succeed. How could it be that authors who are spread around the whole world could produce a legible book? How could men who live in different continents, and not only from the geographical but also from the intellectual and cultural point of view, produce a text with an internal and comprehensible unity in all the continents?
Pope Benedict XVI then encouraged young people to study the Catechism and to dig deep into their faith:
[S]tudy the catechism with passion and perseverance! Sacrifice your time for it! Study it in the silence of your room, read it together, if you are friends, form groups and study networks, exchange ideas on the Internet. In any case remain in dialogue on your faith! You must know what you believe; you must know your faith with the same precision with which a specialist in information technology knows the working system of a computer; you must know it as a musician knows his piece.
Y-Bible & DOCAT - prefaces by Pope Francis
After the success of the YOUCAT, a new book was published called "Y-Bible," and is described as, "Based on the popular Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition of the Ignatius Bible, the YOUCAT Bible carefully abridges the biblical text to help young people to follow the 'story' of the Bible."
It's not the entire Bible, but only the primary "story," along with "helpful introductions to the books of the Bible and short, easy-to-understand commentaries by some of today's top Bible teachers."
Pope Francis writes in his preface, "You are holding something divine in your hands … A book through which God speaks." Pope Francis encouraged youth to dive into Scripture with this book as an intro.
Additionally, another book entitled, "DOCAT," was published, which was written for young people, on the teaching of Jesus and the Church’s social doctrine.
Pope Francis wrote another preface for this book, saying, "Can we not do more to make this revolution of love and justice a reality in many parts of this tormented planet? The social doctrine of the Church can help so many people!"
Love Forever - preface by Pope Leo XIV
Most recently another book in the YOUCAT series was published, called "Love Forever." This new edition was developed by a YOUCAT team of married couples, priests, and theologians, to offer "profound insights and practical guidance on the path to lasting love."
Originally this book was accompanied by a preface written by Pope Francis, but a new edition that has not yet been released features a preface by Pope Leo XIV.
He explains to young people that, "When a man and a woman give themselves completely to one another in love, God comes alive in their midst. Their fidelity, their forgiveness, and their daily striving for the good are a reflection of Christʼs love for his Church."
The aim of the YOUCAT series is to inspire young people to stay rooted in the Catholic faith and to understand more fully why the Church teaches what she teaches.
