How to use the YOUCAT STUDY GROUP

What’s the purpose of a study group?

Who can lead a group?

Who can participate?

How do we have discussions in a study group?

Who has access to the discussions?

What if we do not find answers to certain questions?

How to find a group to join?

Do I need a YOUCAT to join the study group?

How much time will it take to participate in a study group?

Question of the Month

August 01, 2012

279

Why do we need faith and the sacraments in order to live a good, upright life?

If we were to rely only on ourselves and our own strength, we would not get far in our attempts to be good. Through faith we discover that we are God's children and that God makes us strong. When God gives us his strength, we call this ?grace?. Especially in the sacred signs that we call the sacraments, God gives us the ability actually to do the good that we want to do. [1691-1695] Since God saw our misery, he "delivered us from the dominion of darkness" (Col 1:13) through his Son, Jesus Christ. He granted us the opportunity to make a new start in fellowship with him and to walk the path of love.

Question of the Month -July 01, 2012

265

Are all people called to marriage?

 

Not everyone is called to marriage. Even people who live alone can have fulfillment in life. To many of them Jesus shows a special way; he invites them to remain unmarried “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:12). [1618–1620]         Many people who live alone suffer from loneliness, which they perceive only as a lack and a disadvantage. Yet a person who does not have to care for a spouse or a family also enjoys freedom and independence and has time to do meaningful and important things that a married person would never get to. Maybe it is God’s will that he should care for people for whom no one else cares. Not uncommonly God even calls such a person to be especially close to him. This is the case when one senses a desire to renounce marriage “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”. Of course a Christian vocation can never mean despising marriage or sexuality. Voluntary celibacy can be practiced only in love and out of love, as a powerful sign that God is
more important than anything else. The unmarried person renounces a sexual relationship but not love; full of longing he goes out to meet Christ the bridegroom who is coming (Mt 25:6).

YOUCAT Becomes World’s Best-selling Catholic Book

Rome, April 22, 2012 (Vatican Radio) 

The young people’s catechism of the Catholic Church, titled YOUCAT, has reached the rank of the best-selling Catholic book in the world. The catechism was launched at World Youth Day held in the Spanish capital Madrid in 2011.

The Ignatius Press published the English-language version. Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, editor of Ignatius, referred to YOUCAT’s unique role saying: “Like its big brother, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, YOUCAT isn’t a one-time publication. It’s a point of reference for young people around the world and a cornerstone of the New Evangelization.”

YOUCAT adapts the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a format intended to engage young people and young adults. The format includes questions and answers, highly-readable commentary, margin photos and illustrations, summary definitions of key terms, Bible citations and quotes from the saints and other teachers. Over a million copies have been sold around the globe.

YOUCAT has an Indian edition published and distributed by the Asian Trading Corporation based in Bangalore.

Question of the Month - June

Every month we feature a YOUCAT question on this page. Post your thoughts, opinions and questions below!

Question of the Month

What does the Holy Spirit do in my life?

The Holy Spirit makes me receptive to God; he teaches me to pray and helps me to be there for others. [738–741]    

Augustine calls the Holy Spirit “The quiet guest of our soul”. Anyone who wants to sense his presence must be quiet. Often this Guest speaks very softly within us and with us, for instance, in the voice of our conscience or through other interior and exterior
promptings. Being a “temple of the Holy Spirit” means being there, body and soul, for this Guest, for God in us. Our body is therefore God’s living room, so to speak.
The more receptive we are to the Holy Spirit in us, the more he becomes the master of our life, the sooner he will bestow on us even today his charisms for the upbuilding of the Church. And so, instead of the works of the flesh, the fruits of the Spirit grow in us.       

Question of the Month

May 13, 2012

124

Why is the Church more than an institution?

The Church is more than an institution because she is a mystery that is simultaneously human and divine. [770–773, 779]  
True love does not blind a person but rather makes him see. With regard to the Church, this is precisely the case: Viewed from outside, the Church is only a historical institution with historical achievements, but also mistakes and even crimes—a Church of sinners. But that is not looking deep enough. After all, Christ became so involved with us sinners that he never abandons his Church, even if we were to betray him daily. This inseparable union of the human and the divine, of sin and grace, is the mystery of the Church. Seen with the eyes of faith, the Church is therefore indestructibly holy.

Question of the Month

Every month we feature a YOUCAT question on this page. Post your thoughts, opinions and questions below!

Question of the Month

March 23, 2012

98

Did God will the death of his only Son?

The violent death of Jesus did not come about through tragic external circumstances. Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). So that we children of sin and death might have life, the Father in heaven “made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Cor 5:21). The magnitude of the sacrifice that God the Father asked of his Son, corresponded to the of Christ’s obedience: “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? no, for this purpose I have come to this hour” (Jn 12:27). On both sides,God's love for men proved itself to the very end on the Cross. [599–609, 620]  
In order to save us from death, god embarked on a dangerous mission: He introduced a “medicine of immortality” (st. Ignatius of Antioch) into our world of death—his son Jesus Christ. The Father and the son were inseparable in this mission, willing and yearning to take the utmost upon themselves out of love for man. god willed to make an exchange so as to save us forever. He wanted to give us his eternal life, so that we might experience his joy, and wanted to suffer our death, our despair, our abandonment, our death, so as to share with us in everything. so as to love us to the end and beyond. Christ’s death is the will of the Father but not his final word. since Christ died for us, we can exchange our death for his life.

YOUCAT around the World

YOUCAT is spreading all over the world! It is currently being translated into twenty languages and has already been released in more than ten! If you click on a continent you can find information about languages, countries and dissemination of YOUCAT in this region.

South-East Asia

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	English: Ignatius Press	March 2011	www.ignatius.com
	India (English): Asian Trading Corporation, Bangalore		www.atcbooks.in
	Indonesisch: Kanisius Printing & Publishing		www.kanisiusmedia.com

Australia / Oceania

Logo	Publisher	Available online (scheduled)	Find out more on
	Indonesisch: Kanisius Printing & Publishing		www.kanisiusmedia.com
	English: Ignatius Press		www.ignatius.com

Asia

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	Englisch: Ignatius Press	März 2011	www.ignatius.com
	RUSSIAN Издательство Францисканцев (Izdatelstvo Franziskacev)	August 2011	www.francis.ru/editrice

Africa

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	Englisch: Ignatius Press	March 2011	www.ignatius.com
	Französisch: Éditions du Cerf	27.05.2011	www.editionsducerf.fr
	Niederländisch: Lannoo Uitgeverij		www.lannoo.be

Northern America

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	Englisch: Ignatius Press	March 2011	www.ignatius.com
	Französisch: Bayard Presse	27.05.2011	www.groupebayard.com/fr
	Spanisch: Ediciones Encuentro	26.06.2011	www.ediciones-encuentro.es/

Central- & South America

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	Spanisch: Ediciones Encuentro	August 2011	www.ediciones-encuentro.es/
	Portugiesisch: Paulus Editora	August 2011	www.paulus.pt

Europe

Logo	Publisher	Available on	Find out more on
	Deutsch: Pattloch Verlag	25.03.2011	www.pattloch.de
	Tschechisch, Slowakisch: Karmelitanske Nakladatelstvi	30.04.2011	www.kna.cz/
	Französisch: Editions du Cerf	27.05.2011	www.editionsducerf.fr
	Niederländisch: Lannoo Uitgeverij		www.lannoo.be
	Portugiesisch: Paulus Editora	30.04.2011	www.paulus.pt
	Englisch: Ignatius Press	March 2011	www.ignatius.com
	Slowenisch: Slomskova Druzba	01.07.2011	druzba.slomsek.net
	Kroatisch: Verbum	30.04.2011	www.verbum.hr
	Ukrainisch: Fr. Rostyslav Pendyuk Commission of the UGCC on Matters of Youth
	Litauisch: UAB Kataliku pasaulio lediniai		www.katalikuleidiniai.lt
	Dänisch: Ansgarstiftelens forlag
	Polnisch: Edycia Swietego Pawla	01.06.2011	www.edycja.pl
	Spanisch: Ediciones Encuentro	26.06.2011	www.ediciones-encuentro.es/
	Italienisch: Editrice Citta Nuova	15.04.2011	www.cittanuova.it
	Schwedisch: Catholica AB		www.bokus.com
	Norwegisch: St. Olav Publishing House
	Katalanisch: Editorial Claret	August 2011	www.claret.cat
	Rumänisch: Episcopia Romano-Catolica		www.ercis.ro

YOUCAT Materials

Cardinal Schönborn said:

"The ability to give answers to questions regarding one’s own faith has become much more urgent now than in my generation. In the Catechism, which is simply an attempt to present the Catholic Faith, there may be much that people will have difficulty to accept. Some things will seem foreign or contradictory to the way we think today.
But I think that one of the most important tasks of such a book and the work related to it is learning to deal with challenging topics."

Faith needs community. The YOUCAT was developed through a joint effort and it should also promote and encourage community. If a community wants to be more than a social gathering, if it wants to be a community of faith, then it needs a common basis. Read and study YOUCAT together!
Study groups also exist on Facebook! Get involved!
YOUCAT fits well into youth groups, summer camps and confirmation classes!
YOUCAT is ideal for religion classes and Sunday schools!

YOUCAT Quiz

Please Click below link to view the Quiz material.

Quiz

YOUCAT photography contest

YOUCAT photography contest: "The Universal Church"

We asked you: What does the term "universal church" mean to you? How did you experience the universal church at World Youth Day?
Our jury had to made some tough decisions, but now proudly can announce: Ladies and Gentelmen, these are the winners of our first photo contest:

1st  Glòria Sala

2nd  Thu Nguyen 3rd  Enmanuel Montero Fortunato

Illustrations

The entire YOUCAT is commented by illustrative stick figures. They lighten up the format and encourage each person to creatively reflect on his or her faith. They are a part of the identity of YOUCAT. A special highlight is the flipbook on the lower right corner. Have you tried it?