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The
Cathedral as a Catechism
This
section of our website was started in response
to requests from several pastors of the
Archdiocese of Baltimore who bring their
RCIA classes to the Cathedral to enhance
their education of the Catholic faith. The
art and architecture of the church building
were designed to be instructional, and "field
trips" to our cathedral add a rich
element to the learning process. Everywhere
one looks, there is something that can be
discovered, no matter how long you've been
active in the Catholic faith.
Throughout
the history of the Catholic Church, cathedrals
were built not only to be places of worship,
but also places of learning. Since the people
were generally illiterate and couldn't read
books and manuscripts, they "read"
their catechetical lessons in the pictures
of the stained glass windows, the statues,
the shape of the structure, etc.
Today,
we do not have an illiterate society, but
the art and architecture of the Church can
still be very educational. They illustrate
the books we read. The unique design of
the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen makes for
very interesting and informative teachings.
It is probably the last cathedral constructed
in the USA with this educational function
built into its walls and windows.
The
Baltimore Catechism: A brief history
Since
the earliest days of the Church, catechetical
writings have given permanence to the doctrines
there were being taught orally.
The
invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s
helped to renew interest in catechetical
instruction. A century later, the Protestant
Reformation brought into sharp focus how
poorly people had been educated in the faith.
A couple of popes had tried to reform the
Church from its erring ways, to no avail,
until the problems led to the loss of a
lot of members to "protest-ant"
adaptations of the faith. In response, the
Council of Trent was formed. Out of this
came the Roman Catechism of 1566.
Not a catechism in the ordinary sense, it
was written to teach the clergy how to accurately
explain the faith to the laity. Using this
book, the Church then produced smaller catechisms
for the religious education of adults and
children suited to their own cultures and
needs.
During
the founding days of what would become the
United States, priests had no time to write
new catechisms, so they adapted European
ones for the local culture. Then in the
late 1700s, A Short Abridgement of Christian
Doctrine, Newly Revised for the Use of the
Catholic Church in the United States of
America was printed. Its various editions
contained only the most basic essentials
of the faith, 36 to 48 pages. In 1821, the
first Bishop of Charleston published a larger
American catechism. Others popped up around
the country.
The
young Church in America now needed a standardized
textbook of Christian Doctrine that would
be used by all U.S. Catholics.  In
1829, the bishops came together for the
First Provincial Council of Baltimore. There
they decreed: "A catechism shall be
written which is better adapted to the circumstances
of this Province...."
In
1885, a committee of six bishops produced
A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Prepared
and Enjoined by Order of the Third Council
of Baltimore, now better known as The
Baltimore Catechism. It was a question-and-answer
summary of the Roman Catechism for
the American culture.
During
Vatican Council II, a call went out to produce
a complete, universal catechism in order
to provide uniformity throughout the whole,
global Church. Not since the Roman Catechism
had this been done. In 1992, on the 30th
anniversary of the opening of the Second
Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II announced
the completion of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church. From this, the Visual
Catechism of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
gets its voice. And from the stained glass
windows and other art of the cathedral,
the teachings of the Catholic Church get
their visual appearance.
Visit
the questions now.
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