Reddit mentions of Youcat: Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church

I too grew up (80s, 90s) with some pretty lousy CCD; it was a little better after switching to a Catholic high school, but I still went into college with surprisingly little knowledge about the content of Catholic doctrine.

In trying to rectify the current crisis in catechesis, I've seen plenty of people advocate for a return to pre-Vatican II CCD, i.e. the Baltimore Catechism for children and even dogmatic manuals (e.g. Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Dogma) for adults. After all, such sources are chock full of content, which is precisely what has been missing in much of the empty catechesis that has been going on for the past few decades.

However, I'd strongly advise against reverting to these sources. While they may have plenty of content, it's content that misses out on many of the wonderful developments and insights at and since Vatican II. E.g., they treat "revelation" as a propositional body of truths, rather than more fundamentally as God's relational self-disclosure to us (cf. Dei Verbum). It's for reasons like this that an entire generation of the 20th century's greatest theologians (e.g. Ratzinger, de Lubac, Rahner, von Balthasar) had major reservations about the manual-style theology that produced the Baltimore Catechism, etc.

Thankfully, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was a big step in communicating content of the Catholic tradition in a non-manualist sort of way, taking into account many of the rich developments which occurred at and after Vatican II. However, it's so voluminous that using it as a "textbook" for catechesis, even for adults, is pretty impractical.

I'd steer you toward using Card. Schönborn's YouCat, a simplified youth catechism based on the CCC, as a textual resource for teaching CCD. It has many of the advantages of the Baltimore Catechism (succinctness, Q&A format, content!) without the outmoded theology.

TL;DR - As far as textual resources for catechesis, rather the trying to slog through the voluminous CCC or reverting to the (clear but outdated) Baltimore Catechism, look into using YouCat.

A few resources for you:

How to be Christian is a bible-based YouTube channel that goes through scripture systematically. I think you would like it.

Catholic.com is a resource with all sorts of questions, including citations to the early church fathers. They have a 2-hour radio show every weekday just answering everyone's questions. They stream it on facebook and on YouTube (Here's their YouTube Channel), and many of their old shows stretching back to the 2000s are either on their website or on YouTube.


Edit: I forgot about the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is available for FREE online (linked). It's like the biggest teaching document of the Catholic Church (aside from the bible) and it's a great resource. I'd recommend it only a little bit at a time because it's so dense. There's also the Compendium of the Catechism (or the free, low-tech version) or the new Youth Catechism which are a little bit simpler, shorter, and easier to read.

The papal resource would be the Catechism, but that's a big book (though essential, and available online.)

The official TL;DR for the Catechism is the Compendium of the Catechism (online but also available in hard copy)

The TL;DR for the Compendium is the YouCat

(edit) You could also try the Missionary's Catechism. I recently heard a homily from a former military chaplain who used this to catechize his flock of Devil Dogs.

YouCat (edit: or Missionary's Catechism) too long? Try a book like Outlines of the Catholic Faith - only 84 pages excluding endnotes and index. Once you orient yourself with a book like this, you can start filling in using the more complete resources.

Best thing to do:

Speak to a priest at a local Roman Catholic Church.

Highly recommend reading:

• Lee Strobels A Case For Faith, Case For Creator and A Case For Christ
  
• To get a brief idea of what the Catholic Faith believes in...the YouCat.
  
  I say talk to a priest first though :)

I read Rome Sweet Home by Scott & Kimberly Hahn and I thought it was a very good tale of conversion. There's a bit of light apologetics throughout and it was compelling enough for me to finish it in a day. (I hardly read.)

Next up on my list are The Lamb's Supper by Hahn, The Love Chapter: The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 by St. John Chrysostom, and An Exorcist Tells His Story by Fr. Gabrielle Amorth, exorcist of the Vatican.

If you know any young people, the YOUCAT is an invaluable resource if they don't want to sit through the entire Catechism. Of course you want to eventually point them to it but I find, at 22, it's more suited to me poor attention span.

Canticle for Leibowitz is my favourite Catholic fiction but that doesn't mean much because I haven't read anything else. If you're looking for a good Catholic writer, I hear Flannery O'Connor is one. Of course Tolkien is a giant as is Chesterton (literally).

I have a couple of book recommendations, which may or may not be too long for you. They're both clearly written and easy to understand.
Both follow the general structure of the Catechism. You can read them through, or choose to read or skip over topics depending on your interest. The first is only half the size of the second, and is probably a better one to start with.

A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic's Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe - by Joe Paprocki.


YouCat by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn

A nice small volume is the Youth Catechism (YOUCAT). It's really directed to young adults, so maybe too young depending on your preference or learning style.

If you're OK with a little more depth, but still very high-level, try the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Best part about this book is its Q&A format. Of course, you may need to do deeper diving as you'd like, but this is great for reacquainting yourself with the basic questions and teachings! The Compendium is also available free online, but the book is pretty cheap and easier on the eyes than the Vatican website.

Welcome home! Good luck with your recovery!

You can't go wrong by going through YouCat with them (The Youth Catechism which got thumbs up from Pope Benedict) https://www.amazon.com/Youcat-Cardinal-Christoph-Schonborn-editor/dp/1586175165

It's hard to comprehend how much God loves us. He can do nothing but love us. A mother's love is the closest you could get to understanding the amount of love God has for us. Still some mothers can abandon their children but Jesus said "Even if your mother forgets her son, I would not forget you". I am definitely not an example and most Christians are not. If you are able to keep God's will as your main goal and love others with the love God has given you, you would probably become a saint. All these questions were answered by reading a book I received from my teacher called Youcat. It has around 500 questions that most people have like - why does God allow evil? why is the Genesis so innacurate? what do childless couples do? etc. It will take very long to explain so I'll link a copy that you can buy https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1586175165/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521260398&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=youcat&dpPl=1&dpID=31ybs9z9ZDL&ref=plSrch
I really want to thank you for letting me vent some things I keep thinking about all the time.

It's not a website, but I recommend forking out the $15 bucks for the Youcat or asking a parish for one.

It is not my #1 favorite resource for all things Catholic, but it makes very complex mysteries palatable in a fairly decent way. I used it for part of my RCIA lessons at one point.

Youcat: Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church and YOUCAT Bible It's filled with engaging photos, clever and fun illustrations, insightful sidebar quotes from great thinkers, Catholic saints and leaders, past and present, and young people living their faith today. It includes helpful introductions to the books of the Bible and short, easy-to-understand commentaries by some of today's top Bible teachers.