DOCTRINE
80
DOCTRINE
Appendix of the Fall of Man and Justification. Trans-
lated into English [by Fr. Garnet?] at St. Omers for
John Heigham. With permission of Superiors: 1622";
"A Catechisme of Christian Doctrine in fifteen Con-
ferences. Paris: 1637", 2nd ed., 1659. The author
was Thomas White, alias Blacklow, of Lisbon and
Douai. The most important, however, was the book
which came to be known as "The Doway Catechism",
"An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine with proofs
of Scripture for points controverted. Cateehistically
explained by way of question and answer", printed at
Douai, 1st ed., 1649; again 1661, and so constantly.
The last editions mentioned by Gillow are London,
1793, and Dublin, 1S28; the author was Henry Tur-
berville, a Douai priest. There was also a smaller edi-
tion, "An Abstract of the Douay Catechism. For the
use of children and ignorant people. London, printed
in the year 1688"; it was reprinted many times, and
continued in use until the Douai students came to Eng-
land. In 1625, the Franciscan Florence O'Conrj' pub-
lished an Irish catechism at Louvain, entitled "Mirror
of a Christian Life". This, like the catechisms of
O'Hussey (Louvain, 1608) and Stapleton (Brussels,
1639), was written for the benefit of the Irish troops
serving in the Netherlands. In the same century an-
other member of the Franciscan order. Father Francis
Molloy, a native of the County Meath, Ireland, and at
the time professor of theology in St. Isidore's College,
Rome, published a catechism in Irish under the title
" Lucerna Fidelium" (Rome, Propaganda Press, 1676).
We should also mention Andrew Donlevy's "The
Catechism or Christian Doctrine by way of question
and answer. Paris, 1742". This was in English and
Irish on opposite pages. "The Poor Man's Catechism
or the Christian Doctrine e.xplained with short ad-
monitions", 1st ed., 1752; it was edited by the Rev.
George Bishop. The author's name does not appear,
but a later work tells who he was: "The Poor Man's
Controversy, By J. Mannock, O. S. B., the author of
the Poor Man's Catechism, 1769." Dr. James Butler
Archbishop of Cashel, published his catechism in 1775,
and it was soon adopted by many Irish bishops for
their dioceses. An account of it was given by Arch-
bishop Walsh in the " Irish Eccl. Record ", Jan., 1892.
In 1737 Bishop Challoner published "The Catholic
Christian instructed in the Sacraments, Sacrifice, Cere-
monies, and Observances of the Church by way of
question and answer. By R. C. London 1737."
There is also "An Abridgement of Christian Doctrine
with a short Daily E.xercise", "corrected by the late
Bp. Challoner", 1783. Bishop Hay's admirable works:
"The Sincere Christian instructed in the Faith of
Christ from the Written Word" (1781) ; "The Devout
Christian instructed in the Faith of Christ" (1783);
and "The Pious Christian" are catechisms on a large
scale in the form of question and answer.
During the eighteenth century catechetical instruc- tion received a fresh impul.se from Pope Benedict XIII, who issued (1725) three ordinances prescribing in de- tail the methods: division into small classes and special preparation for confession and Communion. Against the rationalistic tendencies in the pedagogical move- ment of the century, Clement XIII uttered a protest in 1761. Pius VI wrote (1787) to the Orientals, pro- posing for their use a catechism in Arabic prepared by the Propaganda. In Germany the "Pa,storal Instruc- tion" issued by Raymond .^nton, Bishop of Eichstadt (1768; new ed., Freiburg. 1902) empha.sized the need and indicated the method of instruction (Tit. XIV, Cap. V). Prominent among the writers on the subject were Franz Neumayr, S. J., in his "Rhetorica cate- chetica" (1766); M. I. Schmidt, "Katechisten", and J. I. von Felbiger, "Vorlesungen iiber die Kunst zu katechisieren" (Vienna, 1774). In France, duringthe same century, great activity was shown, especially by the bishops, in publishing catechisms. Each diocese had its own textbook, but though occasional attempts
were made at uniformity, they were not successful.
Several catechisms composed by individual writers
other than the bishops were put on the Index (see
Migne, "Cat^chismes", Paris, 1842). The French orig-
inal of "An Abridgment of the Quebec Catechism"
(Quebec, 1817) appeared in Paris (1702) and Quebec
(1782).
The pedagogical activity of the nineteenth century naturally e.xerted an influence upon religious instruc- tion. German writers of the first rank were Overberg (d. 1826), Sailer (d. 18.32), Gruber (d. 1835), and Hirscher (d. 1865), all of whom advocated the psycho- logical method and the careful preparation of teachers. Deharbe's "Catechism" (1847) was translated be- tween 1853 and 1860 into thirteen languages, and his "Erklarungen des Katechismus" (1857-61) has passed through numerous editions. In France, Napoleon (1806) imposed upon all the churches of the empire uniformity in the matter of catechisms and, in spite of the opposition of Pius VII, published the " Imperial Catechism ", containing achapteron duties towardsthe emperor. This was replaced after the fall of the empire by a large number of diocesan catechisms which again led to various plans for securing uniformity. Dupan- loup, one of the foremost writers on education, published his "Catechisme Chretien" in 1865. At the time of the Vatican Council (1869-1870) the question of having a single universal catechism was discussed. There was great diversity of opinion among the Fathers, and consequently the discussion led to no result (see Martin, "Les travaux du concile du Vatican", pp. 113-115). The arguments for and against the project will be examined when we come to speak of catechisms in the third part of this article. The most important event in the recent history of catechetics has been the publication of the Encyclical "Acerbo nimis" on the teaching of Christian doctrine (15 April, 1905). In this document Pius X attributes the present relig- ious crisis to the widespread ignorance of Divine truth, and lays down strict regulations concerning the duty of catechizing (see below). For the purpose of discuss- ing the best methods of carrying out these orders a number of catechetical congresses have been held: e. g., at Munich, 1905 and 1907; Vienna, 1905 and 1908; Salzburg, 1906; Lucerne, 1907; Paris, 1908, etc. At these gatherings scientific, yet practical, lectures were delivered, demonstrations were given of actual catechizing in school, and an interesting featurewas the exhibition of the best literature and appliances. Two periodicals have likewise appeared: "Kateche- tische Blatter" (Munich) and " Christlich-padago- gische Blatter" (Vienna).
In the United States, the few priests who in the early days toiled in this vast field were so overburdened with work that they could not produce original text- books for religious instruction; they caused to be re- printed, with slight alterations, books commonly used in Europe. Others were composed in the manner de- scribed by Dr. England, first Bishop of Charleston, who, in 1821, published a catechism which, he writes, "I had much labor in compiling from various others, and adding several parts which I considered necessary to be explicitly dwelt upon under the peculiar circum- stances of njy diocese." The first to edit a catechism, so far as is known, was the Jesuit Father Robert Molyneux, an Englishman by birth and a man of ex- tensive learning, who, till 1809, laboiu-ed among the Catholics in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Copies of this work are not known to exist now, but, in letters to Bishop Carroll, Father Molyneux mentions two catechisms which he issued — one in 1785, "a spelling primer for children with a Catholic catechism an- nexed". In 1788 a catechism was published in New York which in all likelihood was a reprint of "Butler's Catechism "mentioned above. Bishop Hay's " .Abridge- ment of Christian Doctrine" (152 pp.) appeared in Philadelphia in 1800; another edition (143 pp.) in 1803,
