thumb|Title page of a 1592 edition of the Roman Catechism

The Roman Catechism or Catechism of the Council of Trent is a compendium of Catholic doctrine commissioned during the Counter-Reformation by the Council of Trent, to expound doctrine and to improve the theological understanding of the clergy. It was published in 1566.

It differs from other summaries of Christian doctrine for the instruction of the people in that it is primarily intended for priests having care of souls (ad parochos). The need of a popular authoritative manual arose from a lack of systematic knowledge among pre-Reformation clergy and the concomitant neglect of religious instruction among the Catholic laity. The Council of Trent commissioned the first Church-wide Roman Catholic catechism. This catechism was directed to clergy. It included large parts of the Canisius catechisms, including his addition to the Hail Mary: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.200px|thumb|right|[[Milan's Archbishop Charles Borromeo (1538–1584), later canonized as a saint, suggested the Roman Catechism.]]The Fathers of the council said they wished "to apply a salutary remedy to this great and pernicious evil, and thinking that the definition of the principal Catholic doctrines was not enough for the purpose, resolved also to publish a formulary and method for teaching the rudiments of the faith, to be used by all legitimate pastors and teachers" (Cat. praef., vii). This resolution was taken in the eighteenth session (26 February 1562) on the suggestion of Charles Borromeo; who was then giving full scope to his zeal for the reformation of the clergy. Pius IV entrusted the composition of the Catechism to four distinguished theologians:

The bishops urged in every way the use of the new Catechism; they enjoined its frequent reading, so that all its contents would be committed to memory; they exhorted the priests to discuss parts of it at their meetings, and insisted upon its being used for instructing the people.

George Eder, in 1569, arranged the Catechism for the use of schools. He distributed the main doctrines into sections and subsections and added perspicuous tables of contents. This work bears the title: "Methodus Catechismi Catholici".

The next English translation is by Jeremy Donovan, a professor at Maynooth, published by Richard Coyne, Capel Street, Dublin, and by Keating & Brown, London, and printed for the translator by W. Folds & Son, Great Shand Street, 1829. An American edition appeared in the same year. Donovan's translation was reprinted at Rome by the Propaganda Press, in two volumes in 1839; it is dedicated to Cardinal Fransoni and signed "Jeremias Donovan, sacerdos hibernus, cubicularius Gregorii XVI, P. M." There is another English translation by T. A. Buckley of Christ Church, Oxford (London, 1852), which is more elegant than Donovan's and has notes and glosses giving historical and doctrinal background information. The first German translation, by Paul Hoffaeus, is dated Dillingen, 1568.

Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh published a new English translation in 1923. Some reviewers praised the translation as "well done" and "clear and elegant," and also praised Callan and McHugh's new division of the text into sections and their addition of footnotes referring to sources such as St. Thomas, St. Alphonsus, and the Code of Canon Law. Another reviewer praised the book's clear printing, but suggested that the section divisions made by the translators were not always fitting and faulted the translation for "defects and mistakes which make us regret that sufficient care was not given to produce a definitive English translation of this great and important work."

References

Further reading

  • Gerhard J. Bellinger, Bibliographie des Catechismus Romanus: Ex Decreto Concilii Tridentini ad Parochos 1566–1978. Baden-Baden,1983 ()
  • Council of Trent: Catechism for Parish Priests (1923) - English translation - Internet Modern History Sourcebook
  • Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests (1923) - English translation - HathiTrust
  • The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1829) - English translation - Internet Archive
  • The Catechism of the Council of Trent, translated into English with notes by Theodore Alois Buckley, London: George Routledge and Co., 1851 - English translation - Google Books