Which Baltimore catechism?

July 16, 2021 7:42 AM

I would like to figure out which edition or editions of the Baltimore catechism I was taught from as a child and purchase copies. Is there any kind of definitive list?

I was born in 1958 and was taught from the Baltimore Catechism starting probably in 1964. I want to buy copies of the editions from my childhood. I've been looking for editions on eBay, and it just seems like a confusing mess. A lot of the eBay editions don't even give a publication year. Googling is getting me only very general information. The version numbers I'm seeing seem to refer to different age groups, not editions. The versions I was taught from were solid blue paperbacks, and I'm not seeing anything like that at all.
Really hoping the librarians/book nerds of MeFi can help with this one.

posted by FencingGal to Religion & Philosophy (3 answers total)

1962 edition?
posted by Wavelet at 7:51 AM on July 16, 2021

If you posted to freecycle or a local Buy Nothing group, someone might have one.
posted by theora55 at 8:38 AM on July 16, 2021

"Later in the twentieth century the United States bishops decided to update the Baltimore Catechism. During the process they were determined to address the handful of criticisms that scholars had raised against the original. For example, the 1885 version was primarily written by one man, Fr. De Concilio. So the revised edition involved hundreds of theologians, scholars and teachers. The original was primarily written in ten days while the revised versions took years, in a long process of review and editing. Whereas Fr. De Concilio crafted one text which he intended for use by all schoolchildren, the revised text resulted not in one catechism, but a series of texts for different ages and grades....

"Volume 1 The 33 lessons contained in Baltimore Catechism No. 1 present the basics of the Catholic faith in a manner suitable for first communicants through fifth graders."
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:02 AM on July 20, 2021