WASHINGTON — A national adult Catechism that has been in the works for three years could go before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for final approval as soon as November.

Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, who serves as chairman of the editorial oversight board for development of the national catechism, said the third and final draft of the text is to be evaluated at a three-day meeting in March, after which each bishop will be given a copy for review in preparation for the November assembly. Once approved by the bishops, the text would still have to receive a recognitio from the Vatican before it could be printed and distributed.

Based on and intended as a companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the national Catechism will adapt the larger text's teachings to the needs of American culture.

In the apostolic constitution issued with publication of the Catechism in 1992, Fidei Depositum, Pope John Paul II said, “[The Catechism] is meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and cultures while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to Catholic doctrine.”

Bishop Wuerl said in encouraging such local adaptations, the Holy Father was saying, “Take the faith and present it in a way that people in your area of pastoral concern will be invited into the mystery of faith.”

The U.S. national Catechism does that in part by engaging readers with a series of stories featuring American Catholics of note as well as biblical characters. It goes on to present major Catholic teachings and then elaborates on them by showing how some are being challenged by America's technologically advanced secular culture. The national Catechism also includes doctrinal summaries, questions that challenge readers to apply Catholic teachings to their lives and prayers.

Work on the U.S. national Catechism started in January 2001 with a consultation on its structure and outline. Writing began the following June; every bishop received the first draft in May 2002.

‘Modern Men’

Bishop Wuerl said response from the bishops so far has indicated overwhelming support for the text's structure and approach. Bishops also have praised the text as one that invites an exploration of the faith while serving as a source of information.

“That was the goal: to produce a book that was inviting, especially to young adults who were not all that familiar with their Catholic faith,” Bishop Wuerl said.

After the first consultation, some bishops said they wanted more doctrinal content, a concern that was addressed by adding doctrinal summaries in specific areas, Bishop Wuerl said. The second consultation resulted in a tightening of the text for consistency and the addition of more definitions.

Since then, the latest draft has received some criticism from outside the bishops’ conference, namely from Msgr. Michael Wrenn and Kenneth Whitehead, authors of the 1996 book, Flawed Expectations: The Reception of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Ignatius). Whitehead said in an interview that he and Msgr. Wrenn obtained a copy of the latest draft from a bishop who was concerned about some aspects of it.

Although the co-authors are generally upbeat about the most recent version, in a recent article in Catholic World Report they expressed concern about such elements as the use of several contemporary figures in the stories opening each section.

They question, for example, the appropriateness of using Thomas Merton, Cesar Chavez and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin as central figures for several of the stories.

“The Catechism is a permanent document of the Church and these men are very modern,” Whitehead said. “They may be important, but you have to give history time to judge that. We think it's very unwise to put very modern people who were controversial into a Catechism.”

Whitehead said a better choice for a contemporary cardinal to feature in one of the stories would have been Cardinal Terence Cooke, former archbishop of New York, whose cause for sainthood has already been introduced.

Bishop Wuerl said the bishops still are assessing questions that have come up in reference to specific people mentioned in the text.

He said the bishops did decide after the consultation on the first draft not to include any living authors except for Pope John Paul II. “There was sentiment that if they were alive, they shouldn't be quoted,” he said.

Answering Objections

As for the concerns Whitehead and Msgr. Wrenn raised about Father Merton, Chavez and Cardinal Bernardin, Bishop Wuerl said, “Ultimately that will be the bishops’ decision. We have to go through the text and see that there is continuity and that it is faithful to the teaching of the Church and that whoever and whatever we cite supports it.”

Whitehead and Msgr. Wrenn also thought the latest draft failed to address the question of homosexuality strongly enough, given that it has been a problem in the priest-hood and is thought to be related to the recent sexual-abuse scandal.

Whitehead said the draft states the doctrine of homosexuality correctly, “but it's not in any way emphasized and there is no way you could gather from the draft that this is a major problem in the United States.”

Furthermore, he said the national Catechism should have dealt with the questions of cloning, in vitro fertilization and sterilization. And, he said, the use of inclusive language in the draft is overbearing.

Bishop Wuerl said the bishops have decided not to address the sex-abuse scandal directly in the national Catechism. “That is very time-conditioned,” he said. ”I don't think 10 years from now people are going to be defining the Church in terms of the scandal.”

He said the board intends to present the moral doctrine of the Church clearly, unambiguously and in a way that responds to contemporary issues.

“I think the text addresses all of the major areas of moral concern today: dignity and respect for life, the value of human life,” he said. “And it also gets into the questions of all the issues that follow the Fifth Commandment and the Sixth. It gets into and does a very good job when it talks about adultery, fornication, pornography and homosexuality. It's very clear and it is certainly faithful to the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

Bishop Wuerl said the national Catechism likely will be presented attractively with text that is broken up by headings and pullouts. It is being written by members of the editorial oversight board that, in addition to Bishop Wuerl, includes Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco; Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.; Auxiliary Bishop Richard Malone of Boston; and Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles. Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Catechesis, is a consultant.

The group also has asked theologians and catechists to evaluate the text.

Bishop Wuerl said once the national Catechism is published, it will be up to bishops to promote it and make it a part of each diocese's catechetical programs.

Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.