Restoring Congruence

The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults has been brought into congruence with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), in regards to the relationship with the Jewish people, as reported by the Catholic News Agency.

The CCC is the universal catechism of the Catholic Church, but each national conference is able to develop their own catechism for use in their country, as long as it is congruent with the CCC, and often fine tuning is required; as occurred with the CCC itself between the first edition in 1992 and the second (and authoritative) edition in 1997, though the first edition remains an excellent resource for study.

An excerpt from the article from Catholic News Agency.

“Washington D.C., Aug 28, 2009 / 06:19 am (CNA).- The Vatican has given a “recognitio” to a change in the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults which clarifies Catholic teaching about the Jews’ covenant with God, the U.S. bishops said.

“The first version of the catechism, in its discussion of God’s covenant with the Jews, said “Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them.”

“The revision reads “To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his Word, ‘belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ.’”

“Romans 9 and paragraph 839 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are cited in the revised passage.

“The Vatican’s “recognitio” is a statement that a document is in keeping with Catholic teaching. The change was approved at the U.S. bishops’ 2008 June meeting in Orlando, Florida.”