By Maria Francis

Bengaluru, Jan 24, 2020: The first time I heard about the YOUCAT was when some of my youth group friends came back from World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, in 2011.

YOUCAT stands for Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. As a book, it is a manual of faith that speaks the language of the youth.

It is a youthful version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church released in different languages in 2011 for adolescents and young people. The most important contents of the faith are summarized in it briefly and comprehensibly in the format of questions and answers.

It was approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome and officially published by the Austrian Bishops’ Conference. With more than 5 million sold copies, it is one of the best-selling Catholic books in the world.

YOUCAT is not just a book and it has become a community. It is a tool to enlighten young in the beauty of the Catholic faith and the truth of the gospel.

Using this tool, members of YOUCAT make it more than just a book but rather a way of life.

Pope Benedict XVI personally endorsed the book as a tool for evangelization among youth.

Our co-coordinator wanted us to do a YOUCAT study program where young people would study the catechism every Saturday.

I was a bit skeptical about it at first thinking we had all received catechism during our childhood and this was going to be a repetition. But I was blown away by what followed.

Most of us, Catholics, have a lot of blind spots when it comes to the church’s teachings. These grey areas soon sift us as we progress in life.

I for once believed it was right to abort a child conceived with disability but after studying the YOUCAT, I know now that God has a plan for such children and we do not have the right to play God in their lives.

The foreword by Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of the book is a must-read.

He says, “You need to know the faith better than the generation of your parents and you need God’s help if your faith is not going to dry up like a dewdrop in the sun. Evil has penetrated the heart of the church but do not make this an excuse to flee from the face of God.”

As we were running the study, the numbers in our group started increasing. It was clear the undiluted version of the gospel had many takers!
I had the privilege of working with a small team to make games, spiritual exercises and a Mobile App to be used in our study group.

Our YOUCAT publisher in India, (ATC publishers) who is translating the YOUCAT to 14 Indian languages, then introduced me to the YOUCAT headquarters in Germany.

I was invited by them to participate in the YOUDEPRO (Youcat Development Project) with five other young people from different countries.

Together we made tools for the new evangelization which is being used by young people all over the world.

The experience in Germany was amazing because I discovered other YOUCAT missionaries who were all young people working zealously for the church.

The YOUCAT is perhaps the only ministry which is spearheaded completely by young people.

Today we are collaborating with the YOUCAT headquarters to open a YOUCAT center in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka, South India.

We desire to reach out to remote areas in India where there is a lack of catechism teachers and good tools to teach the catechism interactively.

We already have a priest Fr. Alvin Mundackal from Kothamangalam, Kerala, South India. He heads the social media mission for YOUCAT India.

One can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We hope and pray soon our children will solve critical problems in society taking inspiration from church teachings!

YOUCAT resources are available at www.youcat.org

On can also download the free YOUCAT and Docat study guides and also the Youcat Daily app from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.docatapp&hl=en

(Maria Francis is YOUCAT missionary, and a software engineer).