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Catholic Answers - Basic Catholic Beliefs

The Catholic answers in the Baltimore Catechism are precise and concise. The Baltimore Catechism has been the standard Catholic catechism in the United States of America most of the years since 1885 and there are only a few answers that are different amongst various versions and they each have an Imprimatur. If you are new to the Catholic faith, or are teaching young children, and are looking for the best version, St. Anne's Helper has some suggestions that might spare you trouble in the future as you shop the Catholic book stores.

The Baltimore Catechism was designed to be "from" the Catechism of the Council of Trent, yet in a more memorizable format. There are many reprintings of the Baltimore Catechism and only some of them mark the revisions. The versions that are under the auspices of the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine - even as early as the 1930s have some differences, especially in the inclusions added between the actual questions and answers. In general, the Baltimore Catechism parallels the Penny Catechism in England and DeHarbe's Catechism in Germany (this latter has excellent Catholic answers). This page explains some of the differences that we have seen amongst some of the popular versions of the Baltimore Catechism and documents the several sources to the St. Anne's Helper First Communion and Confirmation audio catechism.

First Communion Audio Catechism

Most of the old Baltimore Catechism questions answer with very Catholic answers and concur with very little difference in the wording of the questions and answers in different versions or publications. Most of the Baltimore Catechism questions and answers in different publications teach the basic Catholic beliefs with very little difference in the wording of the answers.

Catholic answers are precise and concise. Yet, the Imprimatur and Nihil obstat are on several different versions of the answers to the very same questions in many catechisms even of the same series! Pope Saint Pius X warned of this sort of Imprimatur danger in his encyclical Pascendi, paragraph 51 as he quotes and comments on what Pope Leo XIII said: "Let the Ordinaries, acting in this also as Delegates of the Apostolic See, exert themselves to prescribe and to put out of reach of the faithful injurious books or other writings printed or circulated in their dioceses. In this passage the Bishops, it is true, receive a right, but they have also a duty imposed on them. Let no Bishop think that he fulfils this duty by denouncing to us one or two books, while a great many others of the same kind are being published and circulated. Nor are you to be deterred by the fact that a book has obtained the Imprimatur elsewhere, both because this may be merely simulated, and because it may have been granted through carelessness or easiness or excessive confidence in the author as may sometimes happen in religious Orders."

Further, amongst various Catholic catechisms, the copyright dates do not always indicate the new dates of publications that there have minor revisions or omissions, nor are they required to by law (which makes practical sense with most books); yet knowing this, it is still amazing to see the revisions and omissions in books that have all the same copyright information in the front pages, even as early as the 1930s and 1940s. We own catechisms of several versions of a very popular First Communion Catechism book where the tabernacle and Crucifix are gradually removed from beautiful pictures throughout twenty years.

The reason that we have started St. Anne's Helper was to help others have an easy way to learn the best answers to the Catholic catechism questions. Once one has compared several older books, one can see that the St. Anne's Helper's Audio Catechism teaches the basic Catholic beliefs as found in the Baltimore Catechism for children or any Catholic book about the Catholic Sacraments, Apostles' Creed, Creation, and the Catholic Ten Commandments. Yes, there is a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments. Most of this page explains some of the differences amongst the popular First Communion catechisms that are generally available at this time and shows where the St. Anne's Helper Catholic answers originate.

St. Anne's Helper recommends that any Catholic catechism for children have the added help of other Roman Catholic books for children that teach the Bible story and the lives of the saints. St. Anne's Helper Audio Catechism CDs and Catechism Copybooks are a God-send in that they offer catechists and parents help with the duty of memory work. We are so grateful to have the technology that make Catholic audio books and Catholic ebooks easy to provide!

What follows is our First Communion Catechism booklet recommendations and an explanation of important First Communion questions. Below these First Communion recommendations you may read our recommendations for the Confirmation preparation.

First Communion Catechism Catholic Answers

First Communion Catechism Audio Baltimore Catechism	First Holy Communion Catholic Worksheets
First Communion Catechism Book Jesus Comes	Baltimore Catechism No. 1
Catholic Childrens Bible	Roman Catholic Saints For Children
My First Communion Catechism For Children	Illustrated Catechism
My Mass Book	Childrens Catholic Missal
My See And Pray Missal	My Confession Book

Seton Home Study School's defends the Catholic answers in the Baltimore Catechism. Most of the Catholic homeschool curriculum providers recommend the Baltimore Catechism in some form or another including Our Lady of Victory School traditional Catholic home school, Mother of Divine Grace and Kolbe Academy.

See the opinion of the USCCB that many catechisms do not hand on the Faith.

It is important to find and teach the Catholic Ten Commandments since they are easily taught very early in a good Catholic catechism and are half the foundation of any catechism alongside the Apostles' Creed. It is important to use the best Catholic answers because it is against answers that reflect the truth that we base so many moral decisions in life, and it is upon good Catholic answers that we know and do the Will of God so as to attain Heaven. The Catholic Ten Commandments are also the standard by which to recognize other good Catholic books and to reject those books that should be discarded.

The reason that St. Anne's Helper chose these particular questions and answers is that they are the questions and answers that the priests and nuns required for our own children (see the audio catechism story here) as they prepared for the sacraments. As parents, we learned much more about the Catholic Faith while teaching these answers than we'd been previously taught precisely because these were such good Catholic answers. We appreciate books that teach by the straight and certain route without the searching that is so popular (or necessary) today.

We also wanted to help many souls find these Catholic answers because the more good Catholics that are formed by the basic Catholic beliefs, the easier it will be for us to be good Catholics ourselves, and thereby go to Heaven, too.

What follows is an explanation of St. Anne's inclusions in the First Holy Communion CD Audio Catechism Helper. Each answer has its source in the indicated catechism. The answers that differ betweenst versions of the Baltimore Catechism are explained, the rest are the same in most catechisms. Each has its Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, yet most of them come from the Our Holy Faith series' Book 2, Jesus Comes, as published by Neumann Press. This is a very good book where even the pictures are nice. This does not mean that we can endorse all of the books from this or any other series, especially in their many reproductions, it would be impossible to keep up with the variations and revisions! Yet we have found that Neumann Press and TAN Books both, and now Baronius and Refuge of Sinners Publishing (Mother of Our Savior Company), have made a grand effort to print the best Roman Catholic books. May God preserve them and reward them well.

The following numbers correspond to the numbers of the St. Anne's Helper Audio Catechism Catholic answers, its reprintable text, and the St. Anne's Helper Catechism Copybook with Printable Worksheets for First Communion and the Holy Eucharist. Our Confirmation recommendations are below these.

1. Who made you? God made me.

This answer can be found in both Jesus Comes as sold by Neumann Press and in other versions of the Baltimore Catechism.

It has been mentioned that “Who made the world?” leaves a path open to elements of evolution and removes the directly personal effect of creation from the child’s experience. If taught as the 1885 Baltimore Catechism teaches and as the Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches, it must also be explicitly explained that the word "world" in this instance means that God created everything visible and invisible which is answered already with "God made all things." The meaning should be taught to express the same idea. See this explanation in the Catechism of the Council of Trent found at TAN Books or the Catechism of the Council of Trent in its online version here - no guarantees precisely because this format is manipulable. Always check with a printed copy.

Answering "God made us." doesn't explicitly teach the truth that God personally creates each human soul as compared to answering "God made me." Be sure to explain that God made each individual one of us, meaning that each human being that is being born today and in the future.

At the moment a child realizes that "God made me." he realizes that it is a comfort and an honor to know that God personally made him, and made him the way God loves him. The little child asks "Oh, really? He made ME?" It is a joy to be able to respond "Yes, and He loves you just the way He made you!"

Adults who were not taught this Catholic answer find the same consolation at this revelation. The most important time to be certain of it is during one's last hours. "Yes, He loves me, and He made me the way He loves me." This answer is the personal answer necessary when one is trying to weigh the argument of "Thou shalt not kill." against the errors of the pro-"choice" enemies of life.

2. Who is God? God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and of all things.

Instead of using the term “Supreme Being”, a comparison with Our Holy Faith series book 2, Jesus Comes, finds “Creator of Heaven and Earth and of all things” which concurs with the Apostle’s Creed, the Catechism of the Council of Trent and the Catechism in Pictures.

"God is the Supreme Being" is a true answer, yet it is not as indicative as "God is the Creator". Yes, God is the Supreme Being, yet this can be inferred from the answer that teaches that God created Heaven and earth and all things. The inverse is not true. Older books use the more accurate term Absolute Being which answers "What is God?"

Including the answer "God is the Creator, etc." in a catechism anchors the child's faith that God the Father created all things from nothing and explicitly teaches this truth.

It may not explain all that God "IS" (neither does the term Supreme Being), but it certainly does indicate Who He is! He is the One Who did the Creating! Some books omit this question . Yet look at what has been removed, though! Creator and Heaven!

The Church Teaches

The book The Church Teaches (TAN Books) says on page 141 "Further, the true concept of creation excludes every form of emanationism and pantheism, while it emphasizes the liberality, power, wisdom and goodness of God, manifested by his free creation of the world in time. These truths are the cornerstones on which men can build lives of Christian optimism and personal responsibility. For that reason the Church has always insisted on them as basic to the revealed religion entrusted to it by God." It is so great to be certain that these basics are being taught for First Communion, especially since so many children do not receive further instruction after this.

In very high level books we have seen the term Absolute Being. Another term "Architect of the Universe" (Sheed and Ward) is nearly a Masonic term and "Supreme Being" was used by Robespierre (To Quell The Terror, Carmelite book) during the Reign of Terror when he sought something more than the goddess of reason.

The oldest book we have found that uses the term Supreme Being was "revised" in 1921 and at least it does not use the term in a misleading way. Of course God is the Supreme Being, but Catholic answers are precise and definitive, especially for a beginner's catechism and for purpose of identification. It is an error to expand a term away from the simple truth. See the forward in The Church Teaches. These terms began to be used by Sheed and Ward, the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine (CCD), and other Catholic book publishing companies during the 1930s and 1940s.

3. Why did God make you? God made me to show His goodness and to make me happy with Him in Heaven.

A comparison of texts shows that this version (Our Holy Faith Vol. 2, Jesus Comes, and many others) is a complete Catholic answer without the grandiose verbiage that does not add any meaning as found in other versions of the Baltimore Catechism: "God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in Heaven.”

This second version also removes God’s personal contact with the singular “me”, the effect of which is explained for question number one above. Some of the older catechisms combine question number 3 and 4 "God made me to know, love and serve Him in this world." to good purpose. It is certainly more precise. Be sure to teach answer number 4 of St. Anne's First Communion Catechism if you are not using all of the questions and answers in your program.

We have heard sermons that defend both ways in that the one answer is in the order of intention and the other is realized in the order of activity. Neither opposes truth.

22. Excision

Our Holy Faith has the phrase “to do” added to the Ten Commandments tells and forbids questions. For over eighteen years St. Anne's has seen children who stumble in answering “to do to adore God”… By omitting “to do” in the question seems to make the child’s response easier without changing the meaning of the Catholic answer. This is the one liberty taken in the St. Anne's First Communion Catechism text.

39. What is a sacrament? A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Jesus Christ to give grace.

This question and others did not have Our Lord’s name in it in some versions. Since a main error in vogue today (2011) is to speak of a christ without him being Jesus Christ, St. Anne's Audio Catechism has used the answer found in Deharbe's Small Catechism (Christian Book Club of America), which specified the name Jesus. It seems to introduce Him well or to further specify Jesus as the Christ.

This answer in St. Anne's Audio Catechism has been taught by many good priests and sisters who made a point of this being the more Catholic answer in sermon and in class. See Deharbe’s Small Catechism available through Christian Book Club of America for this inclusion of Jesus' name, Imprimatur and Nihil obstat as well.

41. What is Baptism? Baptism is the sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, makes us Christians, children of God and heirs of Heaven.

Here, St. Anne's chose the version that names Original Sin and what benefits Baptism gains for us as found in the 1885 Baltimore Catechism. Some of the trouble in early versions of the Baltimore Catechism may be rooted in the fact that the Baltimore Catechism was born of bishops that were accused of Americanism by Pope Leo XIII.

The very purpose of Baptism (washing away Original Sin) is sometimes omitted in other versions.

At other times the question is reworded in a manner that can suggest that the Catholic answer is a subjective one: "What does Baptism do for YOU?" Imagine the subjective answers that could be had for this question (Aunts and Uncles, parties, gifts)! In past times it might not have been necessary to mention "washing away Original Sin", yet today's environment requires a surer answer as provided in the Baltimore Catechism.

The Catholic answer is precise and concise.

48. What happens to those who die in mortal sin? Those who die in mortal sin are punished forever in the fires of Hell.

Some catechisms omit teaching the consequences of Mortal sin, as found in the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism, which teaches the idea of Hell, avoiding which is the whole reason for doing all these other works! It is a solemn moment when a child realizes that many other people are burning in Hell. Add this omission to the omissions sited above and find Creation, Heaven, Original Sin, and now Hell omitted! These are all maintained in the St. Anne's Helper audio Baltimore Catecism. We are edified that the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism included this question and answer.

Our favorite recommendation for a child or adult Catholic catechism is The Catechism in Pictures as printed in India as it was first printed. Even with many typos it teaches the Faith better than any book we have seen. There's no mistaking Hell or sin in this book. The pictures alone teach great Catholic answers! There are many changes in the new printing (2010) and hopefully they are not of great importance.

Mortal Sin And Venial Sin

The Catholic answers used at St. Anne's Helper involving mortal sin and venial sin are the versions of the Baltimore Catechism for children that is commonly used for younger students, yet it will stand for a life time of good Confessions whereas it is possible that little ones would not understand or make use of the the longer version.

53. What is confession? Confession is the telling of my sins to a priest to have them forgiven.

This version; “to have them forgiven” (Jesus Comes) is a more plain, active, and certain Catholic answer than “to obtain forgiveness” as found in other versions.

54. What must you do to receive the sacrament of Penance worthily? (Which see.)

Again, this version can be found in Jesus Comes, as well as several versions of the Baltimore Catechism, and seems to be the more Catholic answer. It uses the singular number in its answers which is a great defense against "corporate conscience" type errors of this last century. Catholic confession is a singular event.

"We" in the plural don't have "a" singular conscience.

Some catechism questions can be answered well in the possessive plural although this is one Catholic answer that should not, especially for children who are preparing for their first Confession. Parish priests warn parishioners not to confess the sins of others!

A Consideration On The Resurrection and Ascension:

The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism is the best one of the NSJ series. It has the fewest tricky places to beware.

There are other places in it, though, that are more serious. At the bottom of page 33 and page 49 it would seem that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead! Without a contorted explanation that everytime one of the Blessed Trinity acts all three act in union, it seems that it denies that Jesus rose from the dead by His own omnipotent power! This truth is certainly omitted. The Catechism of the Council of Trent and an out of print book, The Catechism in Pictures, say that Jesus, Himself, reunited his Body and Soul by His own omnipotent power. Seton Home Study School's rewritten Kindergarten Catechism for Young Children removes the misperception and many others. It is very close to the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism.

The Catechism of the Council of Trent says, "By the word Resurrection, however, we are not merely to understand that Christ was raised from the dead, which happened to many others, but that He rose by His own power and virtue a singular prerogative peculiar to Him alone.... We sometimes, it is true, read in Scripture that He was raised by the Father; but this refers to Him as man, just as those passages on the other hand, which say that He rose by His own power relate to Him as God."

The NSJ Baltimore Catechism No. 2 and No. 3 repeat this dangerous line and No. 3 expands the thought to include the Ascension! A careless reading of these and/or not explicitly teaching precisely what the Apostles' Creed teaches "the third day He arose again from the dead" might leave out the pivotal proof of our Faith: that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by His own power proves that He is God.

We have three publications of the NSJ First Communion Catechism. How do we tell? They each have beautiful artwork progressively removed from pages 48, 54-59, and who knows by now. Not one iota is changed on the inside front cover about any changes! One would be lead to believe that they were the same publications, but they are not.

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Catholic Confirmation Audio Catechism

What follows is our St. Anne's Helper preparation for Confirmation recommendations and our explanation of the St. Anne's Helper Confirmation audio catechism and worksheets. The first 49 of 76 questions are in exactly in the same order as the Preparation for Confirmation Baltimore Catechism as sold at Aquinas and More Catholic books and gifts. The rest of the questions are from the many versions that suggest that one memorize the asterisked questions. Most of the questions are exactly the same and concur with the editions published by the old Tan Books.

Click on the image to order these preparation for Confirmation resources or click here for more at Aquinas and More!

Audio CD or Download	Manuscript Worksheets
Cursive Worksheets	Baltimore Catechism No. 2
Baltimore Catechism No. 3	Douay-Rheims Bible
This Is The FaithBook or CD	1962 Catholic Missal
Preparation for Confirmation	Faith Database CD

Click on the image to order these preparation for Confirmation resources or click here to go to Aquinas and More Catholic Church Goods!

Catholic Confirmation Preparation

The Confirmation Audio Helper CD uses the Baltimore Catechism as republished in many versions without discrepancy. All of the questions and answers were drawn from versions that concur with each other.

St. Anne's Confirmation Catechism has does not include the few answers that cast a doubt on the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation. This sort of doubt is not found in the Catechism of the Council of Trent. We included Msgr. Paul Glenn’s defense as found in his Apologetics in the text found on the Confirmation CD. Both of these books can be found at TAN Catholic book publishers.

We also used the question that asks for the definition of Confirmation "What IS Confirmation?", rather than the version that asks "What does Confirmation do for YOU?" which leaves room for subjective Catholic answers.

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Catholic Answers Conclusion

St. Anne's Audio Catechism defends these questions and their Catholic answers. Each comes from a book that has an old Imprimatur.

We defer to the constant teaching of the Catholic Church in all things, especially the Catholic answers to the catechism. The books we have recommended have proven to be the clearest in teaching the basic Catholic beliefs that we can find without the need for revisions. We hope that they serve you well and that you are able to support the good Catholic companies that offer these solid books, like Aquinas and More.

St. Anne's Helper First Communion and Confirmation Audio CDs and Catechism Copybooks were formed in our efforts to do our duty of state well as Religious Instructors in a parish, and as parents teaching the faith to our own children. These CDs were created in the hopes that they will help religious, parents and other catechists in the performance of their duties of state to teach the Catholic answers that will aid those in their care.

Pope Saint Pius X urged Catholics to use the technologies available to help spread and keep the Faith. These Audio CDs, Downloads, and reproducible Copybooks are our effort to do so. We apologize for any mistakes and certainly for any doctrinal errors, yet we feel that an ordinary comparison of the texts of these Catholic answers will reveal that St. Anne's Audio Catechism Helper has a faithful representation of the “Baltimore Catechism” in its many versions. Our pastor did. We defer to the authority and teaching of Holy Mother Church in all judgments made in the name of truth.

Pope Pius XI says "...The believer has an inalienable right to profess his faith and to revive it as it needs to be revived. Laws which stifle or make difficult the profession and the practice of this faith are in contradiction with natural law." (Encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge" March 14, 1937.)

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