cvw@alice.att.com (01/18/90)
A few months ago I mentioned that the Roman Catholic Church is preparing a catechism that sets forth in one place its official teaching. The latest issue of the *National Catholic Reporter* includes a couple of articles about the catechism. Copies of the catechism have been sent to all bishops under a seal of secrecy. The bishops' comments on the contents are invited, presumably to be considered and incorporated; there was some speculation that Rome hopes to have the published version ready in time for the silver anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. One bishop, whose name I didn't recognize, volunteered some opinions on what he'd seen. He said some of the sections, such as teaching about Jews, are firmly rooted in Vatican II and subsequently developed doctrine. On the other hand, he noted two Vatican II ideas that were not mentioned in the draft: the Church as the People of God, and the notion of a hierarchy of truths; his comment on the latter was, "everything is presented as at the same level of truth [in the draft catechism]." Chris Van Wyk