First Common Catechism for Catholics and Protestants to be Published Easter 1975

Diocesan Press Service. March 7, 1975 [75100]

NEW YORK, N. Y. -- A new era in the ecumenical movement will be ushered in by the publication this spring by The Seabury Press of THE COMMON CATECHISM: A BOOK OF CHRISTIAN FAITH. The book represents the universal Christian Community I n dialog and offers the first comprehensive statement of religious faith produced jointly by Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians since the separation of the churches four centuries ago.

THE COMMON CATECHISM, in preparation for more than five years, was written by an international team of 40 Protestant and Roman Catholic theologians and educators, and will be published as A Crossroad Book by The Seabury Press. The work was edited jointly by The Reverend Lucas Vischer, director of the Theological Commission of the World Council of Churches, and The Reverend Johannes Feiner of the Secretariat for Christian Unity and the Papal Theological Commission.

THE COMMON CATECHISM complements and carries forward the ecumenical endeavor begun in the 1960s with the highly successful publication of A NEW CATECHISM, more generally known as the "Dutch Catechism" (originally issued by Herder and Herder, and now A Crossroad Book at the Seabury Press). THE COMMON CATECHISM offers both a more concise presentation of Christian faith and a more explicitly theological point of departure. Where the "Dutch Catechism" began with the primary teachings of Christian revelation, THE COMMON CATECHISM begins with the fundamental questions of human existence and then goes on to relate them to man's religious experiences and beliefs.

* The Common Catechism: A Book of Christian Faith, 720 pages, clothbound, Special introductory price, $10.95. A Crossroad Book, The Seabury Press, New York.