A screenshot of the audiovisual catechism in English that Korean bishops released in March with a plan to distribute it across Asia.
Catholic bishops in South Korea have launched an audiovisual version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in English to help Asian dioceses teach catechism to adults from other religions who aspire to be Catholic.
The Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea (CPIK) and the Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC) on March 24 released the English version of the video, originally published in the Korean language in 2020 to support the teaching of catechism to catechumens, re-education of Catholics and Sunday school learning.
The Korean version was produced after a 2017 search on the problems in catechesis for catechumen, which showed the lack of visual material in catechesis. The English version is dubbed and subtitled in English.
The CPIK, which conducted the research, was established by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) to research and deal with pastoral challenges in modern Korean society.
The Korean bishops plan to provide the English version to the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) as well as to English-speaking Korean Catholics living abroad, according to a press release from the bishop.
The catechism covers the basics of the Catholic faith, participation in the liturgy and daily practice of faith.
The audiovisual catechism helps the faithful, as well as catechumen, learn from seeing the ceremonies and faith practices of people
It cites official documents such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholic Prayer Book, Documents of the Second Vatican Council II and papal documents to explain the history of Catholic doctrine.
The audiovisual catechism helps the faithful, as well as catechumen, learn from seeing the ceremonies and faith practices of people.
The English version is largely translated from the Korean version and therefore “the specific circumstances of the Catholic Church in Korea are reflected” in those portions, an official note on the project said.
The arrangement of the audiovisual catechism is different from that of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is produced to support the catechesis and so catechists are expected to “fully explain the content of the catechism,” it said.
