doubtedly produced the greatest catechists."[1] The catechism of the celebrated Bellarmine[2] was used in many countries for centuries, even at present among Romanic nations. Of great fame were also the French, Latin and Greek catechisms of Father Edmund Auger. But all were surpassed by that of Peter Canisius, the first German Jesuit; this catechism was used extensively all over Europe. The works of this eminent writer and founder of many colleges deserve to be treated at some length.
Catechetical instruction had been given from the beginning of the Church, and there existed works which guided the clergy in this sublime office. The idea of placing a summary of Christian doctrine in the hands of the people and children, appears to have been first expressed in a letter of the great Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris (1363-1429). The first known summary of this kind was the one published at the order of the synod of Tortosa in Spain (1429). The first German catechism, so far known, was that of Dederich Coelde, a Minorite Friar of Münster in Westphalia, printed about 1470, then published in many editions.[3] There existed, besides this, other catechisms before the Reformation. Of the Protestant works of this kind Luther's "Great and
- ↑ Kirchenlexikon, vol. VII, p. 310 (2nd ed.).
- ↑ Pope Leo XIII., when still Cardinal Archbishop of Perugia, published a revised and enlarged edition of Bellarmine's Catechism. At the Vatican Council (1869-70), it was the wish of Pius IX. that a catechism, which should be essentially that of Bellarmine, should be adopted as the uniform and official catechism for the whole Catholic world. Messmer, l. c., p. 536.
- ↑ Janssen, History of the German People, vol. I. (17th ed., p. 48 foll. – English ed., vol. I, p. 45.)
