For the first time in 400 years the Catholic Church has authorized an official universal catechism which instantly became an international best-seller, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Using this official Catechism, the highly-regarded author and professor Peter Kreeft presents a complete compendium of all the major beliefs of Catholicism written in his readable and concise style. Since the Catechism of the Catholic Church was written for the express purpose of grounding and fostering catechisms based on it for local needs and ordinary readers, Kreeft does just that, offering a thorough summary of Catholic doctrine, morality, and worship in a popular format with less technical language. He presents a systematic, organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental Catholic teachings in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. This book is the most thorough, complete and popular catechetical summary of Catholic belief in print that is based on the universal Catechism.

This book is well done. It is 421 pages long. The 31 chapters are very short (15 to 20 pages each), divided over three sections. The three sections are Theology, Morality and the Sacraments.

Peter Kreeft has written over 35 books. He loves what he is writing about. Truth is his highest concern; he is reliably orthodox. The other great thing about his Kreeft is that he writes in simple and understandable terms. He gives great explanations, backed with good examples. It's not a heavy book to read. In fact, it's a fun read if you are interested in these topics. This one of my all time favorite books. ( )

Father Steve Martin used in his RICA class.