Compendium is selling like a Catholic 'Harry Potter'

BY CHRISTINA FARRELL
TIII.COMPENDIUM of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is proving to be a runaway bestseller with bookshops across Britain reporting high demand for "the Catholic book of the year".
The Catholic Truth Society (CTS) in London has sold more than 20,000 copies of the pocket-sized book since its launch on April 8 and the orders are still flooding in.
In America pm-publication orders exceeded 40.000 and interest remains high. Sales there are expected to pass 200,000 in the first year alone.
Speaking to the Catholic Herald this week Fergal Martin, director of the CTS, said sales had dramatically
exceeded expectations and an extra print run of 50,000 copies had already been ordered.
"CTS has sold almost 25,000 copies in this country alone since publication day," he said. "It's truly amazing not quite in the same league as Harry Potter but a publishing phenomenon in the Catholic world all the same. And it's still going like hot cakes."
The 200-page Compendium contains the key points of the 1992 Catechism, Uniquely, it carries an introduction by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as president of the commission
appointed to summarise the original document and his Motu Proprio — or seal of approval — as Pontiff. The Vatican had intended that individ
ual bishops' conferences would publish their own summaries but it simply didn't happen.
"The 1992 Catechism codifies the Church's teaching but it was really a resource for the bishops," said Mr Martin. "What was needed was something for everyone."
The Compendium is not intended as a work which should stand alone and there are repeated references back to the larger Catechism.
But it is in an easy-to-follow question-and-answer format that will be familiar to generations of Catholics brought up on their Penny Catechism.
Mr Martin said that it was the accessibility of the book "that made it so appealing".
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