TAIWAN Catholics Celebrate Publication of Chinese Youth Catechism

Taipei (AsiaNews) – With “Finally in Chinese with the Classic Yellow Binding,” many young Taiwanese Catholics praised the online announcement that the Catholic Church’s Youth Catechism (天主教 青年 æ•™ 理), Your cat in short, was now available in Chinese after being released in many other languages. “What we have been waiting for, for many months, has finally arrived,” said a post on a Facebook account created by young Catholics in Hong Kong to Your cat.

For the past year, groups of young Catholics in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have read the glossy yellow book (on the picture). Since its publication in 2011 during World Youth Day in Spain, it has become a reference work for many young Catholics.

Until recently, Chinese-speaking Catholics had to rely on the English version. Now, the Kuangchi Culture Group (光启 文化 事业) in Taipei has translated and published it in Traditional Chinese.

The Chinese version has 304 pages. With a preface by Pope Benedict XVI and an overview of the topics and concerns, the book lends itself to easy reference.

Your cat attracts many readers who are looking for answers to problems, paths for personal and group reflection, and even some inspiration for prayer. Since the text was announced online on July 23, sales have been strong in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

“At the start of the summer, we weren’t aware of his release,” said a Catholic teacher at a Taipei high school. “Then on July 23 came the announcement and the rush to buy the book began.”

Yinyi Zhang (å¼  姻 意), a third year high school student, said that “many of her classmates want to come closer to the Christian faith and understand its basic truths in a simple and accessible way. It is a beautiful gift that I will give them, I no longer have to look for other translations in other languages. Your cat is well presented with texts, cartoons and even photos of the Christian community in Taiwan that make it more accessible to our reality. “

Additionally, she continues, she began promoting the book on blogs and online chats, encouraging young students to join discussion groups.

“Now we have it in Chinese. It’s awesome ! Two of my friends told me about it during World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011, when the book was available in six languages ​​and was very popular with participants. “

“I am very happy that the book is now in our hands. We will be able to use it in the summer camps in August, especially in our faith journey next year of catechesis, ”said Sister Zhuang (庄 修女), who worked with young people from two parishes in Hsinchu. .

Zhiyin Chen (陈 芝 音), who translated the catechism, said she was very happy to see such a “cool” book helping Chinese youth to deepen their relationship with Jesus and the Church.