ATLANTA, Georgia, JUNE 14, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is promoting the availability of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in an e-book format.
Since its release in 1992, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has become a bestseller in the Church. The USCCB alone has sold more than 988,000 print copies of the second edition.
Late in 2011, the USCCB released the e-book edition, which has sold more than 7,100 copies since then.
“Providing the Catechism in this particular electronic format will make this foundational resource even more accessible to people,” explained Bishop John Wester, chair of the USCCB Communications Committee. “It is free to anyone who has access to the Internet.”
Users can bookmark or highlight areas, see footnotes in a “light box” without leaving the original page, and search within the Catechism, including by paragraph number.
“The USCCB is wisely using technology to serve their constituents and they are raising the bar for engaging users,” said Dave Gallerizzo, CEO of Fig Leaf Software, the interactive Web agency that partnered with the USCCB to create the e-book. “There might be some e-book readers that have a few of these features, but I doubt you can find one that offers all of these features in a single application.”
The USCCB is also making use of new media possibilities to promote the Year of Faith. “The central image of the Year of Faith is the ‘door of faith’ based on Acts of the Apostles,” said Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.
The Year of Faith starts Oct. 11 — the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church — and runs until Nov. 14, 2013, the feast of Christ the King.
Online resources for the Year of Faith include the expansion of Facebook posts about the lives of saints, an online catechism quiz and a USCCB Web page.
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On the Net:
E-book Catechism: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/epub/index.cfm
Year of Faith resources: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/
