"With today's promulgation of the Latin typical edition... the task of composing the Catechism, begun in 1986, is brought to a close... The Church now has at her disposal this new, authoritative exposition of the one and perennial apostolic faith... Through the harmonious and complementary efforts of all the ranks of the People of God, may this Catechism be known and shared by everyone, so that the unity in faith whose supreme model and origin is found in the Unity of the Trinity may be strengthened and extended to the ends of the earth."

-Pope John Paul II in approving
and promulgating the official Latin
text, the editio typica, in his 1997
apostolic letter, Laetamur Magnopere

The Catechism of the Catholic Church came about as a result of a proposal at a Synod of Bishops in 1985. It appeared first in French in 1992. Subsequently, an English translation was published in 1994. In September of 1997, the Latin Typical Edition was approved and promulgated. This second edition in the United States of the English Catechism of the Catholic Church incorporates the modifications that appeared in the Latin text.

Among the features of the second edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are the following:

*Glossary of Terms
*Analytical Index
*Index of Citations from sources that include Sacred Scripture, Professions of Faith, Ecumenical Councils, Particular Councils and Synods, Pontifical Documents, Ecclesiatical Documents, Canon Law, Liturgy, and Ecclesiatical Writers
*Abbreviations of Biblical and Church documents
*Marginal Cross-References with italicized numbers referring to other paragraphs that deal with the same theme
*In Brief texts following each thematic unit that sum up the essentials of that unit's teaching
*6" x 9"