DOCAT: What to do

Useful for teachers working in Catholic Schools

This past year I decided to read through the Catechism in a year. And I ended up ahead of schedule, so when I finished the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I moved on to The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. So I decided to read DOCAT: Catholic Social Teaching for Youth and I really enjoyed it. In fact I enjoyed it so much I am now reading YOUCAT: The Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. But back to DOCAT: Catholic Social Teaching for Youth.Like many other Catechisms this one is in the question and answer format. The subtitle of this book is 'What to do?' It focuses on the social teachings of the Catholic Church. There are four symbols in the book. A Bible which highlights passages from the bible. Quotations which highlights specific meanings in the church. A Picture of a church which contains magisterial teachings. And an Exclamation Mark where words are defined or explained. There are also three colored arrows blue for the Compendium of Social Doctrine, grey for the Catechism, and Yellow for quotes from YOUCAT.Each chapter has a number of points the questions and answers, And then there are a number of quotes from church documents to highlight those teachings. The chapters in the book are:1 God's Master Plan: Love 1-212 Together We Are Strong: The Church's Social Mission 22-63 Unique and Infinitely Valuable: The Human Person 47-834 The Common Good, Personhood, Solidarity, Subsidiarity: The Principles of the Church's Social Teaching 84-1115 The Foundation of Society: The Family 112-1336 Occupation and Vocation: Human Work 134-1577 Welfare and Justice for All: Economic Life 158-1948 Power and Morality: The Political Community 195-2289 One World, One Humanity: The International Community 229-25510 Safeguarding Creation: The Environment 256-26911 Living in Freedom from Violence: Peace 270-30412 Personal and Societal Commitment: Love in Action 305-328Though this book is written for youth and young adults, I found it well worth the time and effort to read it. The social teachings of the Catholic Church have been a growing focus for a long time now. In this book you will get a concise clear picture of those teachings, and though the quotes from church documents see some of their progression and refinement over time. This is the first book from the YOUCAT series that I have read but I know I will be reading many more. And in fact I cannot wait for the last few to be available in English in North America.A great read, informative and challenging. This book was so good that before I even finished it I had picked up YOUCAT and the YOUCAT Bible to have to read as soon as I finished this one. It is a wonderfully informative book and part of what looks like an incredible series!