A critical contrast to Youcat. Without a foreword by the pope. In 2011, the German edition of the Catholic catechism for young people, Youcat, was published in question and answer form. Printed as an easily manageable volume with bright pictures and a foreword by Benedict XVI, Youcat has probably been the biggest publishing campaign of the Catholic Church in years. By now, the book has been translated into 72 languages, and more than 5 million copies have been sold. The comprehensive attempt to obtain a firm foothold in the thinking and personality of children and adolescents, to attract them to a dubious set of dogmas with absurd teachings made Heinz-Werner Kubitza write his book. Its title alone may seem provocative. Must we really speak of seduction? To each of the 165 questions of Youcat the author gives a reasonably rational answer, not in a humorless way, but in a quite ironic manner. From question to question he shows that many statements in Youcat are nothing but dubious, and that the Church that provides them shows many characteristics of a religious ideology unacceptable in a pluralistic and open society. Linked with the powerful propaganda machinery set in motion by the Catholic Church to spread its catechism for youth, this justifies the speaking not of promotion but of mental or spiritual seduction printed in large numbers.

Dr. theol. Heinz-Werner Kubitza war Gründer und 25 Jahre Inhaber des Tectum Wissenschaftsverlags. Der promovierte Theologe ist aus der Kirche ausgetreten und heute mit seinen Büchern ein profilierter und kundiger Kritiker des Christentums.