English Catechism

English Catechism is a reference app for the Catechism of the Catholic Church — the full text in English, searchable, with cross-references. It is what it claims to be and nothing more.

The Catechism (the green book or the compendium) is the official summary of Catholic belief and practice. Most Catholics have a copy on a shelf and rarely open it because flipping through 700-plus pages to find an answer is slow. An app makes the text searchable, which changes how usable it is for everyday questions — "what does the Church teach about X" becomes a 10-second lookup instead of a 10-minute hunt.

The interface is plain. Search works on full text. The four-part structure (Creed, Sacraments, Life in Christ, Prayer) is browsable. Footnote references to Scripture and Church documents are present.

What I appreciate: it's just the text. No commentary, no graphics, no engagement gimmicks. The Catechism is dense and meant to be approached seriously, and the app respects that.

What it's good for: RCIA catechists and candidates, parents who want a real answer when their kids ask theology questions, anyone in apologetics who needs to cite the Catechism, Catholics preparing for Confirmation as adults or sponsoring a confirmand.

What it's not: a teaching tool — the Catechism explains what the Church teaches, but it doesn't teach you HOW to teach. For that, you need a real catechist or a book like Bishop Barron's Catholicism.

Free. Available on the App Store: English Catechism. If you don't already have the Catechism searchable on your phone, fix that now.