Trends in the development of Catholic catechisms are closely connected with the history of the Church. One may attempt to argue that outlines of catechisms were conceived along with the first written instructions concerning the catechumenate process. Using modern language one can say that it was then that outlines were created of what was later called the Book of Faith, the book that answers the fundamental questions: what do we believe, how do we celebrate Christian mysteries, how should we live in Christ, how should we pray. Later there were periods when catechisms appeared one after another, and when it seemed that their twilight came, after the Catechism of the Catholic Church was published, their revival occurred. However, various trends in the development of the catechism determined the ways for catechesis, its contents, and often its form.
