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YOUCAT Will Reach 40,000 North American Catholic Teens This Summer

Partnership with Franciscan University includes YOUCAT at 18 Steubenville Conferences

Contact: Alexis Walkenstein, 561-445-5409, AWalkenstein@MaximusMG.com; Kevin Wandra, 678-990-9032, KWandra@MaximusMG.com 

SAN FRANCISCO, June 9, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, will impact more than 40,000 Catholic teens in the United States and Canada this summer -- even before the book is widely distributed during 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid.

Ignatius Press, publishers of the English-language edition of the book, and Franciscan University of Steubenville have formed a partnership that will bring YOUCAT to 17 Steubenville Conferences in the U.S. and one in Canada -- and includes the development of a "Jeopardy-style game show" featuring content from the book.

"We are pleased to announce this partnership because of the impact it will have by introducing tens of thousands of young North American Catholics to YOUCAT," said Ignatius Press President Mark Brumley. "In his foreword to the book, Pope Benedict XVI clearly states his desire that these young people become 'more deeply rooted in the faith than the generation of your parents....' Given the theme of the 2011 Steubenville Conferences -- 'Rooted' -- it's exciting for Ignatius to work with Franciscan University in providing access to YOUCAT during the conferences."

"YOUCAT is a beautiful gift to Catholics," said John Beaulieu, Franciscan's Director of Youth and Young Adult Outreach. "We are looking forward to helping spread that gift through the conferences, and we are very grateful to Ignatius Press for working with us to make it happen. The hardest thing for young Catholics today is to commit with their whole heart that the Church has the answers because of all the relativism and secularism they are bombarded with," Beaulieu added. "YOUCAT is such a beautiful gift because it is written to engage young people to understand that truth ... that relationship."

YOUCAT will be a primary resource for all Steubenville conferences for the next two years. All conference leaders will use the book at the events they staff. They also are receiving T-shirts and certificates following their pre-conference training sessions with the youth Catechism. Random attendees at every Steubenville Conference will be invited onstage to play the YOUCAT Challenge, which will be based on the popular TV game show Jeopardy with questions taken exclusively from YOUCAT. "Ignatius brought that idea to us, and we think it's outstanding," Beaulieu said. "It'll be a great, fun way to help explain to everyone attending what YOUCAT is all about and how truly special it is.

"We have tried not to promote books or CDs ... or other resources ... at our conferences," he added. "But when the Pope says it is his desire that Catholics study this Catechism, we believe we need to use it and talk about it. We have posted comments from his Foreword to our Facebook page -- it's all about letting young people know the Pope is calling them to embrace the Church, to become the man or woman God intends them to be."

For more information or to request review copies of YOUCAT, please contact Alexis Walkenstein with The Maximus Group (561-445-5409 or AWalkenstein@MaximusMG.com) or Kevin Wandra with The Maximus Group (678-990-9032 or KWandra@MaximusMG.com). For more information on the conferences, contact John Beaulieu at 740-284-5873 or JKBeaulieu@mac.com.