Following the success of a previous year-long podcast about Catholicism, Ascension Press recently announced that Father Mike Schmitz will be hosting the “Catechism in a Year” podcast beginning on Jan. 1.

Last year, Schmitz hosted the popular “Bible in a Year” podcast series, which has seen more than 200 million downloads. Schmitz will join Jeff Cavins of Ascension Press in putting out 15- to 20-minute episodes every day for a year. In the episodes, they’ll read and discuss the Catechism.

“Join Fr. Mike and hundreds of thousands of Catholics in discovering the depth and beauty of Catholic teaching with ‘The Catechism in a Year’ podcast, starting Jan. 1, 2023!” Ascension Press said in a recent Twitter post.

St. Raymond’s Church in Philadelphia will complement the podcasts. Catholics can take classes on the Bible and the Catechism. According to St. Raymond’s website, “Our parish gathers several times a year for 5-8 week courses to study particular aspects of Sacred Scripture or some other aspect of the faith.”

Ascension Press says the “Catechism in a Year” podcast will go through the entire Catechism over the course of the year. The announcement about the new podcast on the Ascension Press website says listeners can “understand the essentials of the Catholic Faith and why they matter.” The podcast will dive into Church teaching in relation to Sacred Scripture, 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition, and “encounter God’s plan of sheer goodness.”

Listeners can participate in the “Catechism in a Year” Facebook group. The group will connect listeners who have questions or concerns about the podcast. Members of all faith groups are welcome to join the Facebook group and participate in the conversation about the podcast and the Catechism.

“Discover how God’s plan of sheer goodness is made manifest for us today, Schmitz told the National Catholic Register (NCR). Schmitz decided to start the “Catechism in a Year” podcast after the success of “Bible in a Year,” which jumped to number one on Apple Podcasts after its release in 2021, NCR says. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a “compilation of fundamental Christian truths and the essential teachings of the Church,” the NCR says.

“One of the things that we recognize: Here is the Holy Spirit, who continues to move. Here is God, who continues to reach out to his people,” Schmitz told the NCR. 

“God continues to make us his sons and daughters... and there is real truth in the fact that you can't love what you don't know,” he continued. “And I am just so grateful for the Catechism. God reveals himself in sacred Scripture so we get to love him more. But he also reveals himself in sacred Tradition. So we get to love him more. I hope that when it comes to the Bible, we had a biblical worldview that was either given for the first time or rediscovered. Now, with the Catechism, it’s a biblical worldview that is now amplified or even brought into a clearer or sharper vision.”

CBS reports that Schmitz’ “Bible in a Year” podcast from 2021 had 238 million downloads as of March.

“When I turned to the Bible, it was an internal wisdom,” Schmitz told CBS, “and it reminded me, even as bad as it is, it's been worse than this and God hasn't left his people, and I said I want to read the Bible every day and make a podcast.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church can be bought in paperback on Amazon.