Father Mike Schmitz, host of the Bible in a Year Podcast and the upcoming new Catechism in a Year podcast, set to launch Jan. 1, 2023. / Credit: Ascension

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).

With an audience of over 1.5 million around the world, the Bible in a Year podcast is the No. 1 podcast in Religion and Spirituality on Apple Podcasts. And now, Catholics and non-Catholics alike can embark on a new journey as the Catechism in a Year podcast is set to launch on Jan. 1, 2023.

Father Mike Schmitz, host of the Bible in a Year podcast and the highly anticipated Catechism in a Year podcast, and Jeff Cavins, Catholic speaker, author, and creator of “The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation” program, discussed the new podcast in a press conference with Ascension.

Schmitz shared his hope that people “will not only grow in information but real transformation” through the podcast.

“Our hope is that the Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year are going to go one step further in forming people so that they can become like little satellites and share with other people,” Cavins said.

He added: “What we want to do is to make it accessible for the common person — to break down some of these ideas that are kind of ‘woah, I’ve never heard that word before’ and break it down into, OK, how does this play out in your family, with your children, with your finances, with your emotions, in your parish?”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Credit: Ascension
The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Credit: Ascension

The Catechism in a Year podcast will follow a similar format to the Bible in a Year podcast in that there will be daily episodes (365 total), but they will be shorter, ranging from 15 to 20 minutes rather than the Bible in a Year’s 30- to 45-minutes episodes.

Cavins explained that the new podcast will feel familiar to those who did Bible in a Year.

“You’re going to feel like, ‘OK, this is a continuation of Bible in a Year,’” he said. “And you’re not going to have to learn a whole lot of new different ways and structures of understanding the faith.”

Special guests will also join the podcast as each new pillar of the Catechism is introduced. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” is divided into four pillars: faith, liturgy/sacraments, life in Christ, and prayer. Similarly, the podcast will be divided into four parts: “What we believe,” featuring Jeff Cavins; “How we worship,” featuring Bishop Andrew Cozzens; “How we live,” featuring biblical scholar Mary Healy; and “How we pray,” featuring Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT.

Just as "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" is divided into four parts, the Catechism in a Year podcast will be divided into four parts featuring four different guests. Credit: Ascension
Just as “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” is divided into four parts, the Catechism in a Year podcast will be divided into four parts featuring four different guests. Credit: Ascension

Additionally, the Ascension edition of “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” will be released to accompany the podcast. It is the first to feature the Foundations of Faith approach, which, according to Ascension, helps visualize the existing structure of the Catechism and create an easier way for people to understand the teachings of the Catholic faith.

Although the Catechism is specific to the Catholic Church, Schmitz believes anyone will be able to listen to the podcast and learn from it.

“I think it’s not going to be exclusive. I think that, hopefully, it’s going to be even more inclusive and more expansive than possibly the Catechism has ever been in the past,” he said.

Cavins added: “I think that the Catechism in a Year is not just for Catholics; it is for everybody because life is for everybody. God’s plan is for everybody.”