History of the Faith and Life Series

The main reason for the founding of Catholics United for the Faith more than 35 years ago was to respond to the dimming of the faith and the proliferation of error which had hit the Church like a tsunami. We wanted to defend, advance, and spread the true Catholic faith. As parents we had first-hand experience with the defective catechetical texts suddenly appearing in our Catholic schools. They only became worse over the next decade, so much so that one could foretell that a whole generation was in danger of being quite ignorant of the faith, and even of losing the faith.

The prayer composed by my husband for CUF: “Give us the grace to know what services, small or great, you ask of us,” was answered when Monsignor Eugene Kevane, former Dean of Education of Catholic University, came to visit CUF headquarters, and urged us to do something about the state of catechesis of our children. Then Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., came many times and urged us even more. We went to Rome, and Cardinal Wright encouraged us.

Lyman was enthusiastic about the project. But where would we get the means and the trained personnel to do this? It seemed beyond us. We prayed. Then divine Providence opened a way.

Enter Pip (Patricia I. Puccetti Donahue). A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, Pip came to work in the CUF office while studying for a degree in Catechetics at St. John’s University, Long Island, New York, under Fr. Robert I. Bradley, S.J., and the late Monsignor George A. Kelly, among others. Soon my late husband, Lyman Stebbins, became aware of Pip’s talent and put her in charge of the whole project, that is, of what became to be known as the Faith and Life series in the early 1980’s.

What we wanted was a religion series that taught the complete Catholic faith. We wanted a series with student texts, activity books, teacher’s manuals for each of eight grades, not only the true faith as in the Baltimore Catechism, but also with explanations of the doctrines based on Scripture and Tradition, an attractive and joyful teaching style, exposing the children to Catholic art and culture through its illustrations, an inclusion of Bible history, as well as an overview of Church history, stories of the saints and excerpts from liturgical and devotional texts to inspire minds and hearts in each age group.

Pip is to be commended for a prodigious work. She did the blueprint, planning, choice of authors, editing, layout—in short, every detail of the 24 books in the series. What I appreciated especially was her taste in choosing the beautiful artwork, working with museums here and abroad.

It is simply the best religion series in the English-speaking world. Although it was published before the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it was the first and only catechetical series found in conformity with the Catechism by the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism.

It has since been translated into German and revised by Bishop Andreas Laun, Auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, with a foreword by Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna. Cardinal Ratzinger has mentioned that Faith and Life, ‘Glaube and Lieben,’ is 'the best catechetical series in the German language.'

—Madeleine Stebbins
Wife of CUF Founder, H. Lyman Stebbins

In 1978 CUF had a job opening as I began work on my master’s degree at St. John’s University, studying under Fr. Robert Bradley, S. J., Fr. John Hardon, S.J., Msgr. Eugene Kevane, and others. Naturally, I was delighted, not just to get a job that would pay the rent, but to have one that would assist me with my studies.

CUF had long desired to make a contribution in the catechetical field and had done tremendous work on the American National Catechetical Directory. Through several people’s prayers and efforts we began work on our own series for children.

These were the days before any talk of a new Catechism of the Catholic Church so our main guide was the General Catechetical Directory published in 1971. From the GCD we knew the content of our series had to be “Christocentric,” since “Christ Jesus…is the center of the Gospel message within salvation history” (GCD 40). We also knew that the instruction had to be presented in a concentric way; that is beginning “with a rather simple presentation of the entire structure of the Christian message” and with each subsequent year a more detailed and developed presentation of that same whole would be made. So for each grade the four components of our faith, the Creed—what we believe; the Commandments—the way we live, the Sacraments—the means to live as Christians; and Prayer—what we hope for, are presented at the appropriate level. All of that was done so wonderfully by the writers of the series.

We had many discussions about the illustration of the series and finally settled on the use of great masterpieces of religious art. There were several reasons for that. First, from a practical point it would help the series from looking outdated in five years. But more importantly, the artwork was another way of teaching the children the truths of the faith through beauty and immersing them in the traditional art of the Church. What wonderful hours I spent researching that part of the series!

So many people were so devoted to and supportive of the series; the writers for all the texts, children’s activity, and teacher’s manuals, the whole CUF staff and apostolate, the staff of Ignatius Press, and many outside advisors. It is truly gratifying and humbling to see so many new, talented people coming forward to work on the Faith and Life series so it can continue to make a contribution to the life of the Church.

—Patricia “Pip” Donahue

The Faith and Life series, first published in the middle and late 1980’s, ranks among the foremost achievements of CUF. It is a superlative instrument of teaching and learning the faith through the first eight (and all-important) years of formal Catholic education. Monsignor Eugene Kevane, the “dean” of all things catechetical, directed the enterprise; while its general editor, Miss “Pip” Puccetti (now Mrs. Patricia Donohoe) supervised its attractive layout and composition and selected its splendid illustrations. With Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins and their staff, I was privileged to observe at close quarters the marvelous patience and panache of its completion.

Here is a true opus magnum: twenty-four “volumes” (a text, an “activity book,” and a teacher’s manual for each of the eight grades) which, on its humble level, is a worthy precursor of the definitive statement for all catechesis—The Catechism of the Catholic Church. May its forthcoming second edition contribute to the greater renewal of catechetics—which for our time is the greatest renewal of all.

—Fr. Robert I. Bradley, SJ
CUF's Former Spiritual Advisor (for 30 years)
Austin, TX

I think my daughter can lay claim to being the original Faith and Life kid! I had the great honor of being chosen to write the first three texts in the series (grades two, five, and one, written and published in that order). Theresa was age three or four at the time. As I wrote each chapter in the grade two text, I would read it aloud to her. She certainly enjoyed these stories about God, even if her applications of the lessons were a little quirky: Shortly after learning that our souls leave our bodies when we go to heaven, she came to me after an unpleasant swimming lesson, and said, ‘I’m glad that when we go swimming in heaven, the water won’t get in our eyes—no heads!’

Anyway, my Faith and Life guinea pig graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville recently with a degree in anthropology—now there’s a field that needs believing Catholics!

—Daria Sockey
Venus, PA

Click here to return to Faith and Life.