What Catholics Believe

What Catholics Believe by Joseph Pieper and Heinz Raskop, translated by Christopher Huntington, 106 pages

What Catholics Believe presents a miniature catechism.  First published in 1939 in German and translated into English in 1951, it is a book designed to be read, unlike the didactic Baltimore Catechism and the 1992 reference book Catechism of the Catholic Church.  As with the latter work (and the 1570 Catechism of the Council of Trent) it begins with an exposition of the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed and continues with a discussion of the seven sacraments, but where the official catechisms use the Ten Commandments to summarize "The Christian Life", Pieper and Raskop use the Four Cardinal and Three Theological Virtues as their framework, then conclude with short sections on Sacred Scripture and Church history.

A classic example of "what it says on the tin", What Catholics Believe is neither an apologetic nor a devotional work - neither Why Catholics Believe nor Reflections on Catholic Belief.  It simply presents the basic doctrines of the Church in a readily comprehensible manner.  This may frustrate or disappoint readers hoping for more "controversial" material, as if anything could be more shocking than the Creed.