Cato for parishes

Cato is a Catholic app that teaches the faith a few minutes a day: Scripture, the Catechism, the sacraments, prayer and the saints, in short lessons people finish. It also has the Rosary, the daily Mass readings and novenas. It runs on iPhone, Android and the web.

A parish can point people to it in the bulletin, from the pulpit, on a poster in the narthex, or alongside OCIA, Confirmation and adult formation. There is nothing for the parish office to set up and nothing for the parish to pay.

The parish kit

A bulletin note in two lengths, a pulpit announcement, a social post and a poster with a QR code, in English and Spanish, ready to copy or print. If we wrote to your parish, the link in our email opens a kit with your parish's name on it.

What's free

• The main course on the Catholic faith and Seeking God, all the way through.
• The Rosary, the Bible, the daily readings, novenas, an examination of conscience, the diocese room, and the course on the learner's own patron saint.
• Every other course, including the seven sacrament courses, starts free. After the first section it takes coins earned in the app, or Cato Pro, an optional subscription.

It sends people to their parish

When someone finishes the main course, Seeking God or a sacrament course, Cato asks whether they'd like real classes: OCIA, adult formation or sacrament preparation. If they say yes, and agree to it, Cato passes their request to a parish near them, whose office replies to them by email. Cato is not a substitute for a parish, and says so.

The content

The lessons are written from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and audited against it again after they ship. The daily readings follow the Roman calendar and the lectionary used in the United States. Where it all comes from, and how to report a mistake, is on the About page.

Age and safety

Cato is for people 13 and older; under the age of majority, with a parent's permission. Each diocese has one chat room, which starts fresh every week. The Cato team moderates it:

• People accept the room's rules before they can post, and guests can read but not post.
• Links, phone numbers and blocked words are filtered out, and posting is rate-limited.
• Anyone can report a message or a person, and block or mute them.
• A message reported by three people is hidden at once, before the team has looked at it.

Cato doesn't yet have separate spaces for minors, so for a youth group or a Confirmation class we suggest the lessons and the prayer tools rather than the diocese room.

What Cato doesn't do yet

There are no class accounts or progress reports for catechists, and no parish plan. If that is what your parish or diocese needs, please tell us what you'd use: we are deciding what to build next.

Talk to us

Write to support@thecatoapp.com. A person reads every email and answers within a few days.