The parish plan
Last updated November 11, 2026.
Pointing people to Cato is free and always will be (how that works). The parish plan is for a parish that wants to use Cato in its own formation: OCIA, Confirmation preparation, sacrament preparation for parents, a Bible study, an adult class.
What the parish gets
- Every course for everyone in a class. People who join one of your classes have Cato Pro for as long as they are in it: all the courses, the seven sacrament courses included, and unlimited hearts. They pay nothing.
- Classes with a join code. A catechist opens a class, gives it a name, and optionally picks the course it follows. Each class has a link and a QR code to hand out. People join with their own Cato account, in the app or in a browser.
- A roster that shows who is keeping up. For each person: lessons finished, lessons this week, progress in the class's course, their streak, and the day they last studied. It downloads as a spreadsheet.
- As many catechists as you need. The person who buys the plan adds the others by email. Nobody needs a password: each signs in from a link we email them.
What a catechist can and cannot see
Before joining, each person is told exactly what is shared and agrees to it: their name, the lessons they finish, their streak and the day they last studied. A catechist never sees anyone's email address, their answers, their prayers, or anything they write in the app. A person can leave a class whenever they like, and a catechist can remove them.
Cato is for people 13 and older. It has no separate spaces for minors, so for a Confirmation class we suggest the lessons and the prayer tools, and keeping conversation in the classroom rather than in the app's chat rooms.
How a place is counted
A plan has a number of places. A person takes one while they are in at least one class that is still running, however many classes they are in. When a class ends and is archived, its places come back and can be used by next year's class.
Start a plan
We set each plan up by hand for now. Write to us with the parish's name and roughly how many people are in your classes, and a person will answer within a few days.