YOUCAT Foundation presents new guide to love and marriage for young Catholics in Rome

"YOUCAT Love Forever," a guide for young people on love and the sacrament of marriage from the perspective of the Catholic faith, was presented in Rome on October 6, 2026. It is a second edition of the youth catechism published in 2011, and its creator has described it as a "marriage manual for young people."

The YOUCAT Foundation organized the event. Taking part were Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need; Veronica Katz, head of the Spanish Local Group and of the consultation process for YOUCAT Love Forever; Bernhard Meuser, the creator of YOUCAT and the project's coordinator; and Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, founder of the US Catholic publisher Ignatius Press, who has been involved with YOUCAT from the start.

Archbishop Kennedy's remarks

Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presided at the opening Mass. He said "YOUCAT Love Forever" can guide young people on their journey of faith and help them make major decisions in their lives.

Kennedy said the Church recognizes young people's interest in the faith, and that they are not being asked to ignore their desires, because those desires are genuine and come from God. "God wants you to make it a reality according to his plan," he said. He encouraged young people to use the book to ask even the hardest questions, confident that they will find meaningful answers about love.

Origin and challenges of the project

Meuser told Vatican News before the event that work on this second edition began shortly after the first "YOUCAT" was published. It was driven by demand from young people about love and sexuality, which the team sees as one of the most urgent needs of the moment.

The project ran into difficulties. The team had to deal with widely differing positions on sexual morality and gender ideology from one country to another. The new edition includes a preface by Pope Leo XIV and an afterword by Pope Francis, who pushed for the book by pointing to the urgent need for a marriage catechumenate.

International consultation process

Since 2016, the YOUCAT team has collected questions from more than 30 countries and gathered testimony from couples, single people, psychologists, priests and theologians. The book addresses young people's concerns in the present day and presents a view of love that goes beyond passing feeling.

Meuser described the result as "a freer version of a kind of catechism" and a "marriage manual for young people." He called it "a small stone in a great wall" that invites people to strive toward an ideal, without claiming to change the world on its own.