In light of a successful year-long podcast about the Bible, Ascension Press has announced that Father Mike Schmitz will be hosting the “Catechism in a Year” podcast beginning Jan. 1.

Schmitz hosted the popular “Bible in a Year” podcast in 2021. It has been downloaded more than 200 million times. Schmitz and Ascension Press’ Jeff Cavins will jointly produce 15- to 20-minute episodes every day for a year. In them, they’ll read and discuss the Catechism.

“Join Fr. Mike and hundreds of thousands of Catholics in discovering the depth and beauty of Catholic teaching with ‘The Catechism in a Year’ podcast, starting Jan. 1, 2023!” Ascension Press said recently on Twitter.

Schmitz has Minnesota ties, as he is currently at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He works and lives at the Newman Center on campus. Read his bio on the Catholic Bulldog website.

Ascension Press says the “Catechism in a Year” podcast will cover the entire Catechism over the course of the year. On its website, Ascension Press says listeners can “understand the essentials of the Catholic Faith and why they matter.” The podcast will examine Church teaching in relation to Sacred Scripture, 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition, and “encounter God’s plan of sheer goodness.”

Listeners are also invited to join the “Catechism in a Year” Facebook group. The group will connect listeners who can ask about and discuss the podcast. Members of all faiths are welcome to join the Facebook group and take part in the conversation about the podcast and the Catechism.

“Discover how God’s plan of sheer goodness is made manifest for us today, Schmitz told the National Catholic Register (NCR). Schmitz decided to start the “Catechism in a Year” podcast after the success of “Bible in a Year,” which was a top attraction on Apple Podcasts after its release in 2021, NCR says.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a “compilation of fundamental Christian truths and the essential teachings of the Church,” the NCR says.

“One of the things that we recognize: Here is the Holy Spirit, who continues to move. Here is God, who continues to reach out to his people,” Schmitz said in an NCR report.

“God continues to make us his sons and daughters... and there is real truth in the fact that you can't love what you don't know,” he continued. “And I am just so grateful for the Catechism. God reveals himself in sacred Scripture so we get to love him more. But he also reveals himself in sacred Tradition. So we get to love him more. I hope that when it comes to the Bible, we had a biblical worldview that was either given for the first time or rediscovered. Now, with the Catechism, it’s a biblical worldview that is now amplified or even brought into a clearer or sharper vision.”

CBS says Schmitz’ “Bible in a Year” podcast from 2021 had been downloaded 238 million times by March.

“When I turned to the Bible, it was an internal wisdom,” Schmitz told CBS, “and it reminded me, even as bad as it is, it's been worse than this and God hasn't left his people, and I said I want to read the Bible every day and make a podcast.”

A paperback copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be bought on Amazon for those who would like to read it as the series progresses.