How to use Promise

What it is and what it is for

Promise is a companion app for reading, studying, and coming to know the Bible, within “Catholic Universe · Digital Collection.” It is not a text reader or an exam: it walks through Scripture by questions, explanations, and references, reading it as a single story that points to Christ. It serves personal study, at your own pace; catechesis and class, with a moderated group mode; and a first approach, since the entrance stays open before anything is asked of you.

The map of the app

You enter through the home page, which works as a menu. From there you reach the Introduction, this Guide, or “How to study,” where you pick one of the three paths. Within each path the content is organized in its own way, and when you open a stage or section you find its overview and choose how to study it. The home page, the Introduction, and this Guide are open; as soon as you start studying or enter a path, you are asked for your email.

The paths

A path is a different way of approaching the same books of the Bible. There are three for now, with more to come.

• History of Salvation. Walk through the Bible as a single story. It is organized into 18 stages and into itineraries: the full journey or thematic series (people and places, objects and symbols, covenants, miracles, titles of Christ, prayers, numbers and times).
• Study by books. Enter a specific book and go through its structure, section by section. It begins with the Gospel of Matthew.
• Monographic topics. Thematic journeys that cut across the whole Bible. The first, “The work of his hands: biblical images,” walks through ten images Scripture uses to tell us who we are before God —the potter, the shepherd, the vine…—, each by the references where it appears.

Each stage or section's overview

Before you answer, each stage (or a book's section) is introduced with three parts: “You will learn to” (its aims), “How it is organized,” and “Before you answer,” which holds the main reading, the further readings, and the doctrinal reference. You do not need to have read everything to start: the explanations gradually place each answer for you.

The three study modes

Within the History of Salvation, each stage can be approached in three ways, depending on how you use it. For now, the three modes are the experience of this path; in “Study by books” and “Biblical images” the journey is more linear, reading and questions.

• Path mode. For personal study. You advance step by step, in the intended order, ten questions at a time, with a short break between rounds and freedom to stop whenever you like.
• Review mode. To consolidate. You choose how many questions you want and they come shuffled, to review what you have learned and see how you are doing.
• Group mode. For catechesis and class. A moderated session that combines questions and discussion, reserved for catechists and teachers.

The levels (within Path mode)

Path mode has three levels, from lesser to greater depth. It is natural to begin with the basic one.

• Basic. The facts of the account.
• Intermediate. Its meaning and doctrine.
• Advanced. Fullness in Christ and in Scripture.

The question types

You will find several formats, all simple: multiple choice, true or false, chronological ordering, matching, and multiple selection. After each answer comes an explanation, which is the most important thing of all.

You always know where you are

Within the study area, a location line (breadcrumbs) appears at the top, showing at every moment where you are —the path, the stage or section, and the mode— and letting you jump back to any level with a tap, without getting lost.

No grade, no exam

Promise keeps no scores and no record of right or wrong answers. It does not matter whether you get it right: each question is a chance to learn, and the explanation is worth the same either way.

Access and roles

You sign in with your email: a link arrives and you are in, with no password. The presentation is open; the rest asks for your email. There are three roles: learner (anyone who registers), catechist (can use Group mode), and administrator (manages access from the panel). If Group mode applies to you and you do not have it yet, ask the administrator to enable your account.

One language per domain

The app lives on two domains, and the language is set by the door you come through: universocatolico.org opens in Spanish and catholicuniverse.org in English. The same rule governs the browser-tab title and the preview card when sharing, each in its own language. The sign-in email is sent from a verified domain of our own, so it reaches users of either site alike.