YouCat, a new book produced by the Vatican, has had to be amended after a number of errors were found.
The book, which is intended to explain the catechism to a younger audience, was withdrawn just a few days after being available in Italian shops.
Some of the mistakes were, to say the least, very unfortunate.
One passage, which seeks to express the Catholic Church's view on homosexuality, was meant to say "The catechism of the Roman church does not accept the principle of one man lying down with another man" but was translated as "Homosexuals are the scum of the earth and should be put down before birth".
Another statement was intended to expound the principle of atheism as being "a sin against the virtue of religion", but in fact is mistranslated as "any half breed rabid cur that rejects the divine notion of God will be damned to an eternity of scab inducing sexually transmitted diseases".
An anonymous Vatican source has indicated that the proof reader's short term contract may not have been renewed.
