Most catechisms, when taken in their entirety, are most certainly not infallible. Men often interject their opinions into their catechisms, and their opinions are oftentimes most certainly fallacious. It is so ridiculous when Catholics mumble so much gibberish and then say, "Well, the catechism says." Very often it is the case that the more recent (redacted) catechisms will state what the original catechism did not state. The modernists do these tricks all the time.
It is true that catechisms are not infallible. It is also true that catechisms approved by the Church contain the
Imprimatur and
Nihil obstat, the latter meaning that the Church declares the work to be free of doctrinal and moral error. When opinions about doctrine or private interpretations of what an official Church docuмent "really means" are expressed here they are likewise NOT infallible, they lack the
Imprimatur and Nihil obstat, and most likely are given by persons who do not have a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) issued by the Church. I have no problem in determining what I should give the greater weight to.
Below are catechisms I have in my library:
The Faith of Our Fathers, Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the Church Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ
James Cardinal Gibbons, 1876
P.J, Kennedy and Sons New York, Printers to the Holy See
Has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish
A Catechism of the Catholic Religion
Rev. Joseph Deharbe, S.J. 1878
Schwartz, Kirwin & Fauss New York
Translated from German
The Question Box, Replies to Questions Received on Missions to Non-Catholics
Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, C.S.P, 1929
The Paulist Press, New York
The Spirit of Catholicism
Fr. Karl Adam, translated from German 1929
Sheed and Ward London
The Faith of Millions, The Credentials of the Catholic Religion
Rev. John A. O’Brien, Ph.D., LL.D., 1938
Our Sunday Visitor Huntington, Indiana
Father Smith Instructs Jackson
Archbishop John Francis Knoll, D.D., L.L.D., and Fr. Lester J. Fallon, C.M., S.T.D.
1945
Baltimore Catechism No. 3, 1949
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
Benziger Brothers
These are mostly first editions or reprints of the original editions except the Baltimore. The original Baltimore Catechism #2, issued in 1885 by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, is available online and I've compared the two. They both are in agreement about the point I'm going to make.
ALL of these approved catechisms teach BOD / BOB.