Very much so. This has in recent times become something of a lingua franca for mathematicians in recent times. The most useful (and astounding) property is that it gives formal definitions that apply across disciplines, which often perfectly coincide with informal usages of the same names for similar constructs in different fields.
For example, in mathematics we often have the notion of a product of two structures. The simplest is the product of two sets A and B, which in computer programming terms would just be a structure containing a field of type A and a field of type B. There are more subtle and sophisticated examples in other fields like topology, but it turns out that the categorical definition[1] matches the definition of product mathematicians were already using in each of these fields, even though it came about much later!
It has been called many things ("general abstract nonsense", etc.), but I don't know if it has ever been called "an easier way to explain things to non-mathematicians." :)
Nobody thinks category theory is easy for nonmathematicians, but the point of it is that it provides a common language for talking about common behaviors across many different, seemingly disparate, fields of mathematics, for mathematicians.
For example, in mathematics we often have the notion of a product of two structures. The simplest is the product of two sets A and B, which in computer programming terms would just be a structure containing a field of type A and a field of type B. There are more subtle and sophisticated examples in other fields like topology, but it turns out that the categorical definition[1] matches the definition of product mathematicians were already using in each of these fields, even though it came about much later!
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(category_theory)