The rest of this first part of the Catechism takes the creed and analyzes it, sentence by sentence. Finally, the end of the first section concludes with the response of humanity to all that God has done: faith. This portion includes treatment on dogmas and Sacred Scripture. “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God and God never ceases to draw man to Himself” (CCC 27). In the inner depths of every person, God the Father placed a yearning to return to Him. This first part could also be titled, ‘how do we know what we know about the faith, and what exactly do we know?’ The first section lays the foundation of revelation: that God took the first step in revealing Himself to us and gave us multiple ways for us to come to know Him. The Catechism remained unchanged until 2018, when Pope Francis altered paragraph #2267 on capital punishment.įour parts comprise this great work, and here is an introduction to each. After some updates from the Latin translation, the second edition with the green cover was released in 2000. The official Latin edition typica-the “text of reference”-was promulgated in 1997. The modern Catechism that we know started as a 1994 English translation of a French initial version. The best among them is a lesser-known volume by Fr. After the Second Vatican Council, more catechisms were published to communicate the faith in the wake of the council. Skipping forward to the modern era, the most well-known form of this was the 1885 Baltimore Catechism.

The Roman Catechism was one of the fruits of the Council of Trent ( PDF here), published by Pope Pius V in 1566. The oldest “catechism”, the Didache, dates back to the Apostles themselves. Many efforts have been made to condense the Catholic faith into a single resource, whether as an official document from the Church or as a work from a theologian. It’s available online at the Vatican website and searchable on the USCCB website. I hope these reflections help you consider the Catechism as more of a spiritual director on a shelf than something that collects dust.

The Catechism is worth picking up for the footnotes alone: it quotes Saints, Scripture, council documents, and papal encyclicals. In its pages are the stories of dogmatic battles waged, council definitions, the witness of heroic saints, and the teachings of spiritual masters. What the Catechism contains is the result of the Church reflecting on and protecting the deposit of faith for two millennia. Catholicism is an intelligible faith that can satisfy even the most demanding of intellects and hearts.

It’s a resource for clergy, laity, teachers, and anyone who wants to know what the Church believes.

We are so blessed as Catholics to have a resource like the Catechism of Catholic Church.

Catholic catechism online