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Catechism of the Catholic Church

Table of Contents

• Copyright Information

• Apostolic Letter Laetamur Magnopere in Which the Latin Typical Edition is Promulgated

• Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum on the Publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• Abbreviations

• Prologue
  1. The Life of Man—To Know and Love God
  2. Handing on the Faith: Catechesis
  3. The Aim and Intended Readership of This Catechism
  4. Structure of This Catechism
  5. Practical Directions for Using This Catechism
  6. Necessary Adaptations
  
  
• Part One: The Profession of Faith
  
  Section One: "I Believe"—"We Believe"
  
  
  Chapter One: Man's Capacity for God
  
  1. The Desire for God
  2. Ways of Coming to Know God
  3. The Knowledge of God according to the Church
  4. How Can We Speak about God?
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: God Comes to Meet Man
  
  Article 1: The Revelation of God
  1. God Reveals His "Plan of Loving Goodness"
  2. The Stages of Revelation
  3. Christ Jesus—"Mediator and Fullness of All Revelation"
     IN BRIEF
  
  
  Article 2: The Transmission of Divine Revelation
  1. The Apostolic Tradition
  2. The Relationship between Tradition and Sacred Scripture
  3. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith
     IN BRIEF
  
  
  Article 3: Sacred Scripture
  1. Christ—The Unique Word of Sacred Scripture
  2. Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture
  3. The Holy Spirit, Interpreter of Scripture
  4. The Canon of Scripture
  5. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Three: Man's Response to God
  Article 1: I Believe
  1. The Obedience of Faith
  2. "I Know Whom I Have Believed"
  3. The Characteristics of Faith
  
  
  Article 2: We Believe
  1. "Lord, Look upon the Faith of Your Church"
  2. The Language of Faith
  3. Only One Faith
     IN BRIEF
     The Credo
  
  Section Two: The Profession of the Christian Faith
  The Creeds
  
  
  Chapter One: I Believe in God the Father
  
  Article 1: "I Believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth"
  Paragraph 1. I Believe in God
  1. "I Believe in One God"
  2. God Reveals His Name
  3. God, "He Who Is," Is Truth and Love
  4. The Implications of Faith in One God
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 2. The Father
  1. "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
  2. The Revelation of God as Trinity
  3. The Holy Trinity in the Teaching of the Faith
  4. The Divine Works and the Trinitarian Missions
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 3. The Almighty
  IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 4. The Creator
  1. Catechesis on Creation
  2. Creation—Work of the Holy Trinity
  3. "The World Was Created for the Glory of God"
  4. The Mystery of Creation
  5. God Carries Out His Plan: Divine Providence
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 5. Heaven and Earth
  1. The Angels
  2. The Visible World
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 6. Man
  1. "In the Image of God"
  2. "Body and Soul but Truly One"
  3. "Male and Female He Created Them"
  4. Man in Paradise
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 7. The Fall
  1. Where Sin Abounded, Grace Abounded All the More
  2. The Fall of the Angels
  3. Original Sin
  4. "You Did Not Abandon Him to the Power of Death"
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God
  
  Article 2: "And in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord"
  1. Jesus
  2. Christ
  3. The Only Son of God
  4. Lord
     IN BRIEF
  
  
  Article 3: "He Was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and Was Born of the Virgin Mary"
  Paragraph 1. The Son of God Became Man
  1. Why Did the Word Become Flesh?
  2. The Incarnation
  3. True God and True Man
  4. How Is the Son of God Man?
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 2. "Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary"
  1. Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit
  2. . . . Born of the Virgin Mary
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 3. The Mysteries of Christ's Life
  1. Christ's Whole Life Is Mystery
  2. The Mysteries of Jesus' Infancy and Hidden Life
  3. The Mysteries of Jesus' Public Life
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 4: "Jesus Christ Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was Crucified, Died, and Was Buried"
  Paragraph 1. Jesus and Israel
  1. Jesus and the Law
  2. Jesus and the Temple
  3. Jesus and Israel's Faith in the One God and Savior
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 2. Jesus Died Crucified
  1. The Trial of Jesus
  2. Christ's Redemptive Death in God's Plan of Salvation
  3. Christ Offered Himself to His Father for Our Sins
     IN BRIEF
  
  Paragraph 3. Jesus Christ Was Buried
  
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 5: "He Descended into Hell on the Third Day He Rose Again"
  Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell
  IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 2. On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead

  1. The Historical and Transcendent Event
  2. The Resurrection—A Work of the Holy Trinity
  3. The Meaning and Saving Significance of the Resurrection
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 6: "He Ascended into Heaven and Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father"
  IN BRIEF

  Article 7: "From Thence He Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"

  1. He Will Come Again in Glory
  2. To Judge the Living and the Dead
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Three: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
  Article 8: "I Believe in the Holy Spirit"
  1. The Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit
  2. The Name, Titles, and Symbols of the Holy Spirit
  3. God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises
  4. The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time
  5. The Spirit and the Church in the Last Days
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 9: "I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church"
  Paragraph 1. The Church in God's Plan
  1. Names and Images of the Church
  2. The Church's Origin, Foundation, and Mission
  3. The Mystery of the Church
     IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 2. The Church—People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit

  1. The Church—People of God
  2. The Church—Body of Christ
  3. The Church Is the Temple of the Holy Spirit
     IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 3. The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic

  1. The Church Is One
  2. The Church Is Holy
  3. The Church Is Catholic
  4. The Church Is Apostolic
     IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 4. Christ's Faithful—Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life

  1. The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church
  2. The Lay Faithful
  3. The Consecrated Life
     IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints

  1. Communion in Spiritual Goods
  2. The Communion of the Church of Heaven and Earth
     IN BRIEF

  Paragraph 6. Mary—Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church

  1. Mary's Motherhood with Regard to the Church
  2. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
  3. Mary—Eschatological Icon of the Church
     IN BRIEF

  Article 10: "I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins"

  1. One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins
  2. The Power of the Keys
     IN BRIEF

  Article 11: "I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body"

  1. Christ's Resurrection and Ours
  2. Dying in Christ Jesus
     IN BRIEF

  Article 12: "I Believe in Life Everlasting"

  1. The Particular Judgment
  2. Heaven
  3. The Final Purification, or Purgatory
  4. Hell
  5. The Last Judgment
  6. The Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth
     IN BRIEF
     "Amen"
  
  
• Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery
  
  Section One: The Sacramental Economy
  
  
  Chapter One: The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church
  Article 1: The Liturgy—Work of the Holy Trinity
  1. The Father—Source and Goal of the Liturgy
  2. Christ's Work in the Liturgy
  3. The Holy Spirit and the Church in the Liturgy
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: The Paschal Mystery in the Church's Sacraments
  1. The Sacraments of Christ
  2. The Sacraments of the Church
  3. The Sacraments of Faith
  4. The Sacraments of Salvation
  5. The Sacraments of Eternal Life
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery
  
  Article 1: Celebrating the Church's Liturgy
  1. Who Celebrates?
  2. How is the Liturgy Celebrated?
  3. When is the Liturgy Celebrated?
  4. Where is the Liturgy Celebrated?
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: Liturgical Diversity and the Unity of the Mystery
  
  IN BRIEF
  
  Section Two: the Seven Sacraments of the Church
  Chapter One: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation
  Article 1: The Sacrament of Baptism
  1. What Is This Sacrament Called?
  2. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation
  3. How Is the Sacrament of Baptism Celebrated?
  4. Who Can Receive Baptism?
  5. Who Can Baptize?
  6. The Necessity of Baptism
  7. The Grace of Baptism
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: The Sacrament of Confirmation
  1. Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation
  2. The Signs and the Rite of Confirmation
  3. The Effects of Confirmation
  4. Who Can Receive This Sacrament?
  5. The Minister of Confirmation IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: The Sacrament of the Eucharist
  1. The Eucharist—Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life
  2. What Is This Sacrament Called?
  3. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation
  4. The Liturgical Celebration of the Eucharist
  5. The Sacramental Sacrifice: Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence
  6. The Paschal Banquet
  7. The Eucharist—"Pledge of the Glory to Come"
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: The Sacraments of Healing
  Article 4: The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
  1. What Is This Sacrament Called?
  2. Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?
  3. The Conversion of the Baptized
  4. Interior Penance
  5. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life
  6. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
  7. The Acts of the Penitent
  8. The Minister of This Sacrament
  9. The Effects of This Sacrament
  10. Indulgences
  11. The Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance
      IN BRIEF
  
  Article 5: The Anointing of the Sick
  1. Its Foundations in the Economy of Salvation
  2. Who Receives and Who Administers This Sacrament?
  3. How Is This Sacrament Celebrated?
  4. The Effects of the Celebration of This Sacrament
  5. Viaticum, The Last Sacrament of the Christian
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Three: The Sacraments at the Service of Communion
  Article 6: The Sacrament of Holy Orders
  1. Why Is This Sacrament Called "Orders"?
  2. The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Economy of Salvation
  3. The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders
  4. The Celebration of This Sacrament
  5. Who Can Confer This Sacrament?
  6. Who Can Receive This Sacrament?
  7. The Effects of the Sacrament of Holy Orders
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 7: The Sacrament of Matrimony
  1. Marriage in God's Plan
  2. The Celebration of Marriage
  3. Matrimonial Consent
  4. The Effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony
  5. The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love
  6. The Domestic Church
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Four: Other Liturgical Celebrations
  Article 1: Sacramentals
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: Christian Funerals
  1. The Christian's Last Passover
  2. The Celebration of Funerals
  
  
• Part Three: Life in Christ
  
  Section One: Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit
  Chapter One: The Dignity of the Human Person
  Article 1: Man: The Image of God
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: Our Vocation to Beatitude
  1. The Beatitudes
  2. The Desire for Happiness
  3. Christian Beatitude
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: Man's Freedom
  1. Freedom and Responsibility
  2. Human Freedom in the Economy of Salvation
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 4: The Morality of Human Acts
  1. The Sources of Morality
  2. Good Acts and Evil Acts
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 5: The Morality of the Passions
  1. Passions
  2. Passions and Moral Life
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 6: Moral Conscience
  1. The Judgment of Conscience
     
  2. The Formation of Conscience
  3. To Choose in Accord with Conscience
  4. Erroneous Judgment
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 7: The Virtues
  1. The Human Virtues
  2. The Theological Virtues
  3. The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 8: Sin
  1. Mercy and Sin
  2. The Definition of Sin
  3. The Different Kinds of Sins
  4. The Gravity of Sin: Mortal and Venial Sin
  5. The Proliferation of Sin
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: The Human Community
  Article 1: The Person and Society
  1. The Communal Character of the Human Vocation
  2. Conversion and Society
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: Participation in Social Life
  1. Authority
  2. The Common Good
  3. Responsibility and Participation
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: Social Justice
  1. Respect for the Human Person
  2. Equality and Differences among Men
  3. Human Solidarity
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Three: God's Salvation: Law and Grace
  Article 1: The Moral Law
  1. The Natural Moral Law
  2. The Old Law
  3. The New Law or the Law of the Gospel
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: Grace and Justification
  1. Justification
  2. Grace
  3. Merit
  4. Christian Holiness
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: The Church, Mother and Teacher
  1. Moral Life and the Magisterium of the Church
  2. The Precepts of the Church
  3. Moral Life and Missionary Witness
     IN BRIEF
     The Ten Commandments
  
  Section Two: The Ten Commandments
  
  IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter One: "You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, and with All Your Soul, and with All Your Mind"
  Article 1: The First Commandment
  1. "You Shall Worship the Lord Your God and Him Only Shall You Serve"
  2. "Him Only Shall You Serve"
  3. "You Shall Have No Other Gods before Me"
  4. "You Shall Not Make for Yourself a Graven Image . . ."
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: The Second Commandment
  1. The Name of the Lord Is Holy
  2. Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain
  3. The Christian Name
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: The Third Commandment
  1. The Sabbath Day
  2. The Lord's Day
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself"
  Article 4: The Fourth Commandment
  1. The Family in God's Plan
  2. The Family and Society
  3. The Duties of Family Members
  4. The Family and the Kingdom
  5. The Authorities in Civil Society
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 5: The Fifth Commandment
  1. Respect for Human Life
  2. Respect for the Dignity of Persons
  3. Safeguarding Peace
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 6: The Sixth Commandment
  1. "Male and Female He Created Them . . ."
  2. The Vocation to Chastity
  3. The Love of Husband and Wife
  4. Offenses Against the Dignity of Marriage
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 7: The Seventh Commandment
  1. The Universal Destination and the Private Ownership of Goods
  2. Respect for Persons and Their Goods
  3. The Social Doctrine of the Church
  4. Economic Activity and Social Justice
  5. Justice and Solidarity among Nations
  6. Love for the Poor
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 8: The Eighth Commandment
  1. Living in the Truth
  2. To Bear Witness to the Truth
  3. Offenses Against Truth
  4. Respect for the Truth
  5. The Use of the Social Communications Media
  6. Truth, Beauty, and Sacred Art
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 9: The Ninth Commandment
  1. Purification of the Heart
  2. The Battle for Purity
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 10: The Tenth Commandment
  1. The Disorder of Covetous Desires
  2. The Desires of the Spirit
  3. Poverty of Heart
  4. "I Want to See God"
     IN BRIEF
  
  
• Part Four: Christian Prayer
  
  Section One: Prayer in the Christian Life
  What Is Prayer?
  
  Chapter One: The Revelation of Prayer
  The Universal Call to Prayer
  Article 1: In the Old Testament
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: In the Fullness of Time
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: In the Age of the Church
  1. Blessing and Adoration
  2. Prayer of Petition
  3. Prayer of Intercession
  4. Prayer of Thanksgiving
  5. Prayer of Praise
     IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Two: The Tradition of Prayer
  Article 1: At the Wellsprings of Prayer
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: The Way of Prayer
  IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: Guides for Prayer
  IN BRIEF
  
  Chapter Three: The Life of Prayer
  Article 1: Expressions of Prayer
  1. Vocal Prayer
  2. Meditation
  3. Contemplative Prayer
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: The Battle of Prayer
  1. Objections to Prayer
  2. Humble Vigilance of Heart
  3. Filial Trust
  4. Persevering in Love
  
  Article 3: The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus
  IN BRIEF
  
  Section Two: The Lord's Prayer: "Our Father!"
  Article 1: "The Summary of the Whole Gospel"
  1. At the Center of the Scriptures
  2. "The Lord's Prayer"
  3. The Prayer of the Church
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 2: "Our Father Who Art in Heaven"
  1. "We Dare to Say"
  2. "Father!"
  3. "Our" Father
  4. "Who Art in Heaven"
     IN BRIEF
  
  Article 3: The Seven Petitions
  1. "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
  2. "Thy Kingdom Come"
  3. "Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven"
  4. "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"
  5. "And Forgive Us Our Trespasses, as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us"
  6. "And Lead Us Not into Temptation"
  7. "But Deliver Us from Evil"
  
  Article 4: The Final Doxology
  IN BRIEF