46 • Part I. The Creed: The Faith Professed
baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority
arises from this fact: it is “the Creed of the Roman Church, the
See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the
common faith.”
—CCC, no. 194
The Niceno-Constantinopolitan or Nicene Creed draws its
great authority from the fact that it stems from the first two
ecumenical Councils (in 325 and 381). It remains common to all
the great Churches of both East and West to this day.
—CCC, no. 195
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven
and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was
conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin
Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died,
and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he
rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right
hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and
the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of
the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with
the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and
for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of
the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.