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Anointing the Sick and Dying
Baptism
The Church
Confirmation
Eternal Life
Eucharist
Faith
God
Holy
Orders
Holy Spirit
Human
Nature
Jesus Christ
Liturgy
Marriage
Mary
Penance and Reconciliation
Redemption
Revelation
Sacramentals and Popular Devotions
Sacraments
Transmission of Revelation
Trinity
What Catholics Believe
This
summary of Catholic faith is based on doctrinal statements
contained in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006. Use this
summary for personal reflection or small group discussion.
What Catholics Believe about God
Catholics believe that God has planted in every human heart
a hunger and longing for the infinite -- for nothing less than
God. Only in God will we find the truth, peace and happiness
for which we are always searching.
Catholics believe that God can be known with certainty from
God's works in creation, from the spiritual nature of the human
person, and from human reason. We can discern our spiritual soul
and come to see that this could only have its origin in God by
our openness to goodness and truth, our experience, our sense of
moral goodness, the voice of conscience, and our desire for
happiness.
However, we believe that that there is a deeper knowledge of
God that comes to us only through Divine Revelation.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
discovered
your faith in the existence of God?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 1.
What Catholics Believe about Revelation
Catholics believe that revelation is the self-disclosure of
the living God. It shows us that God desires to have an
intimate and loving relationship with us.
The process of revelation took centuries to unfold, as God
gradually communicated the divine mystery by words and deeds.
This experience established a relationship (a covenant)
between God and God's People.
God's revelation reached its fullness in Jesus Christ, the
definitive Word of God. No new public revelation will
occur before the final manifestation of Jesus Christ.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
learned
about what God has revealed to us in revelation?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 2.
What Catholics Believe about the Transmission
of Revelation
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ entrusted his mission to
the Apostles, who transmitted Christ's Gospel through their
witness, preaching and writing. Therefore, God's Revelation is
transmitted through both Apostolic Tradition and Sacred
Scripture; both flow from the same divine wellspring and work
together toward the same goal.
The teaching office of the Church, the Magisterium
(the pope and the bishops in communion with him, has the task of
authoritatively interpreting the Word of God contained in Sacred
Scripture and transmitted by Sacred Tradition.
The Catholic Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46
books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New
Testament.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
experienced
the role of Sacred Tradition?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 3.
What Catholics Believe about
Faith
Catholics believe that faith is a gift from God. God not
only enters into a relationship with us, but also gives us the
grace to respond.
Faith involves the assent of the intellect and will to God's
revelation. By faith we believe in all that is contained in the
Word of God, written or handed down, and proposed by the Church
as divinely revealed.
Faith is a free, conscious human act. It is both supremely
personal and communal. Like reason, it is a way of knowing, but
it is different from reason because it involves the whole of the
human being.
Faith is necessary for salvation.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you acted
on
faith?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 4.
What Catholics Believe about the Trinity
Catholics believe that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is the
central mystery of Christian faith and life.
We do not speak of three gods in the Trinity, but of one
God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three modes of God,
but three distinct Persons who are the same divine
being. All three are in relation to each other and work
together in the creation, redemption and sanctification of
creation.
God created the universe freely "out of nothing" to show and
to share divine glory. We are called to share in God's truth,
goodness and beauty.
Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God and work for
our salvation. The Church venerates angels who help us on the
pilgrimage to God and protect every human being.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
experienced
God as Father, Son or Spirit?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 5.
What Catholics Believe
about Human
Nature
Catholics believe that God created man and woman in God's
image. Each of us is a unity of body and soul, called by God to
love and serve God and to care for God's creation.
God directly creates the immortal soul of each human being.
God created human beings as male and female, equal to each
other as persons and in dignity.
The account of the fall in Genesis 3 affirms a primeval event
in which man and woman abused their freedom and transmitted to
all future generations a human nature wounded by sin and
deprived of original holiness and justice.
Humanity has been reconciled to God by the redemptive death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
witnessed or
experienced human nature as both wounded and
redeemed?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 6.
What Catholics Believe about Jesus Christ
The name Jesus means "God's saves." Catholics believe that
Jesus Christ is the unique and eternal Son of the Father whose
whole life, death and resurrection are the actualization of
God's Word and the fulfillment of God's revelation.
The eternal Word became human at the appointed time without
ceasing to be God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of the Virgin Mary. He is like us in all things except sin.
In the Incarnation we behold the mystery of the union
of the divine and human natures in the one person of God's Son.
Jesus Christ is true God and true man united in one divine
person.
As disciples of Christ, we are called to conform ourselves to
him until he is formed in us.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you come
to
know Jesus as the Son of God and the embodiment of God's
Eternal
Word?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 7.
What Catholics Believe about Redemption
Catholics believe that our salvation flows from God's love
for us.
Because God loves us God "sent his Son as expiation for our
sins" (1 Jn 4:10). By forgiving sins, Jesus manifested himself
to be the Savior. By his loving obedience to the Father he
fulfilled the atoning mission of the suffering Servant
anticipated by the prophet Isaiah.
The Son of God truly died and was buried, but his body
underwent no corruption. His resurrection is an event that is
historically attested to by the Apostles, and a mystery by which
God the Father raises the Son from the dead by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Christ is the "firstborn from the dead" (Col 1:18) and so is
the principle of our own resurrection. By his Ascension Christ
precedes us into heaven and at the end of time he will come in
glory to judge the living and the dead.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
recognized
Jesus as your personal savior?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 8.
What Catholics Believe about the Holy Spirit
Catholics believe that the mission of the Son and the Holy
Spirit are inseparable. From the fullness of his glory Jesus
poured out the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the Church.
The Holy Spirit builds up, animates and sanctifies the
Church. The Spirit opens our minds to understand Christ's death
and Resurrection and prepares us to go out and bring others to
Christ. The Spirit makes present for us the mystery of Christ,
especially in the Eucharist, and brings us to communion with God
so that our efforts may bear much fruit.
The life of the Blessed Virgin Mary shows us the power of the
Holy Spirit. She was made by the Spirit into a witness of grace
from the moment of her conception and by the power of the Holy
Spirit conceived Jesus, the Son of God.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
witnessed or
experienced the Holy Spirit in your life?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 9.
What Catholics Believe
about the Church (I)
Catholics believe that the Church is the sacrament of
salvation, the sign and instrument of our communion with God.
It is variously referred to as the People of God, the
Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and the
Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is the head of the Body and we are its members. There
is a diversity of members and roles in the Body of Christ, yet
everyone is linked together by Christ's love and grace,
especially the poor, the suffering and the persecuted.
The Church is a communion which is rooted in our union with
Jesus Christ. This relationship gives us a share in the
communion of the Persons of the Trinity and leads to a communion
among all men and women. This communion calls us to become a
source of unity for all peoples.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
com-union of God's People in the Church and in
the world?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 10.
What Catholics Believe about the Church (II)
Catholics believe that the Church is one, holy,
catholic and apostolic.
"One" means that we profess "one Lord, one faith, one baptism"
(Ephesians
4:5). This is a unity sustained by the Holy Spirit that
includes a diversity of gifts, talents, cultures and rites.
"Holy" means that the holiness gained through the death and
resurrection of Jesus is made available to us by the Holy
Spirit, especially through the Sacraments.
"Catholic" (which means "universal") means that all the means of
salvation are found in the Church. It also means
that Jesus commissions us to bring the Gospel to all peoples at
all times.
"Apostolic" means that the Church is built on the foundation of the
Apostles and hands on the teaching of the Apostles through all
generations.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
Church as one, holy, catholic or apostolic?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 11.
What Catholics Believe about the Church (III)
Catholic believe that under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit the Apostles chose bishops to succeed them.
Bishops teach the faith, celebrate the Sacraments, and guide the
Church. They are helped by priests and deacons.
Lay people share in Christ's priesthood through their baptism.
They are called to holiness, to a prophetic witness in the
world, and to a responsibility to sanctify the world by their
words and deeds.
Some individuals in the Church consecrate their lives to God by
professing the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity,
obedience and stability. They promise to surrender their
lives to God with an undivided heart, making themselves
available to serve God, the Church and the needs of others.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how have you
experienced
the Baptismal call to be holy, prophetic, or to change
the world?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 11.
What Catholics Believe about Mary
Catholics believe that it was an essential part of
God's saving plan for the mother of Jesus to be conceived free
of Original Sin and full of grace. (This is the doctrine
of the Immaculate Conception.)
Beginning with the Annunciation, the Virgin Mary cooperated freely,
in the obedience of faith, with the plan of salvation.
Catholics consider Mary the Mother of God (or Theotokos,
which means "birth-giver of God") because she is the mother of
the Son of God made man. Mary is also called the New Eve
and the Mother of the Church.
Catholics believe that Mary was always a virgin, and that at the
end of her life Mary was taken up body and soul into the glory
of heaven. (This is the doctrine of the Assumption.)
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
Mary as the Mother of God or the Mother of the Church?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter 12.
What Catholics Believe about Eternal Life
Catholics believe in the Communion of Saints, which
includes the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the
blessed in heaven.
We believe that the soul is immortal and does not perish when it
separates from the body at death; it will be reunited with the
body at the final resurrection.
We believe that immediately after death each person comes before
God and is judged individually. At the end of time, a final
judgment will occur when all are assembled before God and their
relationship to God is made public.
Those who die in the state of grace but are not fully purified must
undergo a purification to attain the holiness needed to enter
heaven. This process is called "purgatory."
The Church warns us of the sad reality of eternal death, called
hell, which is brought about by a person's free and permanent
rejection of God and God's love.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
Communion of Saints -- those living and those
departed from this life?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 13.
What Catholics Believe about Liturgy
Catholics praise and adore God as the source of all
blessings through liturgy (which means "public work").
Liturgical celebrations use signs and symbols drawn from creation,
human life and salvation history; integrated into faith, these
signs become bearers of the sanctifying action of Christ.
Sacred song and music lead to prayer, invite participation, and
reflect the sacred character of the liturgy. Sacred images
nourish faith in the mystery of Christ.
In the course of the Liturgical Year, the Church unfolds the
mystery of Christ's Incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection
and ascension.
Sunday and its vigil celebrate Christ's resurrection; it is the day
that the faithful are obliged to attend Mass, rest from work,
and engage in charitable works.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
liturgy as an opportunity to praise and adore God as
the source of all
blessings?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 14.
What Catholics Believe about Sacraments
Catholics believe that Sacraments are
efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted
to the Church.
Sacraments communicate grace to each person. Grace is a
participation in God's life and a growth of love and witness in
the Church; grace is the result of God's favor and initiative.
Christ, the Son of God made flesh, acts in the Sacraments; he
communicates his saving power for his Body, the Church.
The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the Sacraments by helping
us to welcome the Word of God in faith.
The Church celebrates the Sacraments as an assembly of all the
baptized, led by the ordained, each having a special role to
play in the celebration.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
God's saving presence made visible through signs and symbols?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 14.
What Catholics Believe about Baptism
Baptism is one of the Sacraments of Initiation.
Catholics believe Baptism is necessary for salvation and entry into the Church.
The rite of Baptism consists in immersing the person in water three
times or pouring water on the person's head three times while
invoking the Holy Trinity: "In the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
The effects of Baptism are: delivery from all sins; reception of the
grace of divine adoption, which makes us a member of Christ and
a temple of the Holy Spirit; initiation into the Church; and
sharing in Christ's mission as priest, prophet and king.
Baptism seals the person's soul with a permanent spiritual
character and cannot be repeated.
Catholics believe that people who die for the faith, catechumens
who die before being baptized, those who do not know Christ or
the Church through no fault of their own but seek God sincerely
and do God's will can be saved without being baptized. The
Church trusts in God's mercy and confidently hopes for the
salvation of children who die without Baptism.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
grace of baptism -- delivery from sin, reception
of divine adoption,
initiation into the Church, sharing in
Christ's mission?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 15.
What Catholics Believe about Confirmation
Confirmation is one of the Sacraments of
Initiation.
In the Western (or Latin) Church, it is administered after the age
of reason and is normally conferred by the bishop. Like
Baptism, Confirmation confers an indelible character and cannot
be repeated.
The essential rite of Confirmation in the Western Church consists
of the anointing with Chrism on the recipient's forehead and the
laying on of the hand with the words "Be sealed with the gift of
the Holy Spirit."
The effects of Confirmation include a perfection of baptismal
grace; an increase in the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit; a
deepening of our identity as sons and daughters of God; a closer
bond to the Church and her mission; and helps for bearing
witness.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit in your own
life?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 16.
What Catholics Believe about Eucharist
Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's
saving life, death and Resurrection. It is the summit and source of
Christian life because the entire treasure of the Church--Jesus
Christ--is found in the Eucharist.
Jesus instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice, the banquet of divine
life, at the Last Supper. Acting through the ministry of
the priest, Christ is both the priest offering the sacrifice and
the victim being sacrificed in the Eucharist.
At Mass Jesus Christ is substantially present in a way that is
entirely unique. The consecrated bread is Christ's body
and the consecrated wine is Christ's blood. Christ is
fully present under each form.
Catholics are urged to receive Communion at Mass and are obliged to
do so at least once a year during the Easter season.
The fruits of Holy Communion are a deeper union with Christ; a
closer identity with all of the faithful; a commitment to the
poor; and a pledge of future glory.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience the
Eucharist as the summit and source of your life
as a Catholic Christian?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter
17.
What Catholics Believe about Penance
and Reconciliation
Catholics believe that Christ entrusted
the power to forgive sins to the apostles when he gave them the
Holy Spirit (John 20:22-23).
In the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, the acts of the
penitent are contrition (sorrow), confession and satisfaction;
the act of the priest is absolution. The priest proposes a
penance to the penitent to repair the harm due to sin and to
restore the penitent's commitment to be a disciple of Christ.
Individual confession of grave sins according to kind and number is
the only ordinary way of receiving absolution and
reconciliation. While it is not necessary to confess venial
sins, the Church strongly recommends this practice.
The effects of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation include:
reconciliation with God and the Church; peace of conscience and
spiritual consolation; remission of eternal punishment due to
mortal sin and some degree of temporal punishments; and a
greater power to face spiritual challenges.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
God's forgiveness and reconciliation with God and the
Church?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Chapter
18.
What Catholics believe
about Anointing the
Sick and Dying
Catholics believe that the Sacrament of the
Anointing of the Sick is for those who are seriously ill, in
danger of death, or suffering from the difficulties of old age.
The sacrament can be received each time a person falls seriously
ill or an illness worsens.
The rite of the Anointing of the Sick includes the anointing of the
forehead and hands of the sick or other parts of the body,
accompanied by the liturgical prayer that asks for the grace of
the Sacrament.
Only priests and bishops may administer the Sacrament of Anointing
because one effect of this Sacrament can be the forgiveness of
sin.
The gifts of this Sacrament include uniting the sick person with
Christ's Passion for the person's well-being and that of the
Church; strength to endure patiently the sufferings of illness
and old age; the forgiveness of sins if the person was unable to
receive the Sacrament of Penance; and preparation for the
passage to eternal life.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
God's mercy and love for the sick and dying?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 19.
What Catholics believe
about Holy Orders
Catholics believe that through Baptism all the members of the
church share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. This is
called the "common priesthood of the faithful."
Catholics also believe that the Sacrament of Holy Orders confers
another kind of participation in Christ's priesthood, the
ministerial priesthood of bishop and priest. This differs
in essence from the common priesthood because it confers a
sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained
ministry occurs in three degrees or orders: deacon, priest and
bishop.
Bishops are the chief teachers, sanctifiers and shepherds in their
dioceses. Priests form a presbyteral community with the
bishop and assume with him the pastoral mission for a particular
parish. Deacons receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders but
not the ministerial priesthood.
Only men may be ordained. Normally ordination to priesthood
is only conferred on those men who freely promise lifelong
celibacy.
The essential rite of the Sacrament of Holy Orders for all three
degrees consists in the bishop's imposition of hands and the
bishop's prayer of consecration.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
Christ's presence and grace through the ministerial priesthood?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 20.
What Catholics believe
about
Marriage
Catholics believe that God is the author of marriage.
The matrimonial covenant by which a man and a woman establish a
partnership of life is by its nature ordered to the good of the
spouses and the procreation and education of children.
This covenant between Baptized persons has been raised by Christ
to the dignity of a sacrament.
By their marriage the couple witnesses Christ's spousal love for
the Church. The spouses are ministers of Christ's grace
and mutually confer upon each other the Sacrament of Matrimony
by expressing their consent before the Church.
Unity, permanent lifelong commitment and openness to having and
caring for children are essential to marriage. Remarriage
of persons divorced from a lawful living spouse is not permitted
by God's law as taught by Christ.
Catholics believe that the Christian home is the place where
children receive the first proclamation of the faith; for this
reason the family is called "the domestic church."
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
Christ's presence and grace through the sacrament of marriage?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 21.
What Catholics believe
about Sacramentals and Popular
Devotions
Catholics believe that sacramentals are sacred signs instituted
by the Church which bear resemblance to the sacraments and
signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are
obtained through the intercession of the Church.
Among sacramentals, the most significant are blessings for persons,
meals, objects, places and ceremonial occasions. Blessings
praise God for his gifts; most blessings invoke the Holy Trinity
through the Sign of the Cross and are sometimes accompanied by
the sprinkling of holy water.
Exorcism is a form of sacramental blessing directed at the
liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual
authority which Jesus entrusted to the Church.
Various popular devotions or expressions of piety extend the
liturgical life of the Church but do not replace it. Such
devotions are in some way derived from the sacred liturgy and
should lead people to it because the liturgy by its very nature
is far superior to any of them.
For reflection or discussion: Where, when or how do you
experience
Christ's presence and grace through sacramentals or devotions?
Read: The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults,
Chapter 22.
Read questions and
answers about the Catholic faith from
people who are joining the Catholic Church
here.
_____________________
Compiled and Written by Dave Cushing
Posted
05.25.10
Last Update
04.12.12
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