Catechism of the Catholic Church
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION /
FIDEI DEPOSITUM
On the publication of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Prepared following the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
John Paul, Bishop
Servant of the servants of God
For Everlasting Memory
To my Venerable Brothers the Cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests,
Deacons and to all the People of God.
GUARDING THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH IS THE MISSION WHICH THE LORD ENTRUSTED TO HIS CHURCH,
and which she fulfils in every age. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which was
opened 30 years ago by my predecessor Pope John XXIII, of happy memory, had as its
intention and purpose to highlight the Church's apostolic and pastoral mission, and by
making the truth of the Gospel shine forth to lead all people to seek and receive Christ's
love which surpasses all knowledge (cf. Eph 3:19).
The principal task entrusted to the Council by Pope John XXIII was to guard and present
better the precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to
the Christian faithful and to all people of good will. For this reason the Council was not
first of all to condemn the errors of the time, but above all to strive calmly to show the
strength and beauty of the doctrine of the faith. "Illumined by the light of this
Council", the Pope said, "the Church . . . will become greater in spiritual
riches and gaining the strength of new energies therefrom, she will look to the future
without fear . . . Our duty is to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear
to that work which our era demands of us, thus pursuing the path which the Church has
followed for 20 centuries."[1]
With the help of God, the Council Fathers in four years of work were able to produce a
considerable number of doctrinal statements and pastoral norms which were presented to the
whole Church. There the Pastors and Christian faithful find directives for that
"renewal of thought, action, practices and moral virtue, of joy and hope, which was
the very purpose of the Council".[2]
After its conclusion, the Council did not cease to inspire the Church's life. In 1985 I
was able to assert, "For me, then - who had the special grace of participating in it
and actively collaborating in its development - Vatican II has always been, and especially
during these years of my Pontificate, the constant reference point of my every pastoral
action, in the conscious commitment to implement its directives concretely and faithfully
at the level of each Church and the whole Church."[3]
In this spirit, on 25 January 1985, I convoked an extraordinary assembly of the Synod
of Bishops for the 20th anniversary of the close of the Council. The purpose of this
assembly was to celebrate the graces and spiritual fruits of Vatican II, to study its
teaching in greater depth in order that all the Christian faithful might better adhere to
it, and to promote knowledge and application of it.
On that occasion the Synod Fathers stated: "Very many have expressed the desire
that a catechism or compendium of all Catholic doctrine regarding both faith and morals be
composed, that it might be, as it were, a point of reference for the catechisms or
compendiums that are prepared in various regions. The presentation of doctrine must be
biblical and liturgical. It must be sound doctrine suited to the present life of
Christians."[4] After the Synod ended, I made this desire my own, considering it as
"fully responding to a real need of the universal Church and of the particular
Churches".[5]
For this reason we thank the Lord whole-heartedly on this day when we can offer the
entire Church this "reference text" entitled the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, for a catechesis renewed at the living sources of the faith!
Following the renewal of the Liturgy and the new codification of the canon law of the
Latin Church and that of the Oriental Catholic Churches, this catechism will make a very
important contribution to that work of renewing the whole life of the Church, as desired
and begun by the Second Vatican Council.
I. The Process and Spirit of Drafting the Text
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the result of very extensive collaboration; it
was prepared over six years of intense work done in a spirit of complete openness and
fervent zeal.
In 1986, I entrusted a commission of twelve Cardinals and Bishops, chaired by Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, with the task of preparing a draft of the catechism requested by the
Synod Fathers. An editorial committee of seven diocesan Bishops, experts in theology and
catechesis, assisted the commission in its work.
The commission, charged with giving directives and with overseeing the course of the
work, attentively followed all the stages in editing the nine subsequent drafts. The
editorial committee, for its part, assumed responsibility for writing the text, making the
emendations requested by the commission and examining the observations of numerous
theologians, exegetes and catechists, and above all, of the Bishops of the whole world, in
order to produce a better text. In the committee various opinions were compared with great
profit, and thus a richer text has resulted whose unity and coherence are assured.
The project was the object of extensive consultation among all Catholic Bishops, their
Episcopal Conferences or Synods, and theological and catechetical institutes. As a whole,
it received a broadly favourable acceptance on the part of the Episcopate. It can be said
that this Catechism is the result of the collaboration of the whole Episcopate of the
Catholic Church, who generously accepted my invitation to share responsibility for an
enterprise which directly concerns the life of the Church. This response elicits in me a
deep feeling of joy, because the harmony of so many voices truly expresses what could be
called the "symphony" of the faith. The achievement of this Catechism thus
reflects the collegial nature of the Episcopate; it testifies to the Church's catholicity.
2. Arrangement of the Material
A catechism should faithfully and systematically present the teaching of Sacred
Scripture, the living Tradition in the Church and the authentic Magisterium, as well as
the spiritual heritage of the Fathers, Doctors and saints of the Church, to allow for a
better knowledge of the Christian mystery and for enlivening the faith of the People of
God. It should take into account the doctrinal statements which down the centuries the
Holy Spirit has intimated to his Church. It should also help to illumine with the light of
faith the new situations and problems which had not yet emerged in the past.
This catechism will thus contain both the new and the old (cf. Mt 13:52), because the
faith is always the same yet the source of ever new light.
To respond to this twofold demand, the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the one hand
repeats the "old", traditional order already followed by the Catechism of St.
Pius V, arranging the material in four parts: the Creed, the Sacred Liturgy, with pride of
place given to the sacraments, the Christian way of life, explained beginning with the Ten
Commandments, and finally, Christian prayer. At the same time, however, the contents are
often presented in a "new" way in order to respond to the questions of our age.
The four parts are related one to another: the Christian mystery is the object of faith
(first part); it is celebrated and communicated in liturgical actions (second part); it is
present to enlighten and sustain the children of God in their actions (third part); it is
the basis for our prayer, the privileged expression of which is the Our Father, and it
represents the object of our supplication, our praise and our intercession (fourth part).
The Liturgy itself is prayer; the confession of faith finds its proper place in the
celebration of worship. Grace, the fruit of the sacraments, is the irreplaceable condition
for Christian living, just as participation in the Church's Liturgy requires faith. If
faith is not expressed in works, it is dead (cf. Jas 2:14-16) and cannot bear fruit unto
eternal life. In reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church we can perceive the
wonderful unity of the mystery of God, his saving will, as well as the central place of
Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, sent by the Father, made man in the womb of
the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be our Saviour. Having died
and risen, Christ is always present in his Church, especially in the sacraments; he is the
source of our faith, the model of Christian conduct and the Teacher of our prayer.
3. The Doctrinal Value of the Text
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the publication
of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church's
faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the
Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for
teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. May
it serve the renewal to which the Holy Spirit ceaselessly calls the Church of God, the
Body of Christ, on her pilgrimage to the undiminished light of the Kingdom!
The approval and publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church represent a
service which the Successor of Peter wishes to offer to the Holy Catholic Church, to all
the particular Churches in peace and communion with the Apostolic See: the service, that
is, of supporting and confirming the faith of all the Lord Jesus' disciples (cf. Lk 22:32
as well as of strengthening the bonds of unity in the same apostolic faith. Therefore, I
ask all the Church's Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this catechism in a
spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming
the faith and calling people to the Gospel life. This catechism is given to them that it
may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly
for preparing local catechisms. It is also offered to all the faithful who wish to deepen
their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Eph 3:8). It is meant to
support ecumenical efforts that are moved by the holy desire for the unity of all
Christians, showing carefully the content and wondrous harmony of the catholic faith. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, lastly, is offered to every individual who asks us to
give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. I Pt 3:15) and who wants to know what the
Catholic Church believes.
This catechism is not intended to replace the local catechisms duly approved by the
ecclesiastical authorities, the diocesan Bishops and the Episcopal Conferences, especially
if they have been approved by the Apostolic See. It is meant to encourage and assist in
the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and
cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to catholic doctrine.
At the conclusion of this document presenting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I
beseech the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Mother of the Church, to
support with her powerful intercession the catechetical work of the entire Church on every
level, at this time when she is called to a new effort of evangelization. May the light of
the true faith free humanity from the ignorance and slavery of sin in order to lead it to
the only freedom worthy of the name (cf. Jn 8:32): that of life in Jesus Christ under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, here below and in the Kingdom of heaven, in the fullness of
the blessed vision of God face to face (cf. I Cor 13:12; 2 Cor 5:6-8)!
Given 11 October 1992, the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, in the fourteenth year of my Pontificate.
Joannes Paulus II
ENDNOTES
1. John XXIII, Discourse at the Opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, 11 October 1962: AAS 54 (1962), 788-91.
2. Paul VI, Discourse at the Closing of the Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, 7 December 1965: AAS 58 (1966), 7-8.
3. John Paul II, Discourse of 25 January 1985: L'Osservatore Romano, 27
January 1985.
4 Final Report of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, 7 December 1985:
the Enchiridion Vaticanum vol. 9, II B a, n. 4:p. 1758, n. 1797.
5. John Paul II, Discourse at the of Closing of Extraordinary Synod of
Bishops, 7 December 1985, n. 6: AAS 78 (1986), 435.
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