Catechism of the Catholic Church

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, first published in French in 1992 by the authority of Pope John Paul II. [1] Subsequently, in 1997, a Latin text was issued which is now the official text of reference [2] the contents of the first French text being amended at a few points [3] The volume, which is a stout book of over 900 pages, has since been translated into many other languages, including English, and became an instant best-seller. This presumably showed a widespread interest among Catholics in having an authoritative voice on Catholic positions, but also interest on the part of a wider public.

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church was published in 2005, and the first edition in English in 2006. It is a more concise and dialogic version of the CCC. The text is available in eight languages on the Vatican website.

Contents 1 Contents 2 Critics 3 Points of Controversy 4 Conclusion 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Sites that carry the full CCC' text 6.2 Sites that carry comments on the CCC 6.3 Text of the 'Compendium of the CCC 7 Footnotes

[edit] Contents

A catechism has been defined as "a summary of principles, often in question-and-answer format"[4]. Although handbooks of religious instruction have been written since the time of the Church Fathers, the term "catechism" was first applied to them in the sixteenth century, beginning with Martin Luther’s 1529 publications. Mostly, they are meant for use in class or other formal instruction.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, for which the usual English-language abbreviation is CCC, is instead a source on which to base such catechisms and other expositions of Catholic doctrine. It was given, as stated in the Apostolic Constitution Fidei depositum,[5] with which its publication was ordered, "that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms." The CCC is in fact not in question and answer format. What corresponds to most people's idea of a catechism is instead the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

CCC is arranged in four principal parts:

• The Profession of Faith (the Creed)
• The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (the Sacred Liturgy, especially the sacraments)
• Life in Christ (including the Ten Commandments)
• Christian Prayer (including The Lord's Prayer)

The contents are abundantly footnoted with references to sources of the teaching, in particular the Scriptures, the Church Fathers, and the Ecumenical Councils[6] and other authoritative Catholic statements, principally those issued by recent Popes.

[edit] Critics

Some Orthodox theologians have expressed appreciation of CCC, while not agreeing with all of its contents. This is understandable, since while making references to Byzantine and other Eastern practice and teaching, its basic approach and mode of expression is necessarily Western. Those of Protestant tradition find much more to disagree with, which is also understandable, as there would not be separate Catholic and Protestant camps without such disagreement.

[edit] Points of Controversy

Some Traditionalist Catholics argue that statements made in CCC conflict with past Catholic teachings on many topics, and that it is infected with Gnosticism, promotes the theory of evolution, exonerates the Jewish people and presents them as still in a covenantal relationship with God, favours indifferentism, false ecumenism, secular collaboration and compromise, homosexuality and internationalism [7]

They maintain that, though theological opinion was not intended to be a part of CCC, [8], it in fact "does not distinguish between matters of faith and theological opinion."¹

One such writer, quoting Pope Paul VI to the effect that the Catholic Church has made a conscious attempt to adopt "a more humble and fraternal attitude ... that of a search for the truth",² claims that CCC displays a shift away from presenting dogma as fact and toward presenting the Catholic faith itself as a search for truth.

Referring also to the statement in the Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum that "the contents are often presented in a new way in order to respond to the questions of our age", he claims that the "new catechesis ... attempts to produce existential reactions rather than intellectual conviction."³

Some, desiring a simpler text instead of so diffuse and "ponderous" a book, object to what they consider to be an absence in CCC of the clarity they see in thirteenth-century St. Thomas Aquinas [9] and in the 1885 Baltimore Catechism, [10] (a book that was meant as a class textbook in question-and-answer form, unlike CCC, which is intended as a source for use in composing such textbooks).

They contrast two descriptions of "venial sin" (from which others might draw the opposite conclusion):

Venial sin in Baltimore Catechism [11]

Venial sin in CCC [12]

Q. 290. What is venial sin? A. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance, or in matters of great importance it is an offense committed without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will. Q. 291. Can we always distinguish venial from mortal sin? A. We cannot always distinguish venial from mortal sin, and in such cases we must leave the decision to our confessor. Q. 292. Can slight offenses ever become mortal sins? A. Slight offenses can become mortal sins if we commit them through defiant contempt for God or His law; and also when they are followed by very evil consequences, which we foresee in committing them. Q. 293. Which are the effects of venial sin? A. The effects of venial sin are the lessening of the love of God in our heart, the making us less worthy of His help, and the weakening of the power to resist mortal sin.

1862. One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent. 1863. Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God. With God's grace it is humanly reparable. "Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness" (Pope John Paul II, Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 17 §9). While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call 'light'; if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope? Above all, confession... (St Augustine, In ep. Jo. 1,6: PL 35, 1982)

[edit] Conclusion

Whether one considers these criticisms well-founded or baseless, CCC is clearly a prime source today for knowledge of the teaching of the Catholic Church, both in general and on particular questions that were not raised in previous official compilations, such as the Catechism of Pope Pius V or of the Council of Trent, [13] or that of Pope Pius X [14]. It is an authoritative source, declared by Pope John Paul II to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion." [15]

CCC is also, in the quotations it gives, a handy reference work which provides an entry point to Scripture, as well as to the Church Fathers and other Church writings.

The interest in Church teachings that CCC has stirred even in circles outside the Catholic Church was noted by Pope Benedict XVI prior to his becoming Pope [16]:

"It clearly show[s] that the problem of what we must do as human beings, of how we should live our lives so that we and the world may become just, is the essential problem of our day, and basically of all ages. After the fall of ideologies, the problem of man — the moral problem — is presented to today's context in a totally new way: What should we do? How does life become just? What can give us and the whole world a future which is worth living? Since the catechism treats these questions, it is a book which interests many people, far beyond purely theological or ecclesial circles." [17]

[edit] References

• Catechism of the Catholic Church - English translation (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000). ISBN 1-57455-110-8
• Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - English translation (USCCB, 2006). ISBN 1-57455-720-3

[edit] External links

[edit] Sites that carry the full CCC' text

• Vatican Latin editio typica; English, French and Italian texts revised in accordance with the Latin editio typica; German and Spanish unrevised texts (based on the provisional French text)
• Fulltext Search Latin editio typica; English text revised in accordance with the Latin editio typica
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops English - Second edition (revised in accordance with the Latin editio typica)
• St. Charles Borromeo English - Second edition (revised in accordance with the Latin editio typica), with full text search and list of changes between the First and Second editions

[edit] Sites that carry comments on the CCC

• US Catholic Bishops Conference: Office for the Catechism
• Catechism of the Catholic Church Simplified - A condensation of the text, not the text itself

[edit] Text of the 'Compendium of the CCC

• Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish

[edit] Footnotes

• ¹ Michael J. Wrenn & Kenneth D. Whitehead, Flawed Expectations: The Reception of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Ignatius Press, 1996, ISBN 0-89870-591-6, p. 208.
• ² Romano Amerio, Iota Unum: A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church in the XXth Century, 1996, Sarto House, ISBN 0-9639032-1-7, §130.
• ³ Amerio, op. cit., §132.