The Catechism of the Catholic Church (or CCC) is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic constitution, Fidei depositum.[2] The new Catechism was first published[3] in the French language in 1994 and was then translated into many other languages.[4]
On August 15, 1997 — the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Pope John Paul II promulgated the Latin typical edition, with his apostolic letter, Laetamur Magnopere.[5] The Latin text, which became the official text of reference (editio typica),[6] amended the contents of the provisional French text at a few points.[7] As a result, the earlier translations from the French into other languages (including English) had to be amended and re-published as "second editions".[8]
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 twelve languages on the Vatican website,[9] which also gives the text of the Catechism itself in eight languages.
Contents |
A catechism has been defined as "a summary of principles, often in question-and-answer format".[10] Documents of religious instruction have been written since the beginning of Christianity and the catechism is typically an assemblage of these smaller documents into one large compilation of Church doctrine and teachings.
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, called a "major catechism." It was given, as stated in the Apostolic Constitution Fidei depositum,[11] 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 the more common idea of a catechism is perhaps the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
CCC is arranged in four principal parts:
This scheme is often referred to as the “Four Pillars” of the Faith. The contents are abundantly footnoted with references to sources of the teaching, in particular the Scriptures, the Church Fathers, and the Ecumenical Councils [12] and other authoritative Catholic statements, principally those issued by recent Popes.
The section on Scripture in the CCC (nos. 101-141) recovers the Patristic tradition of "spiritual exegesis" as further developed through the scholastic doctrine of the "four senses." This return to spiritual exegesis is based on the Second Vatican Council's 1965 "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation",[13] which taught that Scripture should be "read and interpreted in light of the same Spirit by whom it was written" (Dei Verbum 12). The CCC amplifies Dei Verbum by specifying that the necessary spiritual interpretation should be sought through the four senses of Scripture (nos. 111, 113, 115-119),[14] which encompass the literal sense and the three spiritual senses (allegorical, moral, and anagogical).
The literal sense (no. 116) pertains to the meaning of the words themselves, including any figurative meanings. The spiritual senses (no. 117) pertain to the significance of the things (persons, places, objects or events) denoted by the words. Of the three spiritual senses, the allegorical sense is foundational. It relates persons, events, and institutions of earlier covenants to those of later covenants, and especially to the New Covenant. Building on the allegorical sense, the moral sense instructs in regard to action, and the anagogical sense points to man's final destiny. The teaching of the CCC on Scripture has encouraged the recent pursuit of covenantal theology, an approach that employs the four senses to structure salvation history via the biblical covenants.
American Catholic bishops have stated that, though theological opinion was not intended to be a part of CCC,[15] it in fact "does not distinguish between matters of faith and theological opinion."[16]
A commentator, 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",[17] 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."[17]
Pope John Paul II declared the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be universally authoritative and "a sure norm for teaching the faith" and thus "a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion".[2]
In 1992, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) noted[18]:
| “ | 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. | ” |