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PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

CHAPTER ONE MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD (23 ¶)

¶ 27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God …
¶ 28 In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: i…
¶ 29 But this "intimate and vital bond of man to God" (GS 19 # 1) can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. 3 Such attitudes can ha…
¶ 30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." 5 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as…
¶ 31 Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called p…
¶ 32 The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the e…
¶ 33 The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings f…
¶ 34 The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in …
¶ 35 Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with …
¶ 36 "Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created…
¶ 37 In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone:…
¶ 38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also "about th…
¶ 39 In defending the ability of human reason to know God, the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and …
¶ 40 Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point, and in ac…
¶ 41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. the manifold perfections of creatures …
¶ 42 God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, imagebound or imperfect, if we ar…
¶ 43 Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, thoug…
¶ 44 Man is by nature and vocation a religious being. Coming from God, going toward God, man lives a fully human life only if he freely lives by his bond w…
¶ 45 Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; enti…
¶ 46 When he listens to the message of creation and to the voice of conscience, man can arrive at certainty about the existence of God, the cause and the e…
¶ 47 The Church teaches that the one true God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty from his works, by the natural light of human reason (cf. …
¶ 48 We really can name God, starting from the manifold perfections of his creatures, which are likenesses of the infinitely perfect God, even if our limit…
¶ 49 Without the Creator, the creature vanishes (GS 36). This is the reason why believers know that the love of Christ urges them to bring the light of the…

CHAPTER TWO GOD COMES TO MEET MAN (92 ¶)

¶ 50 By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arriv…
¶ 51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to …
¶ 52 God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons i…
¶ 53 The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other" 4 and shed light on eac…
¶ 54 "God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities. and furthermore, wishing …
¶ 55 This revelation was not broken off by our first parents' sin. "After the fall, (God) buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising redemptio…
¶ 56 After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once sought to save humanity part by part. the covenant with Noah after the flood gives …
¶ 57 This state of division into many nations, each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels, is at once cosmic, social and religious. …
¶ 58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. 13 The Bible venerates sever…
¶ 59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred and his father's house, 16 and makes him Abraham, that is…
¶ 60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustee of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when G…
¶ 61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honoured as saints in all the Church's liturgical tradit…
¶ 62 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount Sinai and,…
¶ 63 Israel is the priestly people of God, "called by the name of the LORD", and "the first to hear the word of God", 21 The people of "elder brethren" in …
¶ 64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be writ…
¶ 65 "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." 26 Christ, the Son of…
¶ 66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected b…
¶ 67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not b…
¶ 68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks h…
¶ 69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words.
¶ 70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promise…
¶ 71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.
¶ 72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. …
¶ 73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever. the Son is his Father's definitive Word; so t…
¶ 74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth": 29 that is, of Christ Jesus. 30 Christ must be proclaimed to all nations …
¶ 75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promise…
¶ 76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways: - orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preachi…
¶ 77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their …
¶ 78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected t…
¶ 79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, conti…
¶ 80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the s…
¶ 81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." 42
¶ 82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed trut…
¶ 83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the…
¶ 84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei), 45 contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Ch…
¶ 85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the…
¶ 86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and…
¶ 87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me", 49 The faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their…
¶ 88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes truths c…
¶ 89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it se…
¶ 90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ. 51 "In Catholic doct…
¶ 91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them 53 and …
¶ 92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus f…
¶ 93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magister…
¶ 94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the lif…
¶ 95 "It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so con…
¶ 96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generat…
¶ 97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (DV 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contem…
¶ 98 "The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes" (DV 8 # …
¶ 99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from …
¶ 100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bis…
¶ 101 In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: "Indeed the words of God, expressed in the …
¶ 102 Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely: 64
¶ 103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the brea…
¶ 104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is,…
¶ 105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been …
¶ 106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this ta…
¶ 107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy…
¶ 108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not a written and mute word, but incar…
¶ 109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly …
¶ 110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in…
¶ 111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would rema…
¶ 112 Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by rea…
¶ 113 2. Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church". According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally…
¶ 114 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith. 82 By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole p…
¶ 115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided int…
¶ 116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All othe…
¶ 117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be …
¶ 118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:
¶ 119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in or…
¶ 120 It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books. 90
¶ 121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, 92 for the Old Covenant …
¶ 122 Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately SO oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeem…
¶ 123 Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. the Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the …
¶ 124 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in th…
¶ 125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour". …
¶ 126 We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 1. the life and teaching of Jesus. the Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "wh…
¶ 127 The fourfold Gospel holds a unique place in the Church, as is evident both in the veneration which the liturgy accords it and in the surpassing attrac…
¶ 128 The Church, as early as apostolic times, 104 and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments …
¶ 129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content o…
¶ 130 Typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfilment of the divine plan when "God [will] be everything to everyone." 108 Nor do the calling o…
¶ 131 "and such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength…
¶ 132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. the ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics a…
¶ 133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading o…
¶ 134 "All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfill…
¶ 135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24).
¶ 136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their …
¶ 137 Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What co…
¶ 138 The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New.
¶ 139 The four Gospels occupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their centre.
¶ 140 The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. the Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament…
¶ 141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord" (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian lif…

CHAPTER THREE MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD (43 ¶)

¶ 142 By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and recei…
¶ 143 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. 2 With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture …
¶ 144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to "hear or listen to") in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guarante…
¶ 145 The Letter to the Hebrews, in its great eulogy of the faith of Israel's ancestors, lays special emphasis on Abraham's faith: "By faith, Abraham obeyed…
¶ 146 Abraham thus fulfils the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen": 7 "Abra…
¶ 147 The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who "rece…
¶ 148 The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing…
¶ 149 Throughout her life and until her last ordeal 15 when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the …
¶ 150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revea…
¶ 151 For a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his "beloved Son", in whom the Father is "well pleased"; God …
¶ 152 One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without sharing in his Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to men who Jesus is. For "no one can say "Jesus is…
¶ 153 When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come "from flesh and …
¶ 154 Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Tr…
¶ 155 In faith, the human intellect and will co-operate with divine grace: "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of…
¶ 156 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because …
¶ 157 Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truth…
¶ 158 "Faith seeks understanding": 33 it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understan…
¶ 159 Faith and science: "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mys…
¶ 160 To be human, "man's response to God by faith must be free, and... therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. the act of f…
¶ 161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. 42 "Since "without faith it is impo…
¶ 162 Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, h…
¶ 163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is"…
¶ 164 Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; 49 we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". 50 Even though enlightened by him in wh…
¶ 165 It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who "in hope... believed against hope"; 51 to the Virgin Mary, who, in "her pilgrimage …
¶ 166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one…
¶ 167 "I believe" (Apostles' Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. "We believe" (Niceno-Const…
¶ 168 It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord: "Thro…
¶ 169 Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother o…
¶ 170 We do not believe in formulae, but in those realities they express, which faith allows us to touch. "The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate …
¶ 171 The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", faithfully guards "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". She guards the memory…
¶ 172 Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one …
¶ 173 "Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their…
¶ 174 "For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. the Churches established in Germany have no other…
¶ 175 "We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great pric…
¶ 176 Faith is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself. It involves an assent of the intellect and will to the self-revelation God …
¶ 177 "To believe" has thus a twofold reference: to the person, and to the truth: to the truth, by trust in the person who bears witness to it.
¶ 178 We must believe in no one but God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
¶ 179 Faith is a supernatural gift from God. In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit.
¶ 180 "Believing" is a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person.
¶ 181 "Believing" is an ecclesial act. the Church's faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. the Church is the mother of all believers. …
¶ 182 We believe all "that which is contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church proposes for belief as divinely revealed" (Pa…
¶ 183 Faith is necessary for salvation. the Lord himself affirms: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condem…
¶ 184 "Faith is a foretaste of the knowledge that will make us blessed in the life to come" (St. Thomas Aquinas. Comp. theol. 1, 2).

CHAPTER ONE I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER (224 ¶)

¶ 198 Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last, 1 The beginning and the end of everything. the Credo begins with God the F…
¶ 199 "I believe in God": this first affirmation of the Apostles' Creed is also the most fundamental. the whole Creed speaks of God, and when it also speaks…
¶ 200 These are the words with which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed begins. the confession of God's oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelati…
¶ 201 To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with …
¶ 202 Jesus himself affirms that God is "the one Lord" whom you must love "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all…
¶ 203 God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this p…
¶ 204 God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old …
¶ 205 God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that burns without being consumed: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and th…
¶ 206 In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. T…
¶ 207 By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past ("I am the God of you…
¶ 208 Faced with God's fascinating and mysterious presence, man discovers his own insignificance. Before the burning bush, Moses takes off his sandals and v…
¶ 209 Out of respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce his name. In the reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (YHWH) i…
¶ 210 After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in…
¶ 211 The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "ste…
¶ 212 Over the centuries, Israel's faith was able to manifest and deepen realization of the riches contained in the revelation of the divine name. God is un…
¶ 213 The revelation of the ineffable name "I AM WHO AM" contains then the truth that God alone IS. the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scripture…
¶ 214 God, "HE WHO IS", revealed himself to Israel as the one "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness". 27 These two terms express summarily the riche…
¶ 215 "The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever." 30 "and now, O LORD God, you are God, and your words are …
¶ 216 God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world. 33 God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart tru…
¶ 217 God is also truthful when he reveals himself - the teaching that comes from God is "true instruction". 35 When he sends his Son into the world it will…
¶ 218 In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them fr…
¶ 219 God's love for Israel is compared to a father's love for his son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother's for her children. God loves his …
¶ 220 God's love is "everlasting": 41 "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you." 42 Through J…
¶ 221 But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is love": 44 God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the …
¶ 222 Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life.
¶ 223 It means coming to know God's greatness and majesty: "Behold, God is great, and we know him not." 46 Therefore, we must "serve God first". 47
¶ 224 It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him: "What have you that you did not receive?" 48 "What…
¶ 225 It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men: everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. 50
¶ 226 It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer…
¶ 227 It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this trust:
¶ 228 "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD..." (Dt 6:4; Mk 12:29). "The supreme being must be unique, without equal. . . If God is not one, he is n…
¶ 229 Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything…
¶ 230 Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: "If you understood him, it would not be God" (St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 6, 16: PL 38,…
¶ 231 The God of our faith has revealed himself as HE WHO IS; and he has made himself known as "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex 34:6). God…
¶ 232 Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" 53 Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-p…
¶ 233 Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names, 55 for there is only one God, the almight…
¶ 234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the sour…
¶ 235 This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith…
¶ 236 The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of God's inmost life with…
¶ 237 The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the "mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed…
¶ 238 Many religions invoke God as "Father". the deity is often considered the "father of gods and of men". In Israel, God is called "Father" inasmuch as he…
¶ 239 By calling God "Father", the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and t…
¶ 240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his on…
¶ 241 For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"; as "the i…
¶ 242 Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is "consubstantial" with the Fat…
¶ 243 Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of "another Paraclete" (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously "spoken…
¶ 244 The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time. the Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in t…
¶ 245 The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the …
¶ 246 The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque)". the Council of Florence in 1438 explains…
¶ 247 The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Al…
¶ 248 At the outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father's character as first origin of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he "who proceeds from …
¶ 249 From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It…
¶ 250 During the first centuries the Church sought to clarify her Trinitarian faith, both to deepen her own understanding of the faith and to defend it agai…
¶ 251 In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop her own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origi…
¶ 252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "…
¶ 253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity". 83 The divine persons do not share the o…
¶ 254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. "God is one but not solitary." 86 "Father", "Son", "Holy Spirit" are not simply names designa…
¶ 255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resi…
¶ 256 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called "the Theologian", entrusts this summary of Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople: Above all gua…
¶ 257 "O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!" 93 God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. G…
¶ 258 The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only…
¶ 259 Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature.…
¶ 260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. 100 But even now we are ca…
¶ 261 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by reveali…
¶ 262 The Incarnation of God's Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Fathe…
¶ 263 The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (Jn 14:26) and by the Son "from the Father" (Jn 15:26), reveals that, with t…
¶ 264 "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father an…
¶ 265 By the grace of Baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, …
¶ 266 "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the subs…
¶ 267 Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows forth what is…
¶ 268 of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his …
¶ 269 The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the "Mighty One of Jacob", the "LORD of hosts", the "strong and mighty…
¶ 270 God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our…
¶ 271 God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: "In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be…
¶ 272 Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of …
¶ 273 Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power. 11…
¶ 274 "Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped…
¶ 275 With Job, the just man, we confess: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).
¶ 276 Faithful to the witness of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the "almighty and eternal God" (“omnipotens sempiterne Deus. . ."), bel…
¶ 277 God shows forth his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace. "God, you show your almighty power abov…
¶ 278 If we do not believe that God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify u…
¶ 279 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 116 Holy Scripture begins with these solemn words. the profession of faith takes them up whe…
¶ 280 Creation is the foundation of "all God's saving plans," the "beginning of the history of salvation" 117 that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the mys…
¶ 281 And so the readings of the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the new creation in Christ, begin with the creation account; likewise in the Byzantine lit…
¶ 282 Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the…
¶ 283 The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of …
¶ 284 The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural…
¶ 285 Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cu…
¶ 286 Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. the existence of God the Creator can be known with cert…
¶ 287 The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary t…
¶ 288 Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as…
¶ 289 Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may h…
¶ 290 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth": 128 three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a begi…
¶ 291 "In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." …
¶ 292 The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, 132 inseparably one with that of the Father. Th…
¶ 293 Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: "The world was made for the glory of God." 134 St. Bonaventure expl…
¶ 294 The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to…
¶ 295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. 141 It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We be…
¶ 296 We believe that God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of necessary emanation from the divine substa…
¶ 297 Scripture bears witness to faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for m…
¶ 298 Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in the…
¶ 299 Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: "You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight." 151 The universe, create…
¶ 300 God is infinitely greater than all his works: "You have set your glory above the heavens." 156 Indeed, God's "greatness is unsearchable". 157 But beca…
¶ 301 With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds an…
¶ 302 Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. the universe was created "in …
¶ 303 The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to …
¶ 304 And so we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. Thi…
¶ 305 Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: "Therefore do not be an…
¶ 306 God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creatures' co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but…
¶ 307 To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of "subduing" the earth and ha…
¶ 308 The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in…
¶ 309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing…
¶ 310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But wi…
¶ 311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They ca…
¶ 312 In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatu…
¶ 313 "We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him." 180 The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth:
¶ 314 We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when ou…
¶ 315 In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the "…
¶ 316 Though the work of creation is attributed to the Father in particular, it is equally a truth of faith that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together ar…
¶ 317 God alone created the universe, freely, directly and without any help.
¶ 318 No creature has the infinite power necessary to "create" in the proper sense of the word, that is, to produce and give being to that which had in no w…
¶ 319 God created the world to show forth and communicate his glory. That his creatures should share in his truth, goodness and beauty - this is the glory f…
¶ 320 God created the universe and keeps it in existence by his Word, the Son "upholding the universe by his word of power" (Heb 1:3), and by his Creator Sp…
¶ 321 Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.
¶ 322 Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father (cf Mt 6:26-34), and St. Peter the apostle repeats: "Cast all your anxietie…
¶ 323 Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to co-operate freely with his plans.
¶ 324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. F…
¶ 325 The Apostles' Creed professes that God is "creator of heaven and earth". the Nicene Creed makes it explicit that this profession includes "all that is…
¶ 326 The Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that b…
¶ 327 The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God "from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both ord…
¶ 328 The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. the witness of Scripture is as …
¶ 329 St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the n…
¶ 330 As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatu…
¶ 331 Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. . " 191 They bel…
¶ 332 Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplis…
¶ 333 From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God "brings the first…
¶ 334 In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels. 201
¶ 335 In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the Roman Canon's Supplices te rogamus…
¶ 336 From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. 202 "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and she…
¶ 337 God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a successio…
¶ 338 Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. the world began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, al…
¶ 339 Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "and God saw that it was g…
¶ 340 God wills the interdependence of creatures. the sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their c…
¶ 341 The beauty of the universe: the order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist amo…
¶ 342 The hierarchy of creatures is expressed by the order of the "six days", from the less perfect to the more perfect. God loves all his creatures 209 and…
¶ 343 Man is the summit of the Creator's work, as the inspired account expresses by clearly distinguishing the creation of man from that of the other creatu…
¶ 344 There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that all have the same Creator and are all ordered to his glory: May you be praised, O…
¶ 345 The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. the sacred text says that "on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done", that the "h…
¶ 346 In creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and ple…
¶ 347 Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation. 2…
¶ 348 The sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law. To keep the commandments is to correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in his work of c…
¶ 349 The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection. the seventh day completes the first creation. the eighth day begins…
¶ 350 Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: "The angels work together for the b…
¶ 351 The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his saving mission to men.
¶ 352 The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.
¶ 353 God willed the diversity of his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence and their order. He destined all material creatures…
¶ 354 Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality…
¶ 355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." 218 Man occupies a unique place in creation: …
¶ 356 Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator". 219 He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for himself", 220 …
¶ 357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowle…
¶ 358 God created everything for man, 222 but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him: What is it that is about …
¶ 359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear." 224
¶ 360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for "from one ancestor (God) made all nations to inhabit the whole earth": 226
¶ 361 "This law of human solidarity and charity", 228 without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly…
¶ 362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. the biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic lan…
¶ 363 In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person. 230 But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, …
¶ 364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the who…
¶ 365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: 234 i.e., it is because of its spiritual sou…
¶ 366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it do…
¶ 367 Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance prays that God may sanctify his people "wholly", with "spirit and soul and …
¶ 368 The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or a…
¶ 369 Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respect…
¶ 370 In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But …
¶ 371 God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. the Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred t…
¶ 372 Man and woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which eac…
¶ 373 In God's plan man and woman have the vocation of "subduing" the earth 248 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructi…
¶ 374 The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation aro…
¶ 375 The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our fir…
¶ 376 By the radiance of this grace all dimensions of man's life were confirmed. As long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer…
¶ 377 The "mastery" over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. the first man was uni…
¶ 378 The sign of man's familiarity with God is that God places him in the garden. 255 There he lives "to till it and keep it". Work is not yet a burden, 25…
¶ 379 This entire harmony of original justice, foreseen for man in God's plan, will be lost by the sin of our first parents.
¶ 380 "Father,. . . you formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all creatures" (Roman M…
¶ 381 Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the first-born o…
¶ 382 "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity" (GS 14 # 1). the doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immedia…
¶ 383 "God did not create man a solitary being. From the beginning, "male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). This partnership of man and woman constitu…
¶ 384 Revelation makes known to us the state of original holiness and justice of man and woman before sin: from their friendship with God flowed the happine…
¶ 385 God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to…
¶ 386 Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, …
¶ 387 Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the knowledge Rev…
¶ 388 With the progress of Revelation, the reality of sin is also illuminated. Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had tried to u…
¶ 389 The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the "reverse side" of the Good News that Jesus is the Saviour of all men, that all need salvation and th…
¶ 390 The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of…
¶ 391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. 266 Scriptur…
¶ 392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. 269 This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejecte…
¶ 393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no …
¶ 394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mi…
¶ 395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He canno…
¶ 396 God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God.…
¶ 397 Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first s…
¶ 398 In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his crea…
¶ 399 Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. 280 They become a…
¶ 400 The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the b…
¶ 401 After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in…
¶ 402 All men are implicated in Adam's sin, as St. Paul affirms: "By one man's disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners": "sin came into the w…
¶ 403 Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot …
¶ 404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? the whole human race is in Adam "as one body of one man". 293 By this "unity of the hum…
¶ 405 Although it is proper to each individual, 295 original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a depri…
¶ 406 The Church's teaching on the transmission of original sin was articulated more precisely in the fifth century, especially under the impulse of St. Aug…
¶ 407 The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of redemption by Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and activity in the w…
¶ 408 The consequences of original sin and of all men's personal sins put the world as a whole in the sinful condition aptly described in St. John's express…
¶ 409 This dramatic situation of "the whole world [which] is in the power of the evil one" 302 makes man's life a battle:
¶ 410 After his fall, man was not abandoned by God. On the contrary, God calls him and in a mysterious way heralds the coming victory over evil and his rest…
¶ 411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the "New Adam" who, because he "became obedient unto death, even death on a cross", ma…
¶ 412 But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great responds, "Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those …
¶ 413 "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. . . It was through the devil's envy that death entered the world" (Wis 1:…
¶ 414 Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. T…
¶ 415 "Although set by God in a state of rectitude man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up again…
¶ 416 By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings.
¶ 417 Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this de…
¶ 418 As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin …
¶ 419 "We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted with human nature, "by propagation, not by imitation" and that it is. …
¶ 420 The victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from us: "where sin increased, grace abounded all t…
¶ 421 Christians believe that "the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love; has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free …

CHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD (261 ¶)

¶ 422 'But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we mig…
¶ 423 We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Cae…
¶ 424 Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' 8 On …
¶ 425 The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, th…
¶ 426 "At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for…
¶ 427 In catechesis "Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God,. . . is taught - everything else is taught with reference to him - and it is Christ alone wh…
¶ 428 Whoever is called "to teach Christ" must first seek "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus"; he must suffer "the loss of all things. . ." in or…
¶ 429 From this loving knowledge of Christ springs the desire to proclaim him, to "evangelize", and to lead others to the "yes" of faith in Jesus Christ. Bu…
¶ 430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identi…
¶ 431 In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage" 20 by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them f…
¶ 432 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from si…
¶ 433 The name of the Saviour God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy…
¶ 434 Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Saviour God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the…
¶ 435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". the Hail Mary r…
¶ 436 The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he a…
¶ 437 To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, w…
¶ 438 Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, "for the name 'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very anoint…
¶ 439 Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", promised by …
¶ 440 Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man. 40 He unve…
¶ 441 In the Old Testament, "son of God" is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings. 44 It signifies an adop…
¶ 442 Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God", for Jesus responds solemnly: "Flesh and blood…
¶ 443 Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accu…
¶ 444 The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beloved So…
¶ 445 After his Resurrection, Jesus' divine sonship becomes manifest in the power of his glorified humanity. He was "designated Son of God in power accordin…
¶ 446 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses, 59 is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord…
¶ 447 Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way w…
¶ 448 Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as "Lord". This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing…
¶ 449 By attributing to Jesus the divine title "Lord", the first confessions of the Church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honour and glor…
¶ 450 From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should …
¶ 451 Christian prayer is characterized by the title "Lord", whether in the invitation to prayer ("The Lord be with you"), its conclusion ("through Christ o…
¶ 452 The name Jesus means "God saves". the child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, "for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21): "there i…
¶ 453 The title "Christ" means "Anointed One" (Messiah).Jesus is the Christ, for "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts …
¶ 454 The title "Son of God" signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf Jn 1:14, …
¶ 455 The title "Lord" indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' excep…
¶ 456 With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became…
¶ 457 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins": "the Fa…
¶ 458 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the …
¶ 459 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one come…
¶ 460 The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature": 78 "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: …
¶ 461 Taking up St. John's expression, "The Word became flesh", 82 The Church calls "Incarnation" the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in ord…
¶ 462 The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:
¶ 463 Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which c…
¶ 464 The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it im…
¶ 465 The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted…
¶ 466 The Nestorian heresy regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God's Son. Opposing this heresy, St. Cyril of Alexandria and the…
¶ 467 The Monophysites affirmed that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine person of God's Son assumed it. Faced with this …
¶ 468 After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ's human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constant…
¶ 469 The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became …
¶ 470 Because "human nature was assumed, not absorbed", 97 in the mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of centuries to co…
¶ 471 Apollinarius of Laodicaea asserted that in Christ the divine Word had replaced the soul or spirit. Against this error the Church confessed that the et…
¶ 472 This human soul that the Son of God assumed is endowed with a true human knowledge. As such, this knowledge could not in itself be unlimited: it was e…
¶ 473 But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God's Son expressed the divine life of his person. 104 "The human nature of God's Son, not by itse…
¶ 474 By its union to the divine wisdom in the person of the Word incarnate, Christ enjoyed in his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eter…
¶ 475 Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations…
¶ 476 Since the Word became flesh in assuming a true humanity, Christ's body was finite. 112 Therefore the human face of Jesus can be portrayed; at the seve…
¶ 477 At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus "we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we …
¶ 478 Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: "The Son of God. . . loved me…
¶ 479 At the time appointed by God, the only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and substantial Image of the Father, became incarnate; w…
¶ 480 Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men.
¶ 481 Jesus Christ possesses two natures, one divine and the other human, not confused, but united in the one person of God's Son.
¶ 482 Christ, being true God and true man, has a human intellect and will, perfectly attuned and subject to his divine intellect and divine will, which he h…
¶ 483 The Incarnation is therefore the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in the one person of the Word.
¶ 484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", 119 The time of the fulfilment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to co…
¶ 485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. 122 The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanc…
¶ 486 The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning o…
¶ 487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in C…
¶ 488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him, 125 he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for …
¶ 489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, s…
¶ 490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." 132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annu…
¶ 491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, 134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception…
¶ 492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "…
¶ 493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fash…
¶ 494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with …
¶ 495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "…
¶ 496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the …
¶ 497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility: 148 "That whi…
¶ 498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder i…
¶ 499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the…
¶ 500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. 157 The Church has always understood th…
¶ 501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God …
¶ 502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born o…
¶ 503 Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from the Father because…
¶ 504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from …
¶ 505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?" 165 …
¶ 506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith "unadulterated by any doubt", and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will. 168 …
¶ 507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in …
¶ 508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemp…
¶ 509 Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.
¶ 510 Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, alway…
¶ 511 The Virgin Mary "co-operated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature" (St. …
¶ 512 Concerning Christ's life the Creed speaks only about the mysteries of the Incarnation (conception and birth) and Paschal mystery (passion, crucifixion…
¶ 513 According to circumstances catechesis will make use of all the richness of the mysteries of Jesus. Here it is enough merely to indicate some elements …
¶ 514 Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and eve…
¶ 515 The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith 174 and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is,…
¶ 516 Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father.…
¶ 517 Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross, 179 but this mystery is at work throu…
¶ 518 Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said and suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original vocation:
¶ 519 All Christ's riches "are for every individual and are everybody's property." 187 Christ did not live his life for himself but for us, from his Incarna…
¶ 520 In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man", 191 who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humblin…
¶ 521 Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. "By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way unite…
¶ 522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Chris…
¶ 523 St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. 196 "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the …
¶ 524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long prepa…
¶ 525 Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. 202 Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was…
¶ 526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. 205 For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: t…
¶ 527 Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, 209 is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covena…
¶ 528 The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the world. the great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adora…
¶ 529 The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. 216 With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its enc…
¶ 530 The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents 217 make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: "He came to his own home, and his o…
¶ 531 During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a l…
¶ 532 Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfils the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Fat…
¶ 533 The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:
¶ 534 The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. 226 Here Jesus lets us ca…
¶ 535 Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. 228 John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins". 229 A crowd…
¶ 536 The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among …
¶ 537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must…
¶ 538 The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus rem…
¶ 539 The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had give…
¶ 540 Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to h…
¶ 541 "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at h…
¶ 542 Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sendin…
¶ 543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. 2…
¶ 544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor";…
¶ 545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 258 He invites them to that conversion without whi…
¶ 546 Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. 261 Through his parables he invites pe…
¶ 547 Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was t…
¶ 548 The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. 269 To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they a…
¶ 549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, 274 Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did n…
¶ 550 The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon …
¶ 551 From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. 280 He gives the Tw…
¶ 552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; 283 Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Pet…
¶ 553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in he…
¶ 554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem…
¶ 555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerus…
¶ 556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the…
¶ 557 "When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem." 304 By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Je…
¶ 558 Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him…
¶ 559 How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the deta…
¶ 560 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurr…
¶ 561 "The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection…
¶ 562 Christ's disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf Gal 4:19). "For this reason we, who have been made like to him, who…
¶ 563 No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weak…
¶ 564 By his obedience to Mary and Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus gives us the example of holiness in the da…
¶ 565 From the beginning of his public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the "Servant", wholly consecrated to the redemptive work that he will accomplish by th…
¶ 566 The temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Fa…
¶ 567 The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" …
¶ 568 Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent on to the "high mountain" prepares for t…
¶ 569 Jesus went up to Jerusalem voluntarily, knowing well that there he would die a violent death because of the opposition of sinners (cf Heb 12:3).
¶ 570 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifests the coming of the kingdom that the Messiah-King, welcomed into his city by children and the humble of heart, is …
¶ 571 The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to …
¶ 572 The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it not necessary th…
¶ 573 Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithfully handed on by the Gospels 316 and illuminated by other historical sour…
¶ 574 From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy hi…
¶ 575 Many of Jesus' deeds and words constituted a "sign of contradiction", 321 but more so for the religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the Gospel acco…
¶ 576 In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the Chosen People: - submission to the whole of the Law in i…
¶ 577 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, i…
¶ 578 Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by keeping it in its all embracing detail - accordi…
¶ 579 This principle of integral observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had …
¶ 580 The perfect fulfilment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. 337 In Jesus,…
¶ 581 The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. 340 He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the La…
¶ 582 Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpret…
¶ 583 Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him …
¶ 584 Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and …
¶ 585 On the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain "one stone upon anot…
¶ 586 Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating wit…
¶ 587 If the Law and the Jerusalem Temple could be occasions of opposition to Jesus by Israel's religious authorities, his role in the redemption of sins, t…
¶ 588 Jesus scandalized the Pharisees by eating with tax collectors and sinners as familiarly as with themselves. 364 Against those among them "who trusted …
¶ 589 Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. 367 He went so far as to hint…
¶ 590 Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in h…
¶ 591 Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished. 373 But such an act of faith…
¶ 592 Jesus did not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf Mt 5:17-19) with such perfection (cf Jn 8:46) that he revealed its ultimate meanin…
¶ 593 Jesus venerated the Temple by going up to it for the Jewish feasts of pilgrimage, and with a jealous love he loved this dwelling of God among men. the…
¶ 594 Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Saviour God himself (cf Jn 5:16-18). Certain Jews, who did not recognize G…
¶ 595 Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesu…
¶ 596 The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. 380 The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his f…
¶ 597 The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is k…
¶ 598 In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the minis…
¶ 599 Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan, as St. Pet…
¶ 600 To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of "predestination", he includes in it each…
¶ 601 The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a mystery of universal re…
¶ 602 Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherit…
¶ 603 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. 405 But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in…
¶ 604 By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love,…
¶ 605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven tha…
¶ 606 The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)", 413 said on coming into the world, "Lo, I h…
¶ 607 The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, 418 for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incar…
¶ 608 After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin…
¶ 609 By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down …
¶ 610 Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed". 429 On t…
¶ 611 The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice. 431 Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bid…
¶ 612 The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands…
¶ 613 Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of t…
¶ 614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. 441 First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Fath…
¶ 615 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 443 By his obedience unto death, Jes…
¶ 616 It is love "to the end" 446 that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and love…
¶ 617 The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as "the source of eternal salvation" 449 and teaches that "his most holy Pa…
¶ 618 The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". 452 But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way…
¶ 619 "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" (I Cor 15:3).
¶ 620 Our salvation flows from God's initiative of love for us, because "he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins" (I Jn 4:10). "God wa…
¶ 621 Jesus freely offered himself for our salvation. Beforehand, during the Last Supper, he both symbolized this offering and made it really present: "This…
¶ 622 The redemption won by Christ consists in this, that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20:28), that is, he "loved [his own] to the en…
¶ 623 By his loving obedience to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission (cf Is 53:10) of the sufferin…
¶ 624 "By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". 459 In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" 4…
¶ 625 Christ's stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his passible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today. the same person o…
¶ 626 Since the "Author of life" who was killed 467 is the same "living one [who has] risen", 468 The divine person of the Son of God necessarily continued …
¶ 627 Christ's death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union his body retained with the person of th…
¶ 628 Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Chr…
¶ 629 To the benefit of every man, Jesus Christ tasted death (cf Heb 2:9). It is truly the Son of God made man who died and was buried.
¶ 630 During Christ's period in the tomb, his divine person continued to assume both his soul and his body, although they were separated from each other by …
¶ 631 Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens." 475 The Apostles' Creed confe…
¶ 632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead pri…
¶ 633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there ar…
¶ 634 "The gospel was preached even to the dead." 483 The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last …
¶ 635 Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." 484 Jesus, "the Auth…
¶ 636 By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and t…
¶ 637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone …
¶ 638 "We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this day he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus." 488 The Resurrect…
¶ 639 The mystery of Christ's resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In abou…
¶ 640 "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." 492 The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events i…
¶ 641 Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the even…
¶ 642 Everything that happened during those Paschal days involves each of the apostles - and Peter in particular - in the building of the new era begun on E…
¶ 643 Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowle…
¶ 644 Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus the disciples are still doubtful, so impossible did the thing seem: they thought they were seeing …
¶ 645 By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize t…
¶ 646 Christ's Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus' d…
¶ 647 O truly blessed Night, sings the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of t…
¶ 648 Christ's Resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God himself in creation and history. In it the three divine p…
¶ 649 As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine power. Jesus announces that the Son of man will have to suffer much, die, and …
¶ 650 The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these…
¶ 651 "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." 520 The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation …
¶ 652 Christ's Resurrection is the fulfilment of the promises both of the Old Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life. 521 The phrase "in acc…
¶ 653 The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had said: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he."…
¶ 654 The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new …
¶ 655 Finally, Christ's Resurrection - and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: "Christ has been raised from the…
¶ 656 Faith in the Resurrection has as its object an event which as historically attested to by the disciples, who really encountered the Risen One. At the …
¶ 657 The empty tomb and the linen cloths lying there signify in themselves that by God's power Christ's body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption.…
¶ 658 Christ, "the first-born from the dead" (Col 1:18), is the principle of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf Rom 6:4), …
¶ 659 "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God." 531 Christ's body was glorifie…
¶ 660 The veiled character of the glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended t…
¶ 661 This final stage stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who "came from the Father" ca…
¶ 662 "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 541 The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting…
¶ 663 Henceforth Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father: "By 'the Father's right hand' we understand the glory and honour of divinity, where he wh…
¶ 664 Being seated at the Father's right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah's kingdom, the fulfilment of the prophet Daniel's vision concerning …
¶ 665 Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf Acts 1:11); this humanit…
¶ 666 Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one …
¶ 667 Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent ou…
¶ 668 "Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." 548 Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participatio…
¶ 669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. 551 Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, …
¶ 670 Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are already at "the last hour". 553 "Already the final age of the world is with us,…
¶ 671 Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. 5…
¶ 672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel 561 whic…
¶ 673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent, 565 even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed…
¶ 674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Is…
¶ 675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. 573 The persecution that accompa…
¶ 676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which …
¶ 677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. 578 The …
¶ 678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching. 581 Then will the conduct…
¶ 679 Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "ac…
¶ 680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him. the triumph of Christ's kingdom will…
¶ 681 On Judgement Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the …
¶ 682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to…

CHAPTER THREE I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (383 ¶)

¶ 683 "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." 1 "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' 2 This kno…
¶ 684 Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to "know the Father and the one …
¶ 685 To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, consubstantial with the Father and the Son…
¶ 686 The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our salvation. But in these "end times," u…
¶ 687 "No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 7 Now God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living…
¶ 688 The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit: - in the Scriptures he in…
¶ 689 The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God. 10 Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is in…
¶ 690 Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on derives from this fullness. 11 Wh…
¶ 691 "Holy Spirit" is the proper name of the one whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. the Church has received this name from the Lord and…
¶ 692 When he proclaims and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls him the "Paraclete," literally, "he who is called to one's side," advocatus.…
¶ 693 Besides the proper name of "Holy Spirit," which is most frequently used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, we also find in St. Paul the …
¶ 694 Water. the symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious …
¶ 695 Anointing. the symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, 30 to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian…
¶ 696 Fire. While water signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit, fire symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's …
¶ 697 Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obs…
¶ 698 The seal is a symbol close to that of anointing. "The Father has set his seal" on Christ and also seals us in him. 50 Because this seal indicates the …
¶ 699 The hand. Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on them. 51 In his name the apostles will do the same. 52 Even more pointed…
¶ 700 The finger. "It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons." 55 If God's law was written on tablets of stone "by the finger of God," then th…
¶ 701 The dove. At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a …
¶ 702 From the beginning until "the fullness of time," 60 The joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit …
¶ 703 The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature: 63
¶ 704 "God fashioned man with his own hands [that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit] and impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way t…
¶ 705 Disfigured by sin and death, man remains "in the image of God," in the image of the Son, but is deprived "of the glory of God," 66 of his "likeness." …
¶ 706 Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit. 68 In Abraham's progeny all th…
¶ 707 Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the …
¶ 708 This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law. 72 God gave the letter of the Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people towards Christ. …
¶ 709 The Law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth.…
¶ 710 The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is the Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact t…
¶ 711 "Behold, I am doing a new thing." 78 Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the ann…
¶ 712 The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," 80 speaking of Christ)…
¶ 713 The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs." 82 These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show how he wil…
¶ 714 This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his own the following passage from Isaiah: 84
¶ 715 The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of…
¶ 716 The People of the "poor" 87 - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but of the Me…
¶ 717 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." 89 John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" 90 by Christ himself, whom…
¶ 718 John is "Elijah (who) must come." 92 The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the precursor, the…
¶ 719 John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." 94 In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophet…
¶ 720 Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve with and in …
¶ 721 Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time i…
¶ 722 The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" 102 should herse…
¶ 723 In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. With and through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to …
¶ 724 In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Fille…
¶ 725 Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love, 107 into communion with Christ. and the humble are alw…
¶ 726 At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve ("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ." 108 As such, …
¶ 727 The entire mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of time, is contained in this: that the Son is the one anointed by the Father's Spi…
¶ 728 Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he…
¶ 729 Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill t…
¶ 730 At last Jesus' hour arrives: 117 he commends his spirit into the Father's hands 118 at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "…
¶ 731 On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manife…
¶ 732 On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the hum…
¶ 733 "God is Love" 124 and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been …
¶ 734 Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. the communion of the Holy Sp…
¶ 735 He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as "God (has) loved us." 127…
¶ 736 By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: …
¶ 737 The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This …
¶ 738 Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, t…
¶ 739 Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal…
¶ 740 These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit…
¶ 741 "The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words." 13…
¶ 742 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' (Gal 4:6).
¶ 743 From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.
¶ 744 In the fullness of time the Holy Spirit completes in Mary all the preparations for Christ's coming among the People of God. By the action of the Holy …
¶ 745 The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at his Incarnation (cf Ps 2:6-7).
¶ 746 By his Death and his Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in glory as Lord and Christ (cf Acts 2:36). From his fullness, he poured out the Holy Spirit o…
¶ 747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity'…
¶ 748 "Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart-felt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, th…
¶ 749 The article concerning the Church also depends entirely on the article about the Holy Spirit, which immediately precedes it. "Indeed, having shown tha…
¶ 750 To believe that the Church is "holy" and "catholic," and that she is "one" and "apostolic" (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from belief in G…
¶ 751 The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of") means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of th…
¶ 752 In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, 141 but also the local community 142 or the whole universal community of bel…
¶ 753 In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church. the images…
¶ 754 "The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that h…
¶ 755 "The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the r…
¶ 756 "Often, too, the Church is called the building of God. the Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was made into the…
¶ 757 "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It i…
¶ 758 We begin our investigation of the Church's mystery by meditating on her origin in the Holy Trinity's plan and her progressive realization in history.
¶ 759 "The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose …
¶ 760 Christians of the first centuries said, "The world was created for the sake of the Church." 153 God created the world for the sake of communion with h…
¶ 761 The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when sin destroyed the communion of men with God, and that of men among themselves. th…
¶ 762 The remote preparation for this gathering together of the People of God begins when he calls Abraham and promises that he will become the father of a …
¶ 763 It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. 160 …
¶ 764 "This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ." 163 To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom it…
¶ 765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the…
¶ 766 The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cro…
¶ 767 "When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might …
¶ 768 So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her."…
¶ 769 "The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven," 179 at the time of Christ's glorious return. Until that day, "the Church p…
¶ 770 The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith" 183 that one can see her in her visible reality …
¶ 771 "The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organi…
¶ 772 It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all things in him." 189 St. Paul calls th…
¶ 773 In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental me…
¶ 774 The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mystenum and sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible …
¶ 775 "The Church, in Christ, is like a sacrament - a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men." 197 The Church's firs…
¶ 776 As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of…
¶ 777 The word "Church" means "convocation." It designates the assembly of those whom God's Word "convokes," i.e., gathers together to form the People of Go…
¶ 778 The Church is both the means and the goal of God's plan: prefigured in creation, prepared for in the Old Covenant, founded by the words and actions of…
¶ 779 The Church is both visible and spiritual, a hierarchical society and the Mystical Body of Christ. She is one, yet formed of two components, human and …
¶ 780 The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.
¶ 781 "At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has, however, willed to make men holy and …
¶ 782 The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in hi…
¶ 783 Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. the whole People of God participat…
¶ 784 On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly vocation: "Christ the Lord, high pries…
¶ 785 "The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office," above all in the supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay …
¶ 786 Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurre…
¶ 787 From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his missio…
¶ 788 When his visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to remain with them until the end of time; he se…
¶ 789 The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is…
¶ 790 Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with him: "In that body the life of Christ is commun…
¶ 791 The body's unity does not do away with the diversity of its members: "In the building up of Christ's Body there is engaged a diversity of members and …
¶ 792 Christ "is the head of the body, the Church." 225 He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he (is)…
¶ 793 Christ unites us with his Passover: all his members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be formed" in them. 227 "For this reason we . . . are t…
¶ 794 Christ provides for our growth: to make us grow toward him, our head, 229 he provides in his Body, the Church, the gifts and assistance by which we he…
¶ 795 Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). the Church is one with Christ. the saints are acutely aware of this u…
¶ 796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect …
¶ 797 "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." 243 "To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible pr…
¶ 798 The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." 247 He works in many ways to build up the whole Bo…
¶ 799 Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they ar…
¶ 800 Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace…
¶ 801 It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds…
¶ 802 Christ Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own" (Titus 2:14).
¶ 803 "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pet 2:9).
¶ 804 One enters into the People of God by faith and Baptism. "All men are called to belong to the new People of God" (LG 13), so that, in Christ, "men may …
¶ 805 The Church is the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now r…
¶ 806 In the unity of this Body, there is a diversity of members and functions. All members are linked to one another, especially to those who are suffering…
¶ 807 The Church is this Body of which Christ is the head: she lives from him, in him, and for him; he lives with her and in her.
¶ 808 The Church is the Bride of Christ: he loved her and handed himself over for her. He has purified her by his blood and made her the fruitful mother of …
¶ 809 The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. the Spirit is the soul, as it were, of the Mystical Body, the source of its life, of its unity in diversi…
¶ 810 "Hence the universal Church is seen to be 'a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit'" (LG 4 citing St. C…
¶ 811 "This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic." 256 These four characteristics, inseparabl…
¶ 812 Only faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also sp…
¶ 813 The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Fat…
¶ 814 From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those w…
¶ 815 What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity "binds everything together in perfect harmony." 265 But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assu…
¶ 816 "The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apo…
¶ 817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But …
¶ 818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] a…
¶ 819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" 273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of Go…
¶ 820 "Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and …
¶ 821 Certain things are required in order to respond adequately to this call: - a permanent renewal of the Church in greater fidelity to her vocation; such…
¶ 822 Concern for achieving unity "involves the whole Church, faithful and clergy alike." 287 But we must realize "that this holy objective - the reconcilia…
¶ 823 "The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is…
¶ 824 United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying. "All the activities of the Church are directed,…
¶ 825 "The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect." 295 In her members perfect holiness is something yet to be acq…
¶ 826 Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it "governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification." 297
¶ 827 "Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. the Church, however, clasping sinners …
¶ 828 By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly pro claiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church …
¶ 829 "But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still st…
¶ 830 The word "catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." the Church is catholic in a double …
¶ 831 Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: 310
¶ 832 "The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pasto…
¶ 833 The phrase "particular church," which is the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacrament…
¶ 834 Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity." 315 "For with this ch…
¶ 835 "Let us be very careful not to conceive of the universal Church as the simple sum, or . . . the more or less anomalous federation of essentially diffe…
¶ 836 "All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God.... and to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others…
¶ 837 "Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Chur…
¶ 838 "The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in i…
¶ 839 "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways." 325 The relationship of the Church with the Jewish Peop…
¶ 840 and when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (o…
¶ 841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom ar…
¶ 842 The Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:
¶ 843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and b…
¶ 844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:
¶ 845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. the Chur…
¶ 846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? 335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from …
¶ 847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
¶ 848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it i…
¶ 849 The missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience t…
¶ 850 The origin and purpose of mission. the Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on e…
¶ 851 Missionary motivation. It is from God's love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dyn…
¶ 852 Missionary paths. the Holy Spirit is the protagonist, "the principal agent of the whole of the Church's mission." 345 It is he who leads the Church on…
¶ 853 On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom…
¶ 854 By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven …
¶ 855 The Church's mission stimulates efforts towards Christian unity. 357 Indeed, "divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice…
¶ 856 The missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the Gospel. 359 Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning…
¶ 857 The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the foundation of the Apostles," 362 Th…
¶ 858 Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he "called to him those whom he desired; .... and he appointed twelve, whom also h…
¶ 859 Jesus unites them to the mission he received from the Father. As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but receives everything from the Father w…
¶ 860 In the office of the apostles there is one aspect that cannot be transmitted: to be the chosen witnesses of the Lord's Resurrection and so the foundat…
¶ 861 "In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to the…
¶ 862 "Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one…
¶ 863 The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with he…
¶ 864 "Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate"; thus the fruitfulness of apostolate for ordained ministers as well as fo…
¶ 865 The Church is ultimately one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that "the Kingdom of heaven," t…
¶ 866 The Church is one: she acknowledges one Lord, confesses one faith, is born of one Baptism, forms only one Body, is given life by the one Spirit, for t…
¶ 867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. …
¶ 868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is s…
¶ 869 The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf Mt 16:18). She…
¶ 870 "The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is gov…
¶ 871 "The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; …
¶ 872 "In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby al…
¶ 873 The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body serve its unity and mission. For "in the Church there is diversi…
¶ 874 Christ is himself the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted the Church. He gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal:
¶ 875 "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? and how are they to hear without a preacher? and how can men preach unless they are sen…
¶ 876 Intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry is its character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives mission and a…
¶ 877 Likewise, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, …
¶ 878 Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a personal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in communion wit…
¶ 879 Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a personal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bon…
¶ 880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen…
¶ 881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole …
¶ 882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole …
¶ 883 "The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head." As such, this college has "sup…
¶ 884 "The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council." 405 But "there never is an ecumenical …
¶ 885 "This college, in so far as it is composed of many members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the People of God; and of the unity o…
¶ 886 "The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches." 408 As such, they "exercise their pastoral o…
¶ 887 Neighboring particular Churches who share the same culture form ecclesiastical provinces or larger groupings called patriarchates or regions. 413 The …
¶ 888 Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command. 415 They a…
¶ 889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his o…
¶ 890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium…
¶ 891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the …
¶ 892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the…
¶ 893 The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood," 423 especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he as…
¶ 894 "The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example, but over …
¶ 895 "The power which they exercise personally in the name of Christ, is proper, ordinary, and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately controlled by…
¶ 896 The Good Shepherd ought to be the model and "form" of the bishop's pastoral office. Conscious of his own weaknesses, "the bishop . . . can have compas…
¶ 897 "The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Ch…
¶ 898 "By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according t…
¶ 899 The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political,…
¶ 900 Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right…
¶ 901 "Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of …
¶ 902 In a very special way, parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian e…
¶ 903 Lay people who possess the required qualities can be admitted permanently to the ministries of lector and acolyte. 436 When the necessity of the Churc…
¶ 904 "Christ . . . fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy . . . but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses…
¶ 905 Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, "that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay pe…
¶ 906 Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communicatio…
¶ 907 "In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the…
¶ 908 By his obedience unto death, 444 Christ communicated to his disciples the gift of royal freedom, so that they might "by the self-abnegation of a holy …
¶ 909 "Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that…
¶ 910 "The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate with their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake of its …
¶ 911 In the Church, "lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this power [of governance] in accord with the norm of law." 449…
¶ 912 The faithful should "distinguish carefully between the rights and the duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them a…
¶ 913 "Thus, every person, through these gifts given to him, is at once the witness and the living instrument of the mission of the Church itself 'according…
¶ 914 "The state of life which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure of the Churc…
¶ 915 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. the perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, …
¶ 916 The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. 455 In the consecr…
¶ 917 "From the God-given seed of the counsels a wonderful and wide-spreading tree has grown up in the field of the Lord, branching out into various forms o…
¶ 918 From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by …
¶ 919 Bishops will always strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life granted to the Church by the Holy Spirit; the approval of new forms of consecrated…
¶ 920 Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly, hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through …
¶ 921 They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the l…
¶ 922 From apostolic times Christian virgins, called by the Lord to cling only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the…
¶ 923 "Virgins who, committed to the holy plan of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved lit…
¶ 924 "As with other forms of consecrated life," the order of virgins establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in prayer, penance, service of …
¶ 925 Religious life was born in the East during the first centuries of Christianity. Lived within institutes canonically erected by the Church, it is disti…
¶ 926 Religious life derives from the mystery of the Church. It is a gift she has received from her Lord, a gift she offers as a stable way of life to the f…
¶ 927 All religious, whether exempt or not, take their place among the collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty. 467 From the outset of the…
¶ 928 "A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and …
¶ 929 By a "life perfectly and entirely consecrated to [such] sanctification," the members of these institutes share in the Church's task of evangelization,…
¶ 930 Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostoli…
¶ 931 Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intima…
¶ 932 In the Church, which is like the sacrament - the sign and instrument - of God's own life, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the myster…
¶ 933 Whether their witness is public, as in the religious state, or less public, or even secret, Christ's coming remains for all those consecrated both the…
¶ 934 "Among the Christian faithful by divine institution there exist in the Church sacred ministers, who are also called clerics in law, and other Christia…
¶ 935 To proclaim the faith and to plant his reign, Christ sends his apostles and their successors. He gives them a share in his own mission. From him they …
¶ 936 The Lord made St. Peter the visible foundation of his Church. He entrusted the keys of the Church to him. the bishop of the Church of Rome, successor …
¶ 937 The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, "supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls" (CD 2).
¶ 938 The Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles. They are "the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Church…
¶ 939 Helped by the priests, their co-workers, and by the deacons, the bishops have the duty of authentically teaching the faith, celebrating divine worship…
¶ 940 "The characteristic of the lay state being a life led in the midst of the world and of secular affairs, lay people are called by God to make of their …
¶ 941 Lay people share in Christ's priesthood: ever more united with him, they exhibit the grace of Baptism and Confirmation in all dimensions of their pers…
¶ 942 By virtue of their prophetic mission, lay people "are called . . . to be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the communi…
¶ 943 By virtue of their kingly mission, lay people have the power to uproot the rule of sin within themselves and in the world, by their self-denial and ho…
¶ 944 The life consecrated to God is characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a stable sta…
¶ 945 Already destined for him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intima…
¶ 946 After confessing "the holy catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanat…
¶ 947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others.... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of g…
¶ 948 The term "communion of saints" therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and "among holy persons (sancti).
¶ 949 In the primitive community of Jerusalem, the disciples "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and …
¶ 950 Communion of the sacraments. "The fruit of all the sacraments belongs to all the faithful. All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful wi…
¶ 951 Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the build…
¶ 952 "They had everything in common." 484 "Everything the true Christian has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christ…
¶ 953 Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." 487 "If one member suffers, all suffer…
¶ 954 The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to hi…
¶ 955 "So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according …
¶ 956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.... They …
¶ 957 Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devo…
¶ 958 Communion with the dead. "In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from …
¶ 959 In the one family of God. "For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are sons of God and fo…
¶ 960 The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of bel…
¶ 961 The term "communion of saints" refers also to the communion of "holy persons" (sancti) in Christ who "died for all," so that what each one does or suf…
¶ 962 "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heave…
¶ 963 Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the C…
¶ 964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of …
¶ 965 After her Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." 504 In her association with the apostles and several women, "we a…
¶ 966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and…
¶ 967 By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church…
¶ 968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and…
¶ 969 "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sus…
¶ 970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin…
¶ 971 "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." 513 The Church rightly honors…
¶ 972 After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate w…
¶ 973 By pronouncing her "fiat" at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, Mary was al ready collaborating with the whole work her Son w…
¶ 974 The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she alread…
¶ 975 "We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members…
¶ 976 The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the c…
¶ 977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is…
¶ 978 "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and comple…
¶ 979 In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be brave and watchful enough to escape every wound of sin? "If the Church has the power…
¶ 980 It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:
¶ 981 After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." 524 The a…
¶ 982 There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for fo…
¶ 983 Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the mission and…
¶ 984 The Creed links "the forgiveness of sins" with its profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the apostles the power to…
¶ 985 Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.
¶ 986 By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the sacr…
¶ 987 "In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, …
¶ 988 The Christian Creed - the profession of our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in God's creative, saving, and sanctifying act…
¶ 989 We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for …
¶ 990 The term "flesh" refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality. 534 The "resurrection of the flesh" (the literal formulation of the Apostles' C…
¶ 991 Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of Christians is the …
¶ 992 God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively. Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead established itself as a consequence…
¶ 993 The Pharisees and many of the Lord's contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. Jesus teaches it firmly. To the Sadducees who deny it he answers, "Is …
¶ 994 But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life." 542 It is Jesus himself who on the l…
¶ 995 To be a witness to Christ is to be a "witness to his Resurrection," to "[have eaten and drunk] with him after he rose from the dead." 547 Encounters w…
¶ 996 From the beginning, Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition. 548 "On no point does the Christian faith encount…
¶ 997 What is "rising"? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion …
¶ 998 Who will rise? All the dead will rise, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of ju…
¶ 999 How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself"; 551 but he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, "a…
¶ 1000 This "how" exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foreta…
¶ 1001 When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world." 555 Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia…
¶ 1002 Christ will raise us up "on the last day"; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. For, by virtue of the Holy S…
¶ 1003 United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains "hidden with Christ…
¶ 1004 In expectation of that day, the believer's body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand th…
¶ 1005 To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 562 In that "departure" which is death the so…
¶ 1006 "It is in regard to death that man's condition is most shrouded in doubt." 565 In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact "the wa…
¶ 1007 Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, …
¶ 1008 Death is a consequence of sin. the Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death e…
¶ 1009 Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish a…
¶ 1010 Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 574 "The saying is sure: if we have died…
¶ 1011 In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Chr…
¶ 1012 The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church: 582
¶ 1013 Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with t…
¶ 1014 The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our death. In the litany of the saints, for instance, she has us pray: "From a sudden an…
¶ 1015 "The flesh is the hinge of salvation" (Tertullian, De res. 8, 2: PL 2, 852). We believe in God who is creator of the flesh; we believe in the Word mad…
¶ 1016 By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our so…
¶ 1017 "We believe in the true resurrection of this flesh that we now possess" (Council of Lyons II: DS 854). We sow a corruptible body in the tomb, but he r…
¶ 1018 As a consequence of original sin, man must suffer "bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" (GS # 18).
¶ 1019 Jesus, the Son of God, freely suffered death for us in complete and free submission to the will of God, his Father. By his death he has conquered deat…
¶ 1020 The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life. When the Church for the …
¶ 1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. 590 The New Testament speaks …
¶ 1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Chris…
¶ 1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he …
¶ 1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed …
¶ 1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." the elect live "in Christ," 598 but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name. 599
¶ 1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. the life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the frui…
¶ 1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: li…
¶ 1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the c…
¶ 1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Chris…
¶ 1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo…
¶ 1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. 604 The Ch…
¶ 1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore Judas Maccabeus] made atonement …
¶ 1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or agains…
¶ 1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where …
¶ 1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin…
¶ 1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to mak…
¶ 1037 God predestines no one to go to hell; 618 for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. …
¶ 1038 The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," 621 will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in th…
¶ 1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. 624 The Last Judgment will reveal eve…
¶ 1040 The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. The…
¶ 1041 The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation." 627 It insp…
¶ 1042 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorifi…
¶ 1043 Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, "new heavens and a new earth." 630 It will be the definit…
¶ 1044 In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. 632 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall…
¶ 1045 For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Churc…
¶ 1046 For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man:
¶ 1047 The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, "so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacl…
¶ 1048 "We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed. the form of this world…
¶ 1049 "Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human …
¶ 1050 "When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise . . . according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find t…
¶ 1051 Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the livin…
¶ 1052 "We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ's grace . . . are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be defini…
¶ 1053 "We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see G…
¶ 1054 Those who die in God's grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after d…
¶ 1055 By virtue of the "communion of saints," the Church commends the dead to God's mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucha…
¶ 1056 Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality of eternal death" (GCD 69), also called "hell."
¶ 1057 Hell's principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for…
¶ 1058 The Church prays that no one should be lost: "Lord, let me never be parted from you." If it is true that no one can save himself, it is also true that…
¶ 1059 "The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ's tribunal to r…
¶ 1060 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the m…
¶ 1061 The Creed, like the last book of the Bible, 644 ends with the Hebrew word amen. This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament. the Churc…
¶ 1062 In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word "believe." This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. and so we can understand …
¶ 1063 In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression "God of truth" (literally "God of the Amen"), that is, the God who is faithful to his promis…
¶ 1064 Thus the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's words, promises and commandments…
¶ 1065 Jesus Christ himself is the "Amen." 648 He is the definitive "Amen" of the Father's love for us. He takes up and completes our "Amen" to the Father: "…

PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH (58 ¶)

¶ 1077 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he…
¶ 1078 Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father; his blessing is both word and gift. 4 When applied to man, the word "b…
¶ 1079 From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blessing. From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the canticles of the…
¶ 1080 From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and woman. the covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed this blessi…
¶ 1081 The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus), the gift of…
¶ 1082 In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated. the Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all…
¶ 1083 The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy as a response of faith and love to the spiritual blessings the Father bestows on us is thus evident. On th…
¶ 1084 "Seated at the right hand of the Father" and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the sacraments he in…
¶ 1085 In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly life Jesus announc…
¶ 1086 "Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might preach t…
¶ 1087 Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying: 10 they became sacramental signs of Chri…
¶ 1088 "To accomplish so great a work" - the dispensation or communication of his work of salvation - "Christ is always present in his Church, especially in …
¶ 1089 "Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. the Church i…
¶ 1090 "In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as …
¶ 1091 In the liturgy the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the sacraments of the New Covenant. t…
¶ 1092 In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation: he prepares t…
¶ 1093 In the sacramental economy the Holy Spirit fulfills what was prefigured in the Old Covenant. Since Christ's Church was "prepared in marvellous fashion…
¶ 1094 It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built, 15 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the…
¶ 1095 For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation h…
¶ 1096 Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy. A better knowledge of the Jewish people's faith and religious life as professed and lived even now can help our …
¶ 1097 In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Ch…
¶ 1098 The assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord and to become "a people well disposed." the preparation of hearts is the joint work of the Ho…
¶ 1099 The Spirit and the Church cooperate to manifest Christ and his work of salvation in the liturgy. Primarily in the Eucharist, and by analogy in the oth…
¶ 1100 The Word of God. the Holy Spirit first recalls the meaning of the salvation event to the liturgical assembly by giving life to the Word of God, which …
¶ 1101 The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual understanding of the Word of God to those who read or hear it, according to the dispositions of their hearts. By mea…
¶ 1102 "By the saving word of God, faith . . . is nourished in the hearts of believers. By this faith then the congregation of the faithful begins and grows.…
¶ 1103 Anamnesis. the liturgical celebration always refers to God's saving interventions in history. "The economy of Revelation is realized by deeds and word…
¶ 1104 Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present. the Paschal mystery of Christ is celebrated, not …
¶ 1105 The Epiclesis ("invocation upon") is the intercession in which the priest begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, so that the offerin…
¶ 1106 Together with the anamnesis, the epiclesis is at the heart of each sacramental celebration, most especially of the Eucharist:
¶ 1107 The Holy Spirit's transforming power in the liturgy hastens the coming of the kingdom and the consummation of the mystery of salvation. While we wait …
¶ 1108 In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body. the Holy Spirit is like th…
¶ 1109 The epiclesis is also a prayer for the full effect of the assembly's communion with the mystery of Christ. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the…
¶ 1110 In the liturgy of the Church, God the Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation with which he has bles…
¶ 1111 Christ's work in the liturgy is sacramental: because his mystery of salvation is made present there by the power of his Holy Spirit; because his Body,…
¶ 1112 The mission of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy of the Church is to prepare the assembly to encounter Christ; to recall and manifest Christ to the faith…
¶ 1113 The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. 29 There are seven sacraments in the Church: Bap…
¶ 1114 "Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic traditions, and to the consensus . . . of the Fathers," we profess that "the sacram…
¶ 1115 Jesus' words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal mystery. They…
¶ 1116 Sacraments are "powers that comes forth" from the Body of Christ, 33 which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work…
¶ 1117 As she has done for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the faith, the Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her "into all t…
¶ 1118 The sacraments are "of the Church" in the double sense that they are "by her" and "for her." They are "by the Church," for she is the sacrament of Chr…
¶ 1119 Forming "as it were, one mystical person" with Christ the head, the Church acts in the sacraments as "an organically structured priestly community." 3…
¶ 1120 The ordained ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the baptismal priesthood. 38 The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is…
¶ 1121 The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in addition to grace, a sacramental character or "seal" by which the Christian …
¶ 1122 Christ sent his apostles so that "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations." 41 "Go therefore and make discipl…
¶ 1123 "The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they al…
¶ 1124 The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the fai…
¶ 1125 For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community. Even the supreme authority in the Chu…
¶ 1126 Likewise, since the sacraments express and develop the communion of faith in the Church, the lex orandi is one of the essential criteria of the dialog…
¶ 1127 Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. 48 They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it…
¶ 1128 This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation 49 that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being perfor…
¶ 1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. 51 "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the Holy …
¶ 1130 The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord "until he comes," when God will be "everything to everyone." 53 Since the apostolic age the liturgy has …
¶ 1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. the visible …
¶ 1132 The Church celebrates the sacraments as a priestly community structured by the baptismal priesthood and the priesthood of ordained ministers.
¶ 1133 The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts. Thus the s…
¶ 1134 The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial. For every one of the faithful an the one hand, this fruit is life for God in Christ Jesu…

CHAPTER TWO THE SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY (75 ¶)

¶ 1135 The catechesis of the liturgy entails first of all an understanding of the sacramental economy (Chapter One). In this light, the innovation of its cel…
¶ 1136 Liturgy is an "action" of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where …
¶ 1137 The book of Revelation of St. John, read in the Church's liturgy, first reveals to us, "A throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne": "the…
¶ 1138 "Recapitulated in Christ," these are the ones who take part in the service of the praise of God and the fulfillment of his plan: the heavenly powers, …
¶ 1139 It is in this eternal liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to participate whenever we celebrate the mystery of salvation in the sacraments…
¶ 1140 It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that celebrates. "Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebratio…
¶ 1141 The celebrating assembly is the community of the baptized who, "by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritua…
¶ 1142 But "the members do not all have the same function." 12 Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the comm…
¶ 1143 For the purpose of assisting the work of the common priesthood of the faithful, other particular ministries also exist, not consecrated by the sacrame…
¶ 1144 In the celebration of the sacraments it is thus the whole assembly that is leitourgos, each according to his function, but in the "unity of the Spirit…
¶ 1145 A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of cr…
¶ 1146 Signs of the human world. In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives …
¶ 1147 God speaks to man through the visible creation. the material cosmos is so presented to man's intelligence that he can read there traces of its Creator…
¶ 1148 Inasmuch as they are creatures, these perceptible realities can become means of expressing the action of God who sanctifies men, and the action of men…
¶ 1149 The great religions of mankind witness, often impressively, to this cosmic and symbolic meaning of religious rites. the liturgy of the Church presuppo…
¶ 1150 Signs of the covenant. the Chosen People received from God distinctive signs and symbols that marked its liturgical life. These are no longer solely c…
¶ 1151 Signs taken up by Christ. In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. …
¶ 1152 Sacramental signs. Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his Church that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of sanctification. the …
¶ 1153 A sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit; this meeting takes the form of a dialogue, …
¶ 1154 The liturgy of the Word is an integral part of sacramental celebrations. To nourish the faith of believers, the signs which accompany the Word of God …
¶ 1155 The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they accomplish what they signify. When t…
¶ 1156 "The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. the main reason for this p…
¶ 1157 Song and music fulfill their function as signs in a manner all the more significant when they are "more closely connected . . . with the liturgical ac…
¶ 1158 The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People o…
¶ 1159 The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God, but the incarnation …
¶ 1160 Christian iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words. Image and word illuminate each other:
¶ 1161 All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They tru…
¶ 1162 "The beauty of the images moves me to contemplation, as a meadow delights the eyes and subtly infuses the soul with the glory of God." 32 Similarly, t…
¶ 1163 "Holy Mother Church believes that she should celebrate the saving work of her divine Spouse in a sacred commemoration on certain days throughout the c…
¶ 1164 From the time of the Mosaic law, the People of God have observed fixed feasts, beginning with Passover, to commemorate the astonishing actions of the …
¶ 1165 When the Church celebrates the mystery of Christ, there is a word that marks her prayer: "Today!" - a word echoing the prayer her Lord taught her and …
¶ 1166 "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ's Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal myst…
¶ 1167 Sunday is the pre-eminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather "to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus…
¶ 1168 Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole liturgical year with its brilliance. Gradual…
¶ 1169 Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts," the "Solemnity of solemnities," just as the Eucharist is the "Sacram…
¶ 1170 At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first f…
¶ 1171 In the liturgical year the various aspects of the one Paschal mystery unfold. This is also the case with the cycle of feasts surrounding the mystery o…
¶ 1172 "In celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, Holy Church honors the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, with a special love. She is insepara…
¶ 1173 When the Church keeps the memorials of martyrs and other saints during the annual cycle, she proclaims the Paschal mystery in those "who have suffered…
¶ 1174 The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures…
¶ 1175 The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God. In it Christ himself "continues his priestly work through his Ch…
¶ 1176 The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours demands not only harmonizing the voice with the praying heart, but also a deeper "understanding of the lit…
¶ 1177 The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time…
¶ 1178 The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, does not exclude but rather in a complementary way calls forth th…
¶ 1179 The worship "in Spirit and in truth" 53 of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. the whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the c…
¶ 1180 When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, 56 Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply ga…
¶ 1181 A church, "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of t…
¶ 1182 The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord's Cross, 59 from which the sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the …
¶ 1183 The tabernacle is to be situated "in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor." 61 The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharisti…
¶ 1184 The chair (cathedra) of the bishop or the priest "should express his office of presiding over the assembly and of directing prayer." 63 The lectern (a…
¶ 1185 The gathering of the People of God begins with Baptism; a church must have a place for the celebration of Baptism (baptistry) and for fostering rememb…
¶ 1186 Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from the w…
¶ 1187 The liturgy is the work of the whole Christ, head and body. Our high priest celebrates it unceasingly in the heavenly liturgy, with the holy Mother of…
¶ 1188 In a liturgical celebration, the whole assembly is leitourgos, each member according to his own function. the baptismal priesthood is that of the whol…
¶ 1189 The liturgical celebration involves signs and symbols relating to creation (candles, water, fire), human life (washing, anointing, breaking bread) and…
¶ 1190 The Liturgy of the Word is an integral part of the celebration. the meaning of the celebration is expressed by the Word of God which is proclaimed and…
¶ 1191 Song and music are closely connected with the liturgical action. the criteria for their proper use are the beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous …
¶ 1192 Sacred images in our churches and homes are intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his work…
¶ 1193 Sunday, the "Lord's Day," is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist because it is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent d…
¶ 1194 The Church, "in the course of the year, . . . unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation and Nativity through his Ascension, to Pentecos…
¶ 1195 By keeping the memorials of the saints - first of all the holy Mother of God, then the apostles, the martyrs, and other saints - on fixed days of the …
¶ 1196 The faithful who celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours are united to Christ our high priest, by the prayer of the Psalms, meditation on the Word of God, …
¶ 1197 Christ is the true temple of God, "the place where his glory dwells"; by the grace of God, Christians also become the temples of the Holy Spirit, livi…
¶ 1198 In its earthly state the Church needs places where the community can gather together. Our visible churches, holy places, are images of the holy city, …
¶ 1199 It is in these churches that the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings his praise, lifts …
¶ 1200 From the first community of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith, ce…
¶ 1201 The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any single liturgical tradition. the history of the blo…
¶ 1202 The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to cele…
¶ 1203 The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churc…
¶ 1204 The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and culture of the different peoples. 70 In order that the mystery of Chris…
¶ 1205 "In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable part, a part that is divinely instituted and of which the Church is the guard…
¶ 1206 "Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it i…
¶ 1207 It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the people where the Church finds herself, though without being su…
¶ 1208 The diverse liturgical traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the catholicity of the Church, because they signify and communicate the …
¶ 1209 The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity to apostolic Tradition, i e., the communion in the faith and …

CHAPTER ONE THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION (208 ¶)

¶ 1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the d…
¶ 1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 4 and the door which gives access …
¶ 1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the …
¶ 1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of wa…
¶ 1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding . . . ." 8 Having…
¶ 1217 In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history…
¶ 1218 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as…
¶ 1219 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water": 14
¶ 1220 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this…
¶ 1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:…
¶ 1222 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's desc…
¶ 1223 All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Ba…
¶ 1224 Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." 19 Jesus' gesture is…
¶ 1225 In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as …
¶ 1226 From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preach…
¶ 1227 According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him:
¶ 1228 Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect. 32 St. Augustine says of Baptism…
¶ 1229 From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered r…
¶ 1230 This initiation has varied greatly through the centuries according to circumstances. In the first centuries of the Church, Christian initiation saw co…
¶ 1231 Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the preparatory stage…
¶ 1232 The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church "the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps." 34 The rites for these sta…
¶ 1233 Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches its culminati…
¶ 1234 The meaning and grace of the sacrament of Baptism are clearly seen in the rites of its celebration. By following the gestures and words of this celebr…
¶ 1235 The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the g…
¶ 1236 The proclamation of the Word of God enlightens the candidates and the assembly with the revealed truth and elicits the response of faith, which is ins…
¶ 1237 Since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. the celebrant …
¶ 1238 The baptismal water is consecrated by a prayer of epiclesis (either at this moment or at the Easter Vigil). the Church asks God that through his Son t…
¶ 1239 The essential rite of the sacrament follows: Baptism properly speaking. It signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of…
¶ 1240 In the Latin Church this triple infusion is accompanied by the minister's words: "N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of …
¶ 1241 The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become …
¶ 1242 In the liturgy of the Eastern Churches, the post-baptismal anointing is the sacrament of Chrismation (Confirmation). In the Roman liturgy the post-bap…
¶ 1243 The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has "put on Christ," 42 has risen with Christ. the candle, lit from the Easter candle, signifies…
¶ 1244 First Holy Communion. Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding garment, the neophyte is admitted "to the marriage supper of the Lamb" 44 …
¶ 1245 The solemn blessing concludes the celebration of Baptism. At the Baptism of newborns the blessing of the mother occupies a special place.
¶ 1246 "Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized." 46
¶ 1247 Since the beginning of the Church, adult Baptism is the common practice where the proclamation of the Gospel is still new. the catechumenate (preparat…
¶ 1248 The catechumenate, or formation of catechumens, aims at bringing their conversion and faith to maturity, in response to the divine initiative and in u…
¶ 1249 Catechumens "are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and are quite frequently already living a life of faith, h…
¶ 1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darknes…
¶ 1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them. 52
¶ 1252 The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and …
¶ 1253 Baptism is the sacrament of faith. 54 But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful …
¶ 1254 For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renew…
¶ 1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, abl…
¶ 1256 The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also the deacon. 57 In case of necessity, any person, even someo…
¶ 1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. 59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to bapti…
¶ 1258 The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by t…
¶ 1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them …
¶ 1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offer…
¶ 1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. In…
¶ 1262 The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and p…
¶ 1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. 65 In those who have been reborn nothing rema…
¶ 1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses …
¶ 1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine…
¶ 1266 The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification: - enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love…
¶ 1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another." 71 Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the …
¶ 1268 The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood." 73 By Baptism they share in the priesthood of …
¶ 1269 Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. 75 From now on, he is cal…
¶ 1270 "Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church" and participate in the aposto…
¶ 1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: "For…
¶ 1272 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (chara…
¶ 1273 Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship. 8…
¶ 1274 The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord ("Dominicus character") "for the day of redemption." 85 "Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal…
¶ 1275 Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening…
¶ 1276 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obse…
¶ 1277 Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we en…
¶ 1278 The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most …
¶ 1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life b…
¶ 1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the c…
¶ 1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, se…
¶ 1282 Since the earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children, for it is a grace and a gift of God that does not presuppose any human merit; chi…
¶ 1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their salvation.
¶ 1284 In case of necessity, any person can baptize provided that he have the intention of doing that which the Church does and provided that he pours water …
¶ 1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarde…
¶ 1286 In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission. 90 The descent of …
¶ 1287 This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. 93 On several occasion…
¶ 1288 "From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that…
¶ 1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anoin…
¶ 1290 In the first centuries Confirmation generally comprised one single celebration with Baptism, forming with it a "double sacrament," according to the ex…
¶ 1291 A custom of the Roman Church facilitated the development of the Western practice: a double anointing with sacred chrism after Baptism. the first anoin…
¶ 1292 The practice of the Eastern Churches gives greater emphasis to the unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly expresses the …
¶ 1293 In treating the rite of Confirmation, it is fitting to consider the sign of anointing and what it signifies and imprints: a spiritual seal. Anointing,…
¶ 1294 Anointing with oil has all these meanings in the sacramental life. the pre-baptismal anointing with the oil of catechumens signifies cleansing and str…
¶ 1295 By this anointing the confirmand receives the "mark," the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal authority, or ow…
¶ 1296 Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father's seal. 107 Christians are also marked with a seal: "It is God who establishes us with you …
¶ 1297 The consecration of the sacred chrism is an important action that precedes the celebration of Confirmation, but is in a certain way a part of it. It i…
¶ 1298 When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, as is the case in the Roman Rite, the Liturgy of Confirmation begins with the renewal of bapt…
¶ 1299 In the Roman Rite the bishop extends his hands over the whole group of the confirmands. Since the time of the apostles this gesture has signified the …
¶ 1300 The essential rite of the sacrament follows. In the Latin rite, "the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the f…
¶ 1301 The sign of peace that concludes the rite of the sacrament signifies and demonstrates ecclesial communion with the bishop and with all the faithful. 1…
¶ 1302 It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the a…
¶ 1303 From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: - it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry…
¶ 1304 Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character," which …
¶ 1305 This "character" perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and "the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in…
¶ 1306 Every baptized person not yet confirmed can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation. 121 Since Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist form a un…
¶ 1307 The Latin tradition gives "the age of discretion" as the reference point for receiving Confirmation. But in danger of death children should be confirm…
¶ 1308 Although Confirmation is sometimes called the "sacrament of Christian maturity," we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth,…
¶ 1309 Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy …
¶ 1310 To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy …
¶ 1311 Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appro…
¶ 1312 The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop. 128 In the East, ordinarily the priest who baptizes also immediately confers Confirmation in one …
¶ 1313 In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop. 130 Although the bishop may for grave reasons concede to priests the faculty o…
¶ 1314 If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest should give him Confirmation. 132 Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the young…
¶ 1315 "Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for th…
¶ 1316 Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation, incorp…
¶ 1317 Confirmation, like Baptism, imprints a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament o…
¶ 1318 In the East this sacrament is administered immediately after Baptism and is followed by participation in the Eucharist; this tradition highlights the …
¶ 1319 A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the …
¶ 1320 The essential rite of Confirmation is anointing the forehead of the baptized with sacred chrism (in the East other sense-organs as well), together wit…
¶ 1321 When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, its connection with Baptism is expressed, among other ways, by the renewal of baptismal promi…
¶ 1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more de…
¶ 1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perp…
¶ 1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." 134 "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the a…
¶ 1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church …
¶ 1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.…
¶ 1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our …
¶ 1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Euc…
¶ 1329 The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipat…
¶ 1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes …
¶ 1331 Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. 149 We also …
¶ 1332 Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so…
¶ 1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's…
¶ 1334 In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. …
¶ 1335 The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the…
¶ 1336 The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who c…
¶ 1337 The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in …
¶ 1338 The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the word…
¶ 1339 Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:
¶ 1340 By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' pas…
¶ 1341 The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the li…
¶ 1342 From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. of the Church of Jerusalem it is written:
¶ 1343 It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break bread." 167 From that time …
¶ 1344 Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "following t…
¶ 1345 As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have sta…
¶ 1346 The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It di…
¶ 1347 Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sittin…
¶ 1348 All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Euc…
¶ 1349 The Liturgy of the Word includes "the writings of the prophets," that is, the Old Testament, and "the memoirs of the apostles" (their letters and the …
¶ 1350 The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then, sometimes in procession, the bread and wine are brought to the altar; they will be offered by…
¶ 1351 From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of th…
¶ 1352 The anaphora: with the Eucharistic Prayer - the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration - we come to the heart and summit of the celebration:
¶ 1353 In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing 178 ) on the bread and wine, so that by his power t…
¶ 1354 In the anamnesis that follows, the Church calls to mind the Passion, resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus; she presents to the Father the…
¶ 1355 In the communion, preceded by the Lord's prayer and the breaking of the bread, the faithful receive "the bread of heaven" and "the cup of salvation," …
¶ 1356 If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity of times and …
¶ 1357 We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what he has himself given us: …
¶ 1358 We must therefore consider the Eucharist as: - thanksgiving and praise to the Father; - the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body; - the presenc…
¶ 1359 The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creat…
¶ 1360 The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for al…
¶ 1361 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This sacrifice of praise is poss…
¶ 1362 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Chu…
¶ 1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God fo…
¶ 1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made …
¶ 1365 Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. the sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the ve…
¶ 1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies…
¶ 1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the …
¶ 1368 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. the Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she hers…
¶ 1369 The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of Christ. Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated with…
¶ 1370 To the offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of heaven. In communion with and co…
¶ 1371 The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who "have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified," 191 so that they may be…
¶ 1372 St. Augustine admirably summed up this doctrine that moves us to an ever more complete participation in our Redeemer's sacrifice which we celebrate in…
¶ 1373 "Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to…
¶ 1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spir…
¶ 1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. the Church Fathers strongly …
¶ 1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering und…
¶ 1377 The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present …
¶ 1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among…
¶ 1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outs…
¶ 1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure f…
¶ 1381 "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, 'but …
¶ 1382 The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of c…
¶ 1383 The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the s…
¶ 1384 The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of …
¶ 1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, ther…
¶ 1386 Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: "Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub…
¶ 1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. 218 Bodily demeanor (gestures, cloth…
¶ 1388 It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive communion each time they pa…
¶ 1389 The Church obliges the faithful "to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days" and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to re…
¶ 1390 Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit…
¶ 1391 Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. the principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus…
¶ 1392 What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Chris…
¶ 1393 Holy Communion separates us from sin. the body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for the many …
¶ 1394 As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living char…
¶ 1395 By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. the more we share the life of Christ and progress in …
¶ 1396 The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ u…
¶ 1397 The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his b…
¶ 1398 The Eucharist and the unity of Christians. Before the greatness of this mystery St. Augustine exclaims, "O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O b…
¶ 1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separa…
¶ 1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic m…
¶ 1401 When, in the Ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sic…
¶ 1402 In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passio…
¶ 1403 At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shal…
¶ 1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebr…
¶ 1405 There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells," 245 than the Eucharist. E…
¶ 1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and dr…
¶ 1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of prais…
¶ 1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the g…
¶ 1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a w…
¶ 1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. a…
¶ 1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
¶ 1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pr…
¶ 1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of …
¶ 1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from Go…
¶ 1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive c…
¶ 1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave si…
¶ 1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion each time they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them…
¶ 1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is…
¶ 1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identi…

CHAPTER TWO THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING (113 ¶)

¶ 1420 Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and it remains "hidd…
¶ 1421 The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, 3 has willed that h…
¶ 1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconcil…
¶ 1423 It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father 5…
¶ 1424 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profo…
¶ 1425 "YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 9 One must appreciate th…
¶ 1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and w…
¶ 1427 Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at han…
¶ 1428 Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who,…
¶ 1429 St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from P…
¶ 1430 Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and m…
¶ 1431 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from…
¶ 1432 The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. 25 Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts re…
¶ 1433 Since Easter, the Holy Spirit has proved "the world wrong about sin," 29 i.e., proved that the world has not believed in him whom the Father has sent.…
¶ 1434 The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, p…
¶ 1435 Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, 33 by the…
¶ 1436 Eucharist and Penance. Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made present the sacrifice of Chr…
¶ 1437 Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father - every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of convers…
¶ 1438 The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of…
¶ 1439 The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father: 37 The…
¶ 1440 Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason…
¶ 1441 Only God forgives sins. 39 Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises th…
¶ 1442 Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that…
¶ 1443 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the comm…
¶ 1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial…
¶ 1445 The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your…
¶ 1446 Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, a…
¶ 1447 Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first cen…
¶ 1448 Beneath the changes in discipline and celebration that this sacrament has undergone over the centuries, the same fundamental structure is to be discer…
¶ 1449 The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forg…
¶ 1450 "Penance requires . . . the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fru…
¶ 1451 Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the …
¶ 1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial…
¶ 1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugl…
¶ 1454 The reception of this sacrament ought to be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God. the passages best suite…
¶ 1455 The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such …
¶ 1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are con…
¶ 1457 According to the Church's command, "after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess …
¶ 1458 Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. 59 Indeed the regula…
¶ 1459 Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone s…
¶ 1460 The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent's personal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far…
¶ 1461 Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation, 65 bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops' collaborators, c…
¶ 1462 Forgiveness of sins brings reconciliation with God, but also with the Church. Since ancient times the bishop, visible head of a particular Church, has…
¶ 1463 Certain particularly grave sins incur excommunication, the most severe ecclesiastical penalty, which impedes the reception of the sacraments and the e…
¶ 1464 Priests must encourage the faithful to come to the sacrament of Penance and must make themselves available to celebrate this sacrament each time Chris…
¶ 1465 When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samarita…
¶ 1466 The confessor is not the master of God's forgiveness, but its servant. the minister of this sacrament should unite himself to the intention and charit…
¶ 1467 Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound…
¶ 1468 "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship." 73 Reconcilia…
¶ 1469 This sacrament reconciles us with the Church. Sin damages or even breaks fraternal communion. the sacrament of Penance repairs or restores it. In this…
¶ 1470 In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subj…
¶ 1471 The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.
¶ 1472 To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of comm…
¶ 1473 The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin rem…
¶ 1474 The Christian who seeks to purify himself of his sin and to become holy with the help of God's grace is not alone. "The life of each of God's children…
¶ 1475 In the communion of saints, "a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expia…
¶ 1476 We also call these spiritual goods of the communion of saints the Church's treasury, which is "not the sum total of the material goods which have accu…
¶ 1477 "This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in thei…
¶ 1478 An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of in…
¶ 1479 Since the faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for…
¶ 1480 Like all the sacraments, Penance is a liturgical action. the elements of the celebration are ordinarily these: a greeting and blessing from the priest…
¶ 1481 The Byzantine Liturgy recognizes several formulas of absolution, in the form of invocation, which admirably express the mystery of forgiveness: "May t…
¶ 1482 The sacrament of Penance can also take place in the framework of a communal celebration in which we prepare ourselves together for confession and give…
¶ 1483 In case of grave necessity recourse may be had to a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution. Grave neces…
¶ 1484 "Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless …
¶ 1485 "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week," Jesus showed himself to his apostles. "He breathed on them, and said to them: 'Receive the Ho…
¶ 1486 The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or rec…
¶ 1487 The sinner wounds God's honor and love, his own human dignity as a man called to be a son of God, and the spiritual well-being of the Church, of which…
¶ 1488 To the eyes of faith no evil is graver than sin and nothing has worse consequences for sinners themselves, for the Church, and for the whole world.
¶ 1489 To return to communion with God after having lost it through sin is a process born of the grace of God who is rich in mercy and solicitous for the sal…
¶ 1490 The movement of return to God, called conversion and repentance, entails sorrow for and abhorrence of sins committed, and the firm purpose of sinning …
¶ 1491 The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest's absolution. the penitent's acts are repentance, confe…
¶ 1492 Repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by motives that arise from faith. If repentance arises from love of charity for God, it is called…
¶ 1493 One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after havi…
¶ 1494 The confessor proposes the performance of certain acts of "satisfaction" or "penance" to be performed by the penitent in order to repair the harm caus…
¶ 1495 Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ.
¶ 1496 The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are: - reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace; - reconciliation with the Churc…
¶ 1497 Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church…
¶ 1498 Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory…
¶ 1499 "By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, th…
¶ 1500 Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitat…
¶ 1501 Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discer…
¶ 1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life…
¶ 1503 Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people" 103 and …
¶ 1504 Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. 107 He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands, 108 mud and washing. 109 The sick try to …
¶ 1505 Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and…
¶ 1506 Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn. 113 By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the …
¶ 1507 The risen Lord renews this mission ("In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." 115 ) and confirms it through the…
¶ 1508 The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing 118 so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most inte…
¶ 1509 "Heal the sick!" 120 The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanyi…
¶ 1510 However, the apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters…
¶ 1511 The Church believes and confesses that among the seven sacraments there is one especially intended to strengthen those who are being tried by illness,…
¶ 1512 From ancient times in the liturgical traditions of both East and West, we have testimonies to the practice of anointings of the sick with blessed oil.…
¶ 1513 The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum, 126 following upon the Second Vatican Council, 127 established that henceforth, in the Roman R…
¶ 1514 The Anointing of the Sick "is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in d…
¶ 1515 If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during …
¶ 1516 Only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick. 130 It is the duty of pastors to instruct the faithful on the benefi…
¶ 1517 Like all the sacraments the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical and communal celebration, 131 whether it takes place in the family home, a hospital …
¶ 1518 Word and sacrament form an indivisible whole. the Liturgy of the Word, preceded by an act of repentance, opens the celebration. the words of Christ, t…
¶ 1519 The celebration of the sacrament includes the following principal elements: the "priests of the Church" 132 - in silence - lay hands on the sick; they…
¶ 1520 A particular gift of the Holy Spirit. the first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that g…
¶ 1521 Union with the passion of Christ. By the grace of this sacrament the sick person receives the strength and the gift of uniting himself more closely to…
¶ 1522 An ecclesial grace. the sick who receive this sacrament, "by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ," "contribute to the good of…
¶ 1523 A preparation for the final journey. If the sacrament of anointing of the sick is given to all who suffer from serious illness and infirmity, even mor…
¶ 1524 In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body an…
¶ 1525 Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called "the sacraments of Christian initiation," so too it can b…
¶ 1526 "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and…
¶ 1527 The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has as its purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing the difficulties inherent in …
¶ 1528 The proper time for receiving this holy anointing has certainly arrived when the believer begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old ag…
¶ 1529 Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the Anointing of the Sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens.
¶ 1530 Only priests (presbyters and bishops) can give the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, using oil blessed by the bishop, or if necessary by the cel…
¶ 1531 The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person (in the Roman Rite) or…
¶ 1532 The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects: - the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his…

CHAPTER THREE THE SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNION (134 ¶)

¶ 1533 Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ's disciples, a vocation to …
¶ 1534 Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is…
¶ 1535 Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation 1 for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular …
¶ 1536 Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of ti…
¶ 1537 The word order in Roman antiquity designated an established civil body, especially a governing body. Ordinatio means incorporation into an ordo. In th…
¶ 1538 Integration into one of these bodies in the Church was accomplished by a rite called ordinatio, a religious and liturgical act which was a consecratio…
¶ 1539 The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 6 But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve t…
¶ 1540 Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer, 9 this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to…
¶ 1541 The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders, 11 a …
¶ 1542 At the ordination of priests, the Church prays:
¶ 1543 In the consecratory prayer for ordination of deacons, the Church confesses:
¶ 1544 Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men." 15 The Ch…
¶ 1545 The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. the same i…
¶ 1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." 20 The whole community of believers is, a…
¶ 1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper …
¶ 1548 In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high …
¶ 1549 Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of th…
¶ 1550 This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, e…
¶ 1551 This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service…
¶ 1552 The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting…
¶ 1553 "In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that priests are the delegates of the community. the prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable…
¶ 1554 "The divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, prie…
¶ 1555 "Amongst those various offices which have been exercised in the Church from the earliest times the chief place, according to the witness of tradition,…
¶ 1556 To fulfil their exalted mission, "the apostles were endowed by Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, and by the imposi…
¶ 1557 The Second Vatican Council "teaches . . . that the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by episcopal consecration, that fullness name…
¶ 1558 "Episcopal consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, also the offices of teaching and ruling.... In fact ... by the imposition of…
¶ 1559 "One is constituted a member of the episcopal body in virtue of the sacramental consecration and by the hierarchical communion with the head and membe…
¶ 1560 As Christ's vicar, each bishop has the pastoral care of the particular Church entrusted to him, but at the same time he bears collegially with all his…
¶ 1561 The above considerations explain why the Eucharist celebrated by the bishop has a quite special significance as an expression of the Church gathered a…
¶ 1562 "Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consec…
¶ 1563 "Because it is joined with the episcopal order the office of priests shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rule…
¶ 1564 "Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their …
¶ 1565 Through the sacrament of Holy Orders priests share in the universal dimensions of the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. the spiritual gif…
¶ 1566 "It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; th…
¶ 1567 "The priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, tog…
¶ 1568 "All priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but…
¶ 1569 "At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands 'not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry."' 53 …
¶ 1570 Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way. 55 The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character") which cannot be…
¶ 1571 Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate "as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy," 58 while the Churches …
¶ 1572 Given the importance that the ordination of a bishop, a priest, or a deacon has for the life of the particular Church, its celebration calls for as ma…
¶ 1573 The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop's imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and …
¶ 1574 As in all the sacraments additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly among the different liturgical traditions, these rites have in com…
¶ 1575 Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and authority. Raised to the Father's right hand, he has not forsaken his flock…
¶ 1576 Since the sacrament of Holy Orders is the sacrament of the apostolic ministry, it is for the bishops as the successors of the apostles to hand on the …
¶ 1577 "Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination." 66 The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the…
¶ 1578 No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed, no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God. 69 Anyone who th…
¶ 1579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celiba…
¶ 1580 In the Eastern Churches a different discipline has been in force for many centuries: while bishops are chosen solely from among celibates, married men…
¶ 1581 This sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special grace of the Holy Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his Church. B…
¶ 1582 As in the case of Baptism and Confirmation this share in Christ's office is granted once for all. the sacrament of Holy Orders, like the other two, co…
¶ 1583 It is true that someone validly ordained can, for a just reason, be discharged from the obligations and functions linked to ordination, or can be forb…
¶ 1584 Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects salvation through the ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ fro…
¶ 1585 The grace of the Holy Spirit proper to this sacrament is configuration to Christ as Priest, Teacher, and Pastor, of whom the ordained is made a minist…
¶ 1586 For the bishop, this is first of all a grace of strength (“the governing spirit": Prayer of Episcopal Consecration in the Latin rite): 78 The grace to…
¶ 1587 The spiritual gift conferred by presbyteral ordination is expressed by this prayer of the Byzantine Rite. the bishop, while laying on his hand, says a…
¶ 1588 With regard to deacons, "strengthened by sacramental grace they are dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of pri…
¶ 1589 Before the grandeur of the priestly grace and office, the holy doctors felt an urgent call to conversion in order to conform their whole lives to him …
¶ 1590 St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" (2Tim 1:6), and…
¶ 1591 The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the "common pr…
¶ 1592 The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the fait…
¶ 1593 Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons…
¶ 1594 The bishop receives the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which integrates him into the episcopal college and makes him the visible head of th…
¶ 1595 Priests are united with the bishops in sacerdotal dignity and at the same time depend on them in the exercise of their pastoral functions; they are ca…
¶ 1596 Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them impo…
¶ 1597 The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordinand the g…
¶ 1598 The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recogniz…
¶ 1599 In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freel…
¶ 1600 It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees.
¶ 1601 "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward…
¶ 1602 Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the L…
¶ 1603 "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own prope…
¶ 1604 God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and l…
¶ 1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be alone." 92 The woman, "flesh of his fle…
¶ 1606 Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman. Their union ha…
¶ 1607 According to faith the disorder we notice so painfully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but fro…
¶ 1608 Nevertheless, the order of creation persists, though seriously disturbed. To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of the grace that God…
¶ 1609 In his mercy God has not forsaken sinful man. the punishments consequent upon sin, "pain in childbearing" and toil "in the sweat of your brow," 100 al…
¶ 1610 Moral conscience concerning the unity and indissolubility of marriage developed under the pedagogy of the old law. In the Old Testament the polygamy o…
¶ 1611 Seeing God's covenant with Israel in the image of exclusive and faithful married love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People's conscience for a deep…
¶ 1612 The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared the way for the new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by becoming …
¶ 1613 On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign - at his mother's request - during a wedding feast. 105 The Church attaches great im…
¶ 1614 In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning permission …
¶ 1615 This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to reali…
¶ 1616 This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he mi…
¶ 1617 The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial…
¶ 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. the bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social. 113 From the very beginning o…
¶ 1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of th…
¶ 1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the g…
¶ 1621 In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all th…
¶ 1622 "Inasmuch as it is a sacramental action of sanctification, the liturgical celebration of marriage . . . must be, per se, valid, worthy, and fruitful."…
¶ 1623 In the Latin Church, it is ordinarily understood that the spouses, as ministers of Christ's grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Ma…
¶ 1624 The various liturgies abound in prayers of blessing and epiclesis asking God's grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride. In the epic…
¶ 1625 The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent; "to be free" means: - no…
¶ 1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that "makes the marriage." 125 If consent is lacking ther…
¶ 1627 The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other": "I take you to be my wife" - "I take you to be my …
¶ 1628 The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear. 128 No human power can substitute …
¶ 1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent eccle…
¶ 1630 The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives the blessi…
¶ 1631 This is the reason why the Church normally requires that the faithful contract marriage according to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons converge…
¶ 1632 So that the "I do" of the spouses may be a free and responsible act and so that the marriage covenant may have solid and lasting human and Christian f…
¶ 1633 In many countries the situation of a mixed marriage (marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) often arises. It requires particular att…
¶ 1634 Difference of confession between the spouses does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle for marriage, when they succeed in placing in common what …
¶ 1635 According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority. 135 In case …
¶ 1636 Through ecumenical dialogue Christian communities in many regions have been able to put into effect a common pastoral practice for mixed marriages. It…
¶ 1637 In marriages with disparity of cult the Catholic spouse has a particular task: "For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the u…
¶ 1638 "From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the…
¶ 1639 The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. 141 From their covenant arises "an institution, confi…
¶ 1640 Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never …
¶ 1641 "By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God." 145 This grace proper to…
¶ 1642 Christ is the source of this grace. "Just as of old God encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the …
¶ 1643 "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity,…
¶ 1644 The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their entire …
¶ 1645 "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutua…
¶ 1646 By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to…
¶ 1647 The deepest reason is found in the fidelity of God to his covenant, in that of Christ to his Church. Through the sacrament of Matrimony the spouses ar…
¶ 1648 It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind oneself for life to another human being. This makes it all the more important to proclaim the Good New…
¶ 1649 Yet there are some situations in which living together becomes practically impossible for a variety of reasons. In such cases the Church permits the p…
¶ 1650 Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jes…
¶ 1651 Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and th…
¶ 1652 "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that i…
¶ 1653 The fruitfulness of conjugal love extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual, and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children by educa…
¶ 1654 Spouses to whom God has not granted children can nevertheless have a conjugal life full of meaning, in both human and Christian terms. Their marriage …
¶ 1655 Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. the Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the…
¶ 1656 In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. F…
¶ 1657 It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged …
¶ 1658 We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live - often not of their …
¶ 1659 St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church.... This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (…
¶ 1660 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its o…
¶ 1661 The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ…
¶ 1662 Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, …
¶ 1663 Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in the Church, it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework of a lit…
¶ 1664 Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce separates wh…
¶ 1665 The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from t…
¶ 1666 The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the dom…

CHAPTER FOUR OTHER LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS (24 ¶)

¶ 1667 "Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, p…
¶ 1668 Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Ch…
¶ 1669 Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a "blessing," and to bless. 172 Hence lay people may preside …
¶ 1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grac…
¶ 1671 Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Chris…
¶ 1672 Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those bles…
¶ 1673 When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One a…
¶ 1674 Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. the relig…
¶ 1675 These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They "should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the l…
¶ 1676 Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support popular piety and, if necessary, to purify and correct the religious sense which underlies these…
¶ 1677 Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church. They prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances o…
¶ 1678 Among the sacramentals blessings occupy an important place. They include both praise of God for his works and gifts, and the Church's intercession for…
¶ 1679 In addition to the liturgy, Christian life is nourished by various forms of popular piety, rooted in the different cultures. While carefully clarifyin…
¶ 1680 All the sacraments, and principally those of Christian initiation, have as their goal the last Passover of the child of God which, through death, lead…
¶ 1681 The Christian meaning of death is revealed in the light of the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ in whom resides our only hope. …
¶ 1682 For the Christian the day of death inaugurates, at the end of his sacramental life, the fulfillment of his new birth begun at Baptism, the definitive …
¶ 1683 The Church who, as Mother, has borne the Christian sacramentally in her womb during his earthly pilgrimage, accompanies him at his journey's end, in o…
¶ 1684 The Christian funeral confers on the deceased neither a sacrament nor a sacramental since he has "passed" beyond the sacramental economy. It is noneth…
¶ 1685 The different funeral rites express the Paschal character of Christian death and are in keeping with the situations and traditions of each region, eve…
¶ 1686 The Order of Christian Funerals (Ordo exsequiarum) of the Roman liturgy gives three types of funeral celebrations, corresponding to the three places i…
¶ 1687 The greeting of the community. A greeting of faith begins the celebration. Relatives and friends of the deceased are welcomed with a word of "consolat…
¶ 1688 The liturgy of the Word during funerals demands very careful preparation because the assembly present for the funeral may include some faithful who ra…
¶ 1689 The Eucharistic Sacrifice. When the celebration takes place in church the Eucharist is the heart of the Paschal reality of Christian death. 189 In the…
¶ 1690 A farewell to the deceased is his final "commendation to God" by the Church. It is "the last farewell by which the Christian community greets one of i…

PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

CHAPTER ONE THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON (177 ¶)

¶ 1700 The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beat…
¶ 1701 "Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalte…
¶ 1702 The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the union of the divine persons among themse…
¶ 1703 Endowed with "a spiritual and immortal" soul, 5 The human person is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake." 6 From his conc…
¶ 1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things establish…
¶ 1705 By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."…
¶ 1706 By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil." 9 Everyone is obliged to follow this law, …
¶ 1707 "Man, enticed by the Evil One, abused his freedom at the very beginning of history." 10 He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He still des…
¶ 1708 By his Passion, Christ delivered us from Satan and from sin. He merited for us the new life in the Holy Spirit. His grace restores what sin had damage…
¶ 1709 He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ. It make…
¶ 1710 "Christ . . . makes man fully manifest to man himself and brings to light his exalted vocation" (GS 22 # 1).
¶ 1711 Endowed with a spiritual soul, with intellect and with free will, the human person is from his very conception ordered to God and destined for eternal…
¶ 1712 In man, true freedom is an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image" (GS 17).
¶ 1713 Man is obliged to follow the moral law, which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil" (cf GS 16). This law makes itself heard in his con…
¶ 1714 Man, having been wounded in his nature by original sin, is subject to error and inclined to evil in exercising his freedom.
¶ 1715 He who believes in Christ has new life in the Holy Spirit. the moral life, increased and brought to maturity in grace, is to reach its fulfillment in …
¶ 1716 The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the pro…
¶ 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of …
¶ 1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man…
¶ 1719 The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to ea…
¶ 1720 The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man: - the coming of the Kingdom of God; 16 - the vision o…
¶ 1721 God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us "partakers of the divine nature" and of ete…
¶ 1722 Such beatitude surpasses the understanding and powers of man. It comes from an entirely free gift of God: whence it is called supernatural, as is the …
¶ 1723 The beatitude we are promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of Go…
¶ 1724 The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the gr…
¶ 1725 The Beatitudes take up and fulfill God's promises from Abraham on by ordering them to the Kingdom of heaven. They respond to the desire for happiness …
¶ 1726 The Beatitudes teach us the final end to which God calls us: the Kingdom, the vision of God, participation in the divine nature, eternal life, filiati…
¶ 1727 The beatitude of eternal life is a gratuitous gift of God. It is supernatural, as is the grace that leads us there.
¶ 1728 The Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods; they purify our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things.
¶ 1729 The beatitude of heaven sets the standards for discernment in the use of earthly goods in keeping with the law of God.
¶ 1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should …
¶ 1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsib…
¶ 1732 As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, an…
¶ 1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. the choice to disobey …
¶ 1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and ascesis enhance the m…
¶ 1735 Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachme…
¶ 1736 Every act directly willed is imputable to its author:
¶ 1737 An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A bad effect is not imp…
¶ 1738 Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as…
¶ 1739 Freedom and sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's plan of love, he deceived himself and…
¶ 1740 Threats to freedom. the exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, "the subject of this fre…
¶ 1741 Liberation and salvation. By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage. "For fr…
¶ 1742 Freedom and grace. the grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and the…
¶ 1743 "God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel (cf Sir 15:14), so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely atta…
¶ 1744 Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one's own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward…
¶ 1745 Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts prope…
¶ 1746 The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors.…
¶ 1747 The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man. But the exercise…
¶ 1748 "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal 5:1).
¶ 1749 Freedom makes man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely c…
¶ 1750 The morality of human acts depends on: - the object chosen; - the end in view or the intention; - the circumstances of the action. The object, the int…
¶ 1751 The object chosen is a good toward which the will deliberately directs itself. It is the matter of a human act. the object chosen morally specifies th…
¶ 1752 In contrast to the object, the intention resides in the acting subject. Because it lies at the voluntary source of an action and determines it by its …
¶ 1753 A good intention (for example, that of helping one's neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, goo…
¶ 1754 The circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary elements of a moral act. They contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness …
¶ 1755 A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the ob…
¶ 1756 It is therefore an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them or the circumstances (environment, s…
¶ 1757 The object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the three "sources" of the morality of human acts.
¶ 1758 The object chosen morally specifies the act of willing accordingly as reason recognizes and judges it good or evil.
¶ 1759 "An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention" (cf St. Thomas Aquinas, Dec. praec. 6). the end does not justify the means.
¶ 1760 A morally good act requires the goodness of its object, of its end, and of its circumstances together.
¶ 1761 There are concrete acts that it is always wrong to choose, because their choice entails a disorder of the will, i.e., a moral evil. One may not do evi…
¶ 1762 The human person is ordered to beatitude by his deliberate acts: the passions or feelings he experiences can dispose him to it and contribute to it.
¶ 1763 The term "passions" belongs to the Christian patrimony. Feelings or passions are emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to ac…
¶ 1764 The passions are natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the lif…
¶ 1765 There are many passions. the most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the…
¶ 1766 "To love is to will the good of another." 41 All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only th…
¶ 1767 In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will. Passions…
¶ 1768 Strong feelings are not decisive for the morality or the holiness of persons; they are simply the inexhaustible reservoir of images and affections in …
¶ 1769 In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is vis…
¶ 1770 Moral perfection consists in man's being moved to the good not by his will alone, but also by his sensitive appetite, as in the words of the psalm: "M…
¶ 1771 The term "passions" refers to the affections or the feelings. By his emotions man intuits the good and suspects evil.
¶ 1772 The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger.
¶ 1773 In the passions, as movements of the sensitive appetite, there is neither moral good nor evil. But insofar as they engage reason and will, there is mo…
¶ 1774 Emotions and feelings can be taken up in the virtues or perverted by the vices.
¶ 1775 The perfection of the moral good consists in man's being moved to the good not only by his will but also by his "heart."
¶ 1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to …
¶ 1777 Moral conscience, 48 present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular…
¶ 1778 Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the proc…
¶ 1779 It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of in…
¶ 1780 The dignity of the human person implies and requires uprightness of moral conscience. Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality…
¶ 1781 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as …
¶ 1782 Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscien…
¶ 1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to…
¶ 1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law re…
¶ 1785 In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path, 54 we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We mu…
¶ 1786 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous …
¶ 1787 Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is rig…
¶ 1788 To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of compe…
¶ 1789 Some rules apply in every case: - One may never do evil so that good may result from it; - the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to yo…
¶ 1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can…
¶ 1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, o…
¶ 1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscien…
¶ 1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the pers…
¶ 1794 A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere fa…
¶ 1795 "Conscience is man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths" (GS 16).
¶ 1796 Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.
¶ 1797 For the man who has committed evil, the verdict of his conscience remains a pledge of conversion and of hope.
¶ 1798 A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisd…
¶ 1799 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous …
¶ 1800 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience.
¶ 1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.
¶ 1802 The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed.
¶ 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if…
¶ 1804 Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and gui…
¶ 1805 Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude…
¶ 1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "t…
¶ 1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtu…
¶ 1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist tem…
¶ 1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mast…
¶ 1810 Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine gra…
¶ 1811 It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's gift of salvation offers us the grace necessary to persevere in the pursui…
¶ 1812 The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature: 76 for the theological vi…
¶ 1813 The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life t…
¶ 1814 Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our …
¶ 1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. 80 But "faith apart from works is dead": 81 when it is deprived of hope and love, fait…
¶ 1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however m…
¶ 1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and …
¶ 1818 The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's ac…
¶ 1819 Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly b…
¶ 1820 Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. the beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as th…
¶ 1821 We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. 92 In every circumstance, each one of us should ho…
¶ 1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
¶ 1823 Jesus makes charity the new commandment. 96 By loving his own "to the end," 97 he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives. By loving one an…
¶ 1824 Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you…
¶ 1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." 100 The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighb…
¶ 1826 "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain …
¶ 1827 The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; 105 it is the form of the v…
¶ 1828 The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God…
¶ 1829 The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and r…
¶ 1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the pro…
¶ 1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullnes…
¶ 1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. the tradition of the Church lists twel…
¶ 1833 Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.
¶ 1834 The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in accordance …
¶ 1835 Prudence disposes the practical reason to discern, in every circumstance, our true good and to choose the right means for achieving it.
¶ 1836 Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give God and neighbor their due.
¶ 1837 Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
¶ 1838 Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods.
¶ 1839 The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace purifies and elevates them.
¶ 1840 The theological virtues dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have God for their origin, their motive, and their ob…
¶ 1841 There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. They inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.
¶ 1842 By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief.
¶ 1843 By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it.
¶ 1844 By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything togeth…
¶ 1845 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon Christians are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
¶ 1846 The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners. 113 The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will…
¶ 1847 "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us." 116 To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have no sin,…
¶ 1848 As St. Paul affirms, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." 118 But to do its work grace must uncover sin so as to convert our hearts and…
¶ 1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to c…
¶ 1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." 122 Sin sets itself against God's l…
¶ 1851 It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unb…
¶ 1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the …
¶ 1853 Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or accordi…
¶ 1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. the distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in Scripture, 129 became part of…
¶ 1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitu…
¶ 1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart whi…
¶ 1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full k…
¶ 1858 Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, D…
¶ 1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. …
¶ 1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the …
¶ 1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, tha…
¶ 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…
¶ 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 t…
¶ 1864 "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." 136 There are no limits to the mercy of God, but …
¶ 1865 Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and co…
¶ 1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, foll…
¶ 1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel, 139 The sin of the Sodomites, 140 The cry of the …
¶ 1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them: - by participating directly and …
¶ 1869 Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to social situatio…
¶ 1870 "God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32).
¶ 1871 Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust 22: PL 42, 418). It is an offense against God. It rises up …
¶ 1872 Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man's nature and injures human solidarity.
¶ 1873 The root of all sins lies in man's heart. the kinds and the gravity of sins are determined principally by their objects.
¶ 1874 To choose deliberately - that is, both knowing it and willing it - something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to c…
¶ 1875 Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us.
¶ 1876 The repetition of sins - even venial ones - engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.

CHAPTER TWO THE HUMAN COMMUNION (72 ¶)

¶ 1877 The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son. This vocation takes a person…
¶ 1878 All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ar…
¶ 1879 The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange with ot…
¶ 1880 A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is at once v…
¶ 1881 Each community is defined by its purpose and consequently obeys specific rules; but "the human person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subj…
¶ 1882 Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote the particip…
¶ 1883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. the teaching of the Church has …
¶ 1884 God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing, according to …
¶ 1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships…
¶ 1886 Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which "su…
¶ 1887 The inversion of means and ends, 10 which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a means for attaining it, or in viewing persons …
¶ 1888 It is necessary, then, to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the human person and to the permanent need for his inner conversion, so as t…
¶ 1889 Without the help of grace, men would not know how "to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the violence whi…
¶ 1890 There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves.
¶ 1891 The human person needs life in society in order to develop in accordance with his nature. Certain societies, such as the family and the state, corresp…
¶ 1892 "The human person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of every social organization" (GS 25 # 1).
¶ 1893 Widespread participation in voluntary associations and institutions is to be encouraged.
¶ 1894 In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibil…
¶ 1895 Society ought to promote the exercise of virtue, not obstruct it. It should be animated by a just hierarchy of values.
¶ 1896 Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just re…
¶ 1897 "Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions an…
¶ 1898 Every human community needs an authority to govern it. 16 The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity of the …
¶ 1899 The authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority excep…
¶ 1900 The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it i…
¶ 1901 If authority belongs to the order established by God, "the choice of the political regime and the appointment of rulers are left to the free decision …
¶ 1902 Authority does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself. It must not behave in a despotic manner, but must act for the common good as a "moral forc…
¶ 1903 Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If r…
¶ 1904 "It is preferable that each power be balanced by other powers and by other spheres of responsibility which keep it within proper bounds. This is the p…
¶ 1905 In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in …
¶ 1906 By common good is to be understood "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillm…
¶ 1907 First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundame…
¶ 1908 Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly…
¶ 1909 Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally a…
¶ 1910 Each human community possesses a common good which permits it to be recognized as such; it is in the political community that its most complete realiz…
¶ 1911 Human interdependence is increasing and gradually spreading throughout the world. the unity of the human family, embracing people who enjoy equal natu…
¶ 1912 The common good is always oriented towards the progress of persons: "The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and not the othe…
¶ 1913 "Participation" is the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange. It is necessary that all participate, each according to hi…
¶ 1914 Participation is achieved first of all by taking charge of the areas for which one assumes personal responsibility: by the care taken for the educatio…
¶ 1915 As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life. the manner of this participation may vary from one country or culture to anothe…
¶ 1916 As with any ethical obligation, the participation of all in realizing the common good calls for a continually renewed conversion of the social partner…
¶ 1917 It is incumbent on those who exercise authority to strengthen the values that inspire the confidence of the members of the group and encourage them to…
¶ 1918 "There is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God" (Rom 13:1).
¶ 1919 Every human community needs an authority in order to endure and develop.
¶ 1920 "The political community and public authority are based on human nature and therefore . . . belong to an order established by God" (GS 74 # 3).
¶ 1921 Authority is exercised legitimately if it is committed to the common good of society. To attain this it must employ morally acceptable means.
¶ 1922 The diversity of political regimes is legitimate, provided they contribute to the good of the community.
¶ 1923 Political authority must be exercised within the limits of the moral order and must guarantee the conditions for the exercise of freedom.
¶ 1924 The common good comprises "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more …
¶ 1925 The common good consists of three essential elements: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person; prosperity, or the developmen…
¶ 1926 The dignity of the human person requires the pursuit of the common good. Everyone should be concerned to create and support institutions that improve …
¶ 1927 It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society. the common good of the whole human family calls for an organizatio…
¶ 1928 Society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their …
¶ 1929 Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. the person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered…
¶ 1930 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be re…
¶ 1931 Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that "everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as 'ano…
¶ 1932 The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged, in whatever are…
¶ 1933 This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. the teaching of Christ goes so far as to require the forgiveness of offenses. He…
¶ 1934 Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifi…
¶ 1935 The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it:
¶ 1936 On coming into the world, man is not equipped with everything he needs for developing his bodily and spiritual life. He needs others. Differences appe…
¶ 1937 These differences belong to God's plan, who wills that each receive what he needs from others, and that those endowed with particular "talents" share …
¶ 1938 There exist also sinful inequalities that affect millions of men and women. These are in open contradiction of the Gospel:
¶ 1939 The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood. 45
¶ 1940 Solidarity is manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work. It also presupposes the effort for a more just soc…
¶ 1941 Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and p…
¶ 1942 The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new path…
¶ 1943 Society ensures social justice by providing the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain their due.
¶ 1944 Respect for the human person considers the other "another self." It presupposes respect for the fundamental rights that flow from the dignity intrinsi…
¶ 1945 The equality of men concerns their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it.
¶ 1946 The differences among persons belong to God's plan, who wills that we should need one another. These differences should encourage charity.
¶ 1947 The equal dignity of human persons requires the effort to reduce excessive social and economic inequalities. It gives urgency to the elimination of si…
¶ 1948 Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.

CHAPTER THREE GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE (103 ¶)

¶ 1949 Called to beatitude but wounded by sin, man stands in need of salvation from God. Divine help comes to him in Christ through the law that guides him a…
¶ 1950 The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It prescribes for man the way…
¶ 1951 Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent authority for the sake of the common good. the moral law presupposes the rational order, established amo…
¶ 1952 There are different expressions of the moral law, all of them interrelated: eternal law - the source, in God, of all law; natural law; revealed law, c…
¶ 1953 The moral law finds its fullness and its unity in Christ. Jesus Christ is in person the way of perfection. He is the end of the law, for only he teach…
¶ 1954 Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the tr…
¶ 1955 The "divine and natural" law 6 shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. the natural law states the first and essenti…
¶ 1956 The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It exp…
¶ 1957 Application of the natural law varies greatly; it can demand reflection that takes account of various conditions of life according to places, times, a…
¶ 1958 The natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history; 10 it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their…
¶ 1959 The natural law, the Creator's very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices.…
¶ 1960 The precepts of natural law are not perceived by everyone clearly and immediately. In the present situation sinful man needs grace and revelation so m…
¶ 1961 God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose Israel for himself to be his people and revealed his Law to them, thus preparing for the coming of Christ. the La…
¶ 1962 The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments. the precepts of the Decalogue lay the f…
¶ 1963 According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good, 14 yet still imperfect. Like a tutor 15 it shows what must be done, but does n…
¶ 1964 The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. "The Law is a pedagogy and a prophecy of things to come." 17 It prophesies and presages the work of liber…
¶ 1965 The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed. It is the work of Christ and is expresse…
¶ 1966 The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit given to the faithful through faith in Christ. It works through charity; it uses the Sermon on the Mount t…
¶ 1967 The Law of the Gospel "fulfills," refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection. 21 In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine p…
¶ 1968 The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions o…
¶ 1969 The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer and fasting, directing them to the "Father who sees in secret," in contrast with the de…
¶ 1970 The Law of the Gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between "the two ways" and to put into practice the words of the Lord. 26 It is summed u…
¶ 1971 To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, such as Romans 12-15, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Col…
¶ 1972 The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because…
¶ 1973 Besides its precepts, the New Law also includes the evangelical counsels. the traditional distinction between God's commandments and the evangelical c…
¶ 1974 The evangelical counsels manifest the living fullness of charity, which is never satisfied with not giving more. They attest its vitality and call for…
¶ 1975 According to Scripture the Law is a fatherly instruction by God which prescribes for man the ways that lead to the promised beatitude, and proscribes …
¶ 1976 "Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by the one who is in charge of the community" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II, 90, 4).
¶ 1977 Christ is the end of the law (cf Rom 10:4); only he teaches and bestows the justice of God.
¶ 1978 The natural law is a participation in God's wisdom and goodness by man formed in the image of his Creator. It expresses the dignity of the human perso…
¶ 1979 The natural law is immutable, permanent throughout history. the rules that express it remain substantially valid. It is a necessary foundation for the…
¶ 1980 The Old Law is the first stage of revealed law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments.
¶ 1981 The Law of Moses contains many truths naturally accessible to reason. God has revealed them because men did not read them in their hearts.
¶ 1982 The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel.
¶ 1983 The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity. It finds expression above all in the Lord's Sermon…
¶ 1984 The Law of the Gospel fulfills and surpasses the Old Law and brings it to perfection: its promises, through the Beatitudes of the Kingdom of heaven; i…
¶ 1985 The New Law is a law of love, a law of grace, a law of freedom.
¶ 1986 Besides its precepts the New Law includes the evangelical counsels. "The Church's holiness is fostered in a special way by the manifold counsels which…
¶ 1987 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God thro…
¶ 1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are mem…
¶ 1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the G…
¶ 1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initia…
¶ 1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rec…
¶ 1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whos…
¶ 1993 Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, …
¶ 1994 Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustin…
¶ 1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the "inner man," 44 justification entails the sanctification of his whole being…
¶ 1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become childre…
¶ 1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grac…
¶ 1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpas…
¶ 1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to san…
¶ 2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by hi…
¶ 2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justifi…
¶ 2002 God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know hi…
¶ 2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to ass…
¶ 2004 Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of th…
¶ 2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings…
¶ 2006 The term "merit" refers in general to the recompense owed by a community or a society for the action of one of its members, experienced either as bene…
¶ 2007 With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have rece…
¶ 2008 The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. the fat…
¶ 2009 Filial adoption, in making us partakers by grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God's gratuitous justice. This is ou…
¶ 2010 Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of co…
¶ 2011 The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensures the supernatural qualit…
¶ 2012 "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him . . . For those whom he fore knew he also predestined to be conformed to the im…
¶ 2013 "All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity." 65 All are called to holi…
¶ 2014 Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ…
¶ 2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. 68 Spiritual progress entails the as…
¶ 2016 The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works …
¶ 2017 The grace of the Holy Spirit confers upon us the righteousness of God. Uniting us by faith and Baptism to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, the …
¶ 2018 Like conversion, justification has two aspects. Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness f…
¶ 2019 Justification includes the remission of sins, sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man.
¶ 2020 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who just…
¶ 2021 Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons. It introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life.
¶ 2022 The divine initiative in the work of grace precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man. Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human …
¶ 2023 Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to san…
¶ 2024 Sanctifying grace makes us "pleasing to God." Charisms, special graces of the Holy Spirit, are oriented to sanctifying grace and are intended for the …
¶ 2025 We can have merit in God's sight only because of God's free plan to associate man with the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first pla…
¶ 2026 The grace of the Holy Spirit can confer true merit on us, by virtue of our adoptive filiation, and in accordance with God's gratuitous justice. Charit…
¶ 2027 No one can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the g…
¶ 2028 "All Christians . . . are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity" (LG 40 # 2). "Christian perfection has but one li…
¶ 2029 "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).
¶ 2030 It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized, that the Christian fulfills his vocation. From the Church he receives the Word of God contain…
¶ 2031 The moral life is spiritual worship. We "present (our) bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God," 73 within the Body of Christ that we…
¶ 2032 The Church, the "pillar and bulwark of the truth," "has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth." 74 "To…
¶ 2033 The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching, with the help of the works of theol…
¶ 2034 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are "authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people …
¶ 2035 The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does t…
¶ 2036 The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is neces…
¶ 2037 The law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. the faithful therefore have the right to be instructed …
¶ 2038 In the work of teaching and applying Christian morality, the Church needs the dedication of pastors, the knowledge of theologians, and the contributio…
¶ 2039 Ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the Church, in the name of the Lord. 81 At the same time the conscie…
¶ 2040 Thus a true filial spirit toward the Church can develop among Christians. It is the normal flowering of the baptismal grace which has begotten us in t…
¶ 2041 The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. the obligatory character of these positiv…
¶ 2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.") requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebratio…
¶ 2043 The fourth precept (“You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.") completes the Sunday observance by participation in the principal liturgical f…
¶ 2044 The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church's mission in the world. In order that the…
¶ 2045 Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, 89 Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions an…
¶ 2046 By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, "a kingdom of justice, love, and peace." 91 They do not, for all …
¶ 2047 The moral life is a spiritual worship. Christian activity finds its nourishment in the liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments.
¶ 2048 The precepts of the Church concern the moral and Christian life united with the liturgy and nourished by it.
¶ 2049 The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching, on the basis of the Decalogue which…
¶ 2050 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops, as authentic teachers, preach to the People of God the faith which is to be believed and applied in moral life. It …
¶ 2051 The infallibility of the Magisterium of the Pastors extends to all the elements of doctrine, including moral doctrine, without which the saving truths…

CHAPTER ONE YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND (113 ¶)

¶ 2083 Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all yo…
¶ 2084 God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: "I brought you out of the …
¶ 2085 The one and true God first reveals his glory to Israel. 6 The revelation of the vocation and truth of man is linked to the revelation of God. Man's vo…
¶ 2086 "The first commandment embraces faith, hope, and charity. When we say 'God' we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, faithful and j…
¶ 2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith" 9 as our first obligation. He sh…
¶ 2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There …
¶ 2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth whic…
¶ 2090 When God reveals Himself and calls him, man cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacit…
¶ 2091 The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salva…
¶ 2092 There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he …
¶ 2093 Faith in God's love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity. the first commandment enjoins us to love G…
¶ 2094 One can sin against God's love in various ways: - indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity; it fails to consider its prevenient g…
¶ 2095 The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity inform and give life to the moral virtues. Thus charity leads us to render to God what we as creat…
¶ 2096 Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of eve…
¶ 2097 To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is…
¶ 2098 The acts of faith, hope, and charity enjoined by the first commandment are accomplished in prayer. Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of …
¶ 2099 It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in co…
¶ 2100 Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." 17 The proph…
¶ 2101 In many circumstances, the Christian is called to make promises to God. Baptism and Confirmation, Matrimony and Holy Orders always entail promises. Ou…
¶ 2102 "A vow is a deliberate and free promise made to God concerning a possible and better good which must be fulfilled by reason of the virtue of religion,…
¶ 2103 The Church recognizes an exemplary value in the vows to practice the evangelical counsels: 23
¶ 2104 "All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." 26…
¶ 2105 The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of …
¶ 2106 "Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matter…
¶ 2107 "If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organizati…
¶ 2108 The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, 37 but rather a natural right of the huma…
¶ 2109 The right to religious liberty can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a "public order" conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner.…
¶ 2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion.…
¶ 2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.…
¶ 2112 The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture c…
¶ 2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commi…
¶ 2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. the commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless dis…
¶ 2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands…
¶ 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the fut…
¶ 2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power ove…
¶ 2118 God's first commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion: tempting God, in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony.
¶ 2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down f…
¶ 2120 Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated …
¶ 2121 Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. 53 To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the …
¶ 2122 The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful…
¶ 2123 "Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must theref…
¶ 2124 The name "atheism" covers many very different phenomena. One common form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to spa…
¶ 2125 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion. 61 The imputability of this offense can be significa…
¶ 2126 Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God. 63 Yet, "to acknowledge Go…
¶ 2127 Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent …
¶ 2128 Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existenc…
¶ 2129 The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the …
¶ 2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate…
¶ 2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of…
¶ 2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to …
¶ 2133 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deut 6:5).
¶ 2134 The first commandment summons man to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him above all else.
¶ 2135 "You shall worship the Lord your God" (Mt 4:10). Adoring God, praying to him, offering him the worship that belongs to him, fulfilling the promises an…
¶ 2136 The duty to offer God authentic worship concerns man both as an individual and as a social being.
¶ 2137 "Men of the present day want to profess their religion freely in private and in public" (DH 15).
¶ 2138 Superstition is a departure from the worship that we give to the true God. It is manifested in idolatry, as well as in various forms of divination and…
¶ 2139 Tempting God in words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony are sins of irreligion forbidden by the first commandment.
¶ 2140 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the first commandment.
¶ 2141 The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not contrary to the first commandment.
¶ 2142 The second commandment prescribes respect for the Lord's name. Like the first commandment, it belongs to the virtue of religion and more particularly …
¶ 2143 Among all the words of Revelation, there is one which is unique: the revealed name of God. God confides his name to those who believe in him; he revea…
¶ 2144 Respect for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole sacred reality it evokes. the sense of the sa…
¶ 2145 The faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear. 76 Preaching and catechizing should be permeat…
¶ 2146 The second commandment forbids the abuse of God's name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary and al…
¶ 2147 Promises made to others in God's name engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness, and authority. They must be respected in justice. To be unfaith…
¶ 2148 Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God - inwardly or outwardly - words of hatred, reproach, or d…
¶ 2149 Oaths which misuse God's name, though without the intention of blasphemy, show lack of respect for the Lord. the second commandment also forbids magic…
¶ 2150 The second commandment forbids false oaths. Taking an oath or swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It is to invoke the divine truth…
¶ 2151 Rejection of false oaths is a duty toward God. As Creator and Lord, God is the norm of all truth. Human speech is either in accord with or in oppositi…
¶ 2152 A person commits perjury when he makes a promise under oath with no intention of keeping it, or when after promising on oath he does not keep it. Perj…
¶ 2153 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the second commandment: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, …
¶ 2154 Following St. Paul, 83 The tradition of the Church has understood Jesus' words as not excluding oaths made for grave and right reasons (for example, i…
¶ 2155 The holiness of the divine name demands that we neither use it for trivial matters, nor take an oath which on the basis of the circumstances could be …
¶ 2156 The sacrament of Baptism is conferred "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 85 In Baptism, the Lord's name sanctifies man…
¶ 2157 The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Sp…
¶ 2158 God calls each one by name. 87 Everyone's name is sacred. the name is the icon of the person. It demands respect as a sign of the dignity of the one w…
¶ 2159 The name one receives is a name for eternity. In the kingdom, the mysterious and unique character of each person marked with God's name will shine for…
¶ 2160 "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth" (Ps 8:1)!
¶ 2161 The second commandment enjoins respect for the Lord's name. the name of the Lord is holy.
¶ 2162 The second commandment forbids every improper use of God's name. Blasphemy is the use of the name of God, of Jesus Christ, of the Virgin Mary, and of …
¶ 2163 False oaths call on God to be witness to a lie. Perjury is a grave offence against the Lord who is always faithful to his promises.
¶ 2164 "Do not swear whether by the Creator, or any creature, except truthfully, of necessity, and with reverence" (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercis…
¶ 2165 In Baptism, the Christian receives his name in the Church. Parents, godparents, and the pastor are to see that he be given a Christian name. the patro…
¶ 2166 The Christian begins his prayers and activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
¶ 2167 God calls each one by name (cf Isa 43:1).
¶ 2168 The third commandment of the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the sabbath: "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD." 92
¶ 2169 In speaking of the sabbath Scripture recalls creation: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested t…
¶ 2170 Scripture also reveals in the Lord's day a memorial of Israel's liberation from bondage in Egypt: "You shall remember that you were a servant in the l…
¶ 2171 God entrusted the sabbath to Israel to keep as a sign of the irrevocable covenant. 95 The sabbath is for the Lord, holy and set apart for the praise o…
¶ 2172 God's action is the model for human action. If God "rested and was refreshed" on the seventh day, man too ought to "rest" and should let others, espec…
¶ 2173 The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. 98 H…
¶ 2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." 104 Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creatio…
¶ 2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that…
¶ 2176 The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regu…
¶ 2177 The Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life. "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is ce…
¶ 2178 This practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age. 112 The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful "not to neg…
¶ 2179 "A parish is a definite community of the Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular church; the pastoral care of the parish …
¶ 2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to partic…
¶ 2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Euch…
¶ 2182 Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. the f…
¶ 2183 "If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially rec…
¶ 2184 Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done," 121 human life has a rhythm of work and rest. the institution of the Lord…
¶ 2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the…
¶ 2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because o…
¶ 2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them f…
¶ 2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days as legal holidays…
¶ 2189 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deut 5:12). "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord" (Ex 31:15).
¶ 2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Res…
¶ 2191 The Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on the "eighth day," Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf SC 106).
¶ 2192 "Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church" (CIC, can. 1246 # 1). "On Sundays and other holy days …
¶ 2193 "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship…
¶ 2194 The institution of Sunday helps all "to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their amilial, cultural, social, and religious lives" (GS …
¶ 2195 Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day.

CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF (361 ¶)

¶ 2196 In response to the question about the first of the commandments, Jesus says: "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and yo…
¶ 2197 The fourth commandment opens the second table of the Decalogue. It shows us the order of charity. God has willed that, after him, we should honor our …
¶ 2198 This commandment is expressed in positive terms of duties to be fulfilled. It introduces the subsequent commandments which are concerned with particul…
¶ 2199 The fourth commandment is addressed expressly to children in their relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most univ…
¶ 2200 Observing the fourth commandment brings its reward: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God…
¶ 2201 The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the spouses. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procr…
¶ 2202 A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, w…
¶ 2203 In creating man and woman, God instituted the human family and endowed it with its fundamental constitution. Its members are persons equal in dignity.…
¶ 2204 "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a dome…
¶ 2205 The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and…
¶ 2206 The relationships within the family bring an affinity of feelings, affections and interests, arising above all from the members' respect for one anoth…
¶ 2207 The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the g…
¶ 2208 The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the…
¶ 2209 The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have …
¶ 2210 The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society 13 entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marri…
¶ 2211 The political community has a duty to honor the family, to assist it, and to ensure especially: - the freedom to establish a family, have children, an…
¶ 2212 The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the…
¶ 2213 Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. …
¶ 2214 The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; 16 this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents. the respect of children, whether mino…
¶ 2215 Respect for parents (filial piety) derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their childre…
¶ 2216 Filial respect is shown by true docility and obedience. "My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.... When you w…
¶ 2217 As long as a child lives at home with his parents, the child should obey his parents in all that they ask of him when it is for his good or that of th…
¶ 2218 The fourth commandment reminds grown children of their responsibilities toward their parents. As much as they can, they must give them material and mo…
¶ 2219 Filial respect promotes harmony in all of family life; it also concerns relationships between brothers and sisters. Respect toward parents fills the h…
¶ 2220 For Christians a special gratitude is due to those from whom they have received the gift of faith, the grace of Baptism, and life in the Church. These…
¶ 2221 The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual f…
¶ 2222 Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heav…
¶ 2223 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where ten…
¶ 2224 The home is the natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal responsibilities. Parents should teach children to avoid…
¶ 2225 Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initia…
¶ 2226 Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in…
¶ 2227 Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. 36 Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another …
¶ 2228 Parents' respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physica…
¶ 2229 As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own conv…
¶ 2230 When they become adults, children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life. They should assume their new responsibilities …
¶ 2231 Some forgo marriage in order to care for their parents or brothers and sisters, to give themselves more completely to a profession, or to serve other …
¶ 2232 Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes f…
¶ 2233 Becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting the invitation to belong to God's family, to live in conformity with His way of life: "For whoever does t…
¶ 2234 God's fourth commandment also enjoins us to honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God. It clarifies the duties of those w…
¶ 2235 Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." 41 The exercise of authority is measu…
¶ 2236 The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and respons…
¶ 2237 Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights …
¶ 2238 Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts: 43 "Be subject for the…
¶ 2239 It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedo…
¶ 2240 Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defen…
¶ 2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood w…
¶ 2242 The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to th…
¶ 2243 Armed resistance to oppression by political authority is not legitimate, unless all the following conditions are met: 1) there is certain, grave, and …
¶ 2244 Every institution is inspired, at least implicitly, by a vision of man and his destiny, from which it derives the point of reference for its judgment,…
¶ 2245 The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safe…
¶ 2246 It is a part of the Church's mission "to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salva…
¶ 2247 "Honor your father and your mother" (Deut 5:16; Mk 7:10).
¶ 2248 According to the fourth commandment, God has willed that, after him, we should honor our parents and those whom he has vested with authority for our g…
¶ 2249 The conjugal community is established upon the covenant and consent of the spouses. Marriage and family are ordered to the good of the spouses, to the…
¶ 2250 "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family lif…
¶ 2251 Children owe their parents respect, gratitude, just obedience, and assistance. Filial respect fosters harmony in all of family life.
¶ 2252 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues. They have the duty to provide as …
¶ 2253 Parents should respect and encourage their children's vocations. They should remember and teach that the first calling of the Christian is to follow J…
¶ 2254 Public authority is obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person and the conditions for the exercise of his freedom.
¶ 2255 It is the duty of citizens to work with civil authority for building up society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.
¶ 2256 Citizens are obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order. "We mus…
¶ 2257 Every society's judgments and conduct reflect a vision of man and his destiny. Without the light the Gospel sheds on God and man, societies easily bec…
¶ 2258 "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Cre…
¶ 2259 In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, 57 Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of original sin, from th…
¶ 2260 The covenant between God and mankind is interwoven with reminders of God's gift of human life and man's murderous violence:
¶ 2261 Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in the fifth commandment: "Do not slay the innocent and the righteous." 61 The deliberate murder of an i…
¶ 2262 In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill," 62 and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance…
¶ 2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional…
¶ 2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone …
¶ 2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life. Preserving the common good requires rendering …
¶ 2266 The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requ…
¶ 2267 Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity …
¶ 2268 The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. the murderer and those who cooperate voluntarily in murder commit a si…
¶ 2269 The fifth commandment forbids doing anything with the intention of indirectly bringing about a person's death. the moral law prohibits exposing someon…
¶ 2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.
¶ 2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Dir…
¶ 2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against huma…
¶ 2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:
¶ 2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like an…
¶ 2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportion…
¶ 2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible…
¶ 2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacce…
¶ 2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is t…
¶ 2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the…
¶ 2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept …
¶ 2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. I…
¶ 2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-opera…
¶ 2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity …
¶ 2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. the person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and …
¶ 2285 Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted our L…
¶ 2286 Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion.
¶ 2287 Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that h…
¶ 2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and …
¶ 2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the …
¶ 2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by …
¶ 2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandesti…
¶ 2292 Scientific, medical, or psychological experiments on human individuals or groups can contribute to healing the sick and the advancement of public heal…
¶ 2293 Basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man's dominion over creation. Science and technology are precio…
¶ 2294 It is an illusion to claim moral neutrality in scientific research and its applications. On the other hand, guiding principles cannot be inferred from…
¶ 2295 Research or experimentation on the human being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves contrary to the dignity of persons and to the moral law. …
¶ 2296 Organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical and psychological dangers and risks incurred by the donor are proportionate to …
¶ 2297 Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wr…
¶ 2298 In times past, cruel practices were commonly used by legitimate governments to maintain law and order, often without protest from the Pastors of the C…
¶ 2299 The dying should be given attention and care to help them live their last moments in dignity and peace. They will be helped by the prayer of their rel…
¶ 2300 The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. the burial of the dead is a corporal work of m…
¶ 2301 Autopsies can be morally permitted for legal inquests or scientific research. the free gift of organs after death is legitimate and can be meritorious…
¶ 2302 By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill," 93 our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral. Anger is…
¶ 2303 Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin…
¶ 2304 Respect for and development of human life require peace. Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of pow…
¶ 2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace." 99 By the blood of his Cross, "in his own person he kill…
¶ 2306 Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defense available to the weakest, bear w…
¶ 2307 The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insist…
¶ 2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no interna…
¶ 2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. the gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigo…
¶ 2310 Public authorities, in this case, have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defense. Those who are sworn to…
¶ 2311 Public authorities should make equitable provision for those who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonetheless obliged to serve…
¶ 2312 The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken …
¶ 2313 Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely. Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its…
¶ 2314 "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, whic…
¶ 2315 The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective m…
¶ 2316 The production and the sale of arms affect the common good of nations and of the international community. Hence public authorities have the right and …
¶ 2317 Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peace and cause wars.…
¶ 2318 "In [God's] hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10).
¶ 2319 Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and like…
¶ 2320 The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator.
¶ 2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for who…
¶ 2322 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS …
¶ 2323 Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human b…
¶ 2324 Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to …
¶ 2325 Suicide is seriously contrary to justice, hope, and charity. It is forbidden by the fifth commandment.
¶ 2326 Scandal is a grave offense when by deed or omission it deliberately leads others to sin.
¶ 2327 Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. the Church prays: "From famine…
¶ 2328 The Church and human reason assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflicts. Practices deliberately contrary to the law of natio…
¶ 2329 "The arms race is one of the greatest curses on the human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can be endured" (GS 81 # 3).
¶ 2330 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Mt 5:9).
¶ 2331 "God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in his own image . . .. God inscribed in the huma…
¶ 2332 Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to p…
¶ 2333 Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented…
¶ 2334 "In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity." 118 "Man is a person, man and woman equally so, since both wer…
¶ 2335 Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way. the union of man and woman in marr…
¶ 2336 Jesus came to restore creation to the purity of its origins. In the Sermon on the Mount, he interprets God's plan strictly: "You have heard that it wa…
¶ 2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality,…
¶ 2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed …
¶ 2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. the alternative is clear: either man governs his passions an…
¶ 2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice …
¶ 2341 The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason.
¶ 2342 Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life. 12…
¶ 2343 Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin. "Man . . . day by day builds himself up through…
¶ 2344 Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is "an interdependence between personal betterment and t…
¶ 2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort. 131 The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptis…
¶ 2346 Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered to the gi…
¶ 2347 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, 133 who has given…
¶ 2348 All the baptized are called to chastity. the Christian has "put on Christ," 134 The model for all chastity. All Christ's faithful are called to lead a…
¶ 2349 "People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables the…
¶ 2350 Those who are engaged to marry are called to live chastity in continence. They should see in this time of testing a discovery of mutual respect, an ap…
¶ 2351 Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from …
¶ 2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the …
¶ 2353 Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality w…
¶ 2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parti…
¶ 2355 Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. the one who pays sin…
¶ 2356 Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedo…
¶ 2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same…
¶ 2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitut…
¶ 2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested frie…
¶ 2360 Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual co…
¶ 2361 "Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not somethin…
¶ 2362 "The acts in marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honorable; the truly human performance of these …
¶ 2363 The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values…
¶ 2364 The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal …
¶ 2365 Fidelity expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. the Sacrament of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fid…
¶ 2366 Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful. A child does not come from outside as something added on to…
¶ 2367 Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. 153 "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to trans…
¶ 2368 A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their chi…
¶ 2369 "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual lo…
¶ 2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the ob…
¶ 2371 "Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and ful…
¶ 2372 The state has a responsibility for its citizens' well-being. In this capacity it is legitimate for it to intervene to orient the demography of the pop…
¶ 2373 Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional practice see in large families a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity. 162
¶ 2374 Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. "What will you give me," asks Abraham of God, "for I continue childless?" 163 and Rachel cr…
¶ 2375 Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed "at the service of the human person, of his inalienable…
¶ 2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate …
¶ 2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally…
¶ 2378 A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. the "supreme gift of marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of proper…
¶ 2379 The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical proced…
¶ 2380 Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations - even transient one…
¶ 2381 Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does injury to the sign of the covenant which the marriage bond is, tran…
¶ 2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. 173 He abrogates the accommodations that ha…
¶ 2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. 176 If civil divorce remai…
¶ 2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other ti…
¶ 2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to ch…
¶ 2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral la…
¶ 2387 The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal l…
¶ 2388 Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them. 180 St. Paul stigmatizes this …
¶ 2389 Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. the offense is compounded by the sca…
¶ 2390 In a so-called free union, a man and a woman refuse to give juridical and public form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy.
¶ 2391 Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in p…
¶ 2392 "Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being" (FC 11).
¶ 2393 By creating the human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should acknowledg…
¶ 2394 Christ is the model of chastity. Every baptized person is called to lead a chaste life, each according to his particular state of life.
¶ 2395 Chastity means the integration of sexuality within the person. It includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery.
¶ 2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
¶ 2397 The covenant which spouses have freely entered into entails faithful love. It imposes on them the obligation to keep their marriage indissoluble.
¶ 2398 Fecundity is a good, a gift and an end of marriage. By giving life, spouses participate in God's fatherhood.
¶ 2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do n…
¶ 2400 Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.
¶ 2401 The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It comma…
¶ 2402 In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy …
¶ 2403 The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth t…
¶ 2404 "In his use of things man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but common to others also, in the s…
¶ 2405 Goods of production - material or immaterial - such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways t…
¶ 2406 Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good. 188
¶ 2407 In economic matters, respect for human dignity requires the practice of the virtue of temperance, so as to moderate attachment to this world's goods; …
¶ 2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can…
¶ 2409 Even if it does not contradict the provisions of civil law, any form of unjustly taking and keeping the property of others is against the seventh comm…
¶ 2410 Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just. A significant part of economic…
¶ 2411 Contracts are subject to commutative justice which regulates exchanges between persons in accordance with a strict respect for their rights. Commutati…
¶ 2412 In virtue of commutative justice, reparation for injustice committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner:
¶ 2413 Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of …
¶ 2414 The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian - lead to the enslavemen…
¶ 2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the commo…
¶ 2416 Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. 196 Thus men owe…
¶ 2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. 197 Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. T…
¶ 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority…
¶ 2419 "Christian revelation . . . promotes deeper understanding of the laws of social living." 198 The Church receives from the Gospel the full revelation o…
¶ 2420 The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, "when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.…
¶ 2421 The social doctrine of the Church developed in the nineteenth century when the Gospel encountered modern industrial society with its new structures fo…
¶ 2422 The Church's social teaching comprises a body of doctrine, which is articulated as the Church interprets events in the course of history, with the ass…
¶ 2423 The Church's social teaching proposes principles for reflection; it provides criteria for judgment; it gives guidelines for action:
¶ 2424 A theory that makes profit the exclusive norm and ultimate end of economic activity is morally unacceptable. the disordered desire for money cannot bu…
¶ 2425 The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with "communism" or "socialism." She has likewise refused …
¶ 2426 The development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the needs of human beings. Economic life is not meant solely to…
¶ 2427 Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and …
¶ 2428 In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature. the primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its au…
¶ 2429 Everyone has the right of economic initiative; everyone should make legitimate use of his talents to contribute to the abundance that will benefit all…
¶ 2430 Economic life brings into play different interests, often opposed to one another. This explains why the conflicts that characterize it arise. 215 Effo…
¶ 2431 The responsibility of the state. "Economic activity, especially the activity of a market economy, cannot be conducted in an institutional, juridical, …
¶ 2432 Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible to society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations. 217 They have an ob…
¶ 2433 Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination: men and women, healthy and disabled, natives and immigrants…
¶ 2434 A just wage is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice. 220 In determining fair pay both the needs and the con…
¶ 2435 Recourse to a strike is morally legitimate when it cannot be avoided, or at least when it is necessary to obtain a proportionate benefit. It becomes m…
¶ 2437 On the international level, inequality of resources and economic capability is such that it creates a real "gap" between nations. 223 On the one side …
¶ 2438 Various causes of a religious, political, economic, and financial nature today give "the social question a worldwide dimension." 224 There must be sol…
¶ 2439 Rich nations have a grave moral responsibility toward those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves or have been preve…
¶ 2440 Direct aid is an appropriate response to immediate, extraordinary needs caused by natural catastrophes, epidemics, and the like. But it does not suffi…
¶ 2441 An increased sense of God and increased self-awareness are fundamental to any full development of human society. This development multiplies material …
¶ 2442 It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life. This task is part …
¶ 2443 God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: "Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who wou…
¶ 2444 "The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of J…
¶ 2445 Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:
¶ 2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. the goods w…
¶ 2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. 241 Instructing, advisi…
¶ 2448 "In its various forms - material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death - human misery is the obvious sign of th…
¶ 2449 Beginning with the Old Testament, all kinds of juridical measures (the jubilee year of forgiveness of debts, prohibition of loans at interest and the …
¶ 2450 "You shall not steal" (Ex 20:15; Deut 5:19). "Neither thieves, nor the greedy, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 6:10).
¶ 2451 The seventh commandment enjoins the practice of justice and charity in the administration of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor.
¶ 2452 The goods of creation are destined for the entire human race. the right to private property does not abolish the universal destination of goods.
¶ 2453 The seventh commandment forbids theft. Theft is the usurpation of another's goods against the reasonable will of the owner.
¶ 2454 Every manner of taking and using another's property unjustly is contrary to the seventh commandment. the injustice committed requires reparation. Comm…
¶ 2455 The moral law forbids acts which, for commercial or totalitarian purposes, lead to the enslavement of human beings, or to their being bought, sold or …
¶ 2456 The dominion granted by the Creator over the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be separated from respect for moral oblig…
¶ 2457 Animals are entrusted to man's stewardship; he must show them kindness. They may be used to serve the just satisfaction of man's needs.
¶ 2458 The Church makes a judgment about economic and social matters when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires *. She is c…
¶ 2459 Man is himself the author, center, and goal of all economic and social life. the decisive point of the social question is that goods created by God fo…
¶ 2460 The primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its author and beneficiary. By means of his labor man participates in the work of creation. Work…
¶ 2461 True development concerns the whole man. It is concerned with increasing each person's ability to respond to his vocation and hence to God's call (cf …
¶ 2462 Giving alms to the poor is a witness to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.
¶ 2463 How can we not recognize Lazarus, the hungry beggar in the parable (cf Lk 17:19-31), in the multitude of human beings without bread, a roof or a place…
¶ 2464 The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy peo…
¶ 2465 The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His "faithfulness endures to all generations." 254…
¶ 2466 In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest. "Full of grace and truth," he came as the "light of the world," he is the Truth. 256…
¶ 2467 Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it: "It is in accordance with their dignity that all men, because the…
¶ 2468 Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in sh…
¶ 2469 "Men could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another." 262 The virtue of truth gives …
¶ 2470 The disciple of Christ consents to "live in the truth," that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his tru…
¶ 2471 Before Pilate, Christ proclaims that he "has come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." 265 The Christian is not to "be ashamed then of testi…
¶ 2472 The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. …
¶ 2473 Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. the martyr bears witness to Christ who die…
¶ 2474 The Church has painstakingly collected the records of those who persevered to the end in witnessing to their faith. These are the acts of the Martyrs.…
¶ 2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." 273 By "putting away falsehood," t…
¶ 2476 False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witnes…
¶ 2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. 277 He becomes guilty: - of rash judgment wh…
¶ 2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
¶ 2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a n…
¶ 2480 Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation, or complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse condu…
¶ 2481 Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior.
¶ 2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving." 280 The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your fath…
¶ 2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right …
¶ 2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffe…
¶ 2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. th…
¶ 2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgm…
¶ 2487 Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly…
¶ 2488 The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal love. This require…
¶ 2489 Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the response to every request for information or communication. the good and safety of others, respec…
¶ 2490 The secret of the sacrament of reconciliation is sacred, and cannot be violated under any pretext. "The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore, it …
¶ 2491 Professional secrets - for example, those of political office holders, soldiers, physicians, and lawyers - or confidential information given under the…
¶ 2492 Everyone should observe an appropriate reserve concerning persons' private lives. Those in charge of communications should maintain a fair balance bet…
¶ 2493 Within modern society the communications media play a major role in information, cultural promotion, and formation. This role is increasing, as a resu…
¶ 2494 The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. 284 Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice, a…
¶ 2495 "It is necessary that all members of society meet the demands of justice and charity in this domain. They should help, through the means of social com…
¶ 2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consume…
¶ 2497 By the very nature of their profession, journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against charity in disseminating information.…
¶ 2498 "Civil authorities have particular responsibilities in this field because of the common good.... It is for the civil authority ... to defend and safeg…
¶ 2499 Moral judgment must condemn the plague of totalitarian states which systematically falsify the truth, exercise political control of opinion through th…
¶ 2500 The practice of goodness is accompanied by spontaneous spiritual joy and moral beauty. Likewise, truth carries with it the joy and splendor of spiritu…
¶ 2501 Created "in the image of God," 293 man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, …
¶ 2502 Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in faith and adoration, the transcenden…
¶ 2503 For this reason bishops, personally or through delegates, should see to the promotion of sacred art, old and new, in all its forms and, with the same …
¶ 2504 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Ex 20:16). Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in…
¶ 2505 Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and guarding against duplicity, dissimulati…
¶ 2506 The Christian is not to "be ashamed of testifying to our Lord" (2 Tim 1:8) in deed and word. Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of th…
¶ 2507 Respect for the reputation and honor of persons forbids all detraction and calumny in word or attitude.
¶ 2508 Lying consists in saying what is false with the intention of deceiving the neighbor who has the right to the truth.
¶ 2509 An offense committed against the truth requires reparation.
¶ 2510 The golden rule helps one discern, in concrete situations, whether or not it would be appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.
¶ 2511 "The sacramental seal is inviolable" (CIC, can. 983 # 1). Professional secrets must be kept. Confidences prejudicial to another are not to be divulged…
¶ 2512 Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, and justice. One should practice moderation and discipline in the use of the social commun…
¶ 2513 The fine arts, but above all sacred art, "of their nature are directed toward expressing in some way the infinite beauty of God in works made by human…
¶ 2514 St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. 300 In the Catholic catec…
¶ 2515 Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of t…
¶ 2516 Because man is a composite being, spirit and body, there already exists a certain tension in him; a certain struggle of tendencies between "spirit" an…
¶ 2517 The heart is the seat of moral personality: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication...." 304 The struggle against carnal c…
¶ 2518 The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 306 "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their int…
¶ 2519 The "pure in heart" are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him. 311 Purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God. Ev…
¶ 2520 Baptism confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the fles…
¶ 2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should r…
¶ 2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions…
¶ 2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain…
¶ 2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to ma…
¶ 2525 Christian purity requires a purification of the social climate. It requires of the communications media that their presentations show concern for resp…
¶ 2526 So called moral permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary precondition for the development of true freedom is to…
¶ 2527 "The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the ever-pre…
¶ 2528 "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28).
¶ 2529 The ninth commandment warns against lust or carnal concupiscence.
¶ 2530 The struggle against carnal lust involves purifying the heart and practicing temperance.
¶ 2531 Purity of heart will enable us to see God: it enables us even now to see things according to God.
¶ 2532 Purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision.
¶ 2533 Purity of heart requires the modesty which is patience, decency, and discretion. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person.
¶ 2534 The tenth commandment unfolds and completes the ninth, which is concerned with concupiscence of the flesh. It forbids coveting the goods of another, a…
¶ 2535 The sensitive appetite leads us to desire pleasant things we do not have, e.g., the desire to eat when we are hungry or to warm ourselves when we are …
¶ 2536 The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and thei…
¶ 2537 It is not a violation of this commandment to desire to obtain things that belong to one's neighbor, provided this is done by just means. Traditional c…
¶ 2538 The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to repentance, he told hi…
¶ 2539 Envy is a capital sin. It refers to the sadness at the sight of another's goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself, even unjustly. …
¶ 2540 Envy represents a form of sadness and therefore a refusal of charity; the baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will. Envy oft…
¶ 2541 The economy of law and grace turns men's hearts away from avarice and envy. It initiates them into desire for the Sovereign Good; it instructs them in…
¶ 2542 The Law entrusted to Israel never sufficed to justify those subject to it; it even became the instrument of "lust." 330 The gap between wanting and do…
¶ 2543 "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God t…
¶ 2544 Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospe…
¶ 2545 All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things …
¶ 2546 "Blessed are the poor in spirit." 337 The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor…
¶ 2547 The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. 340 "Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but …
¶ 2548 Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and be…
¶ 2549 It remains for the holy people to struggle, with grace from on high, to obtain the good things God promises. In order to possess and contemplate God, …
¶ 2550 On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them 344 to perfect communion with God:
¶ 2551 "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt 6:21).
¶ 2552 The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power.
¶ 2553 Envy is sadness at the sight of another's goods and the immoderate desire to have them for oneself. It is a capital sin.
¶ 2554 The baptized person combats envy through good-will, humility, and abandonment to the providence of God.
¶ 2555 Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24); they are led by the Spirit and follow his desires.
¶ 2556 Detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
¶ 2557 "I want to see God" expresses the true desire of man. Thirst for God is quenched by the water of eternal life (cf In 4:14).

PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER

CHAPTER ONE THE REVELATION OF PRAYER - THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER (84 ¶)

¶ 2566 Man is in search of God. In the act of creation, God calls every being from nothingness into existence. "Crowned with glory and honor," man is, after …
¶ 2567 God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the…
¶ 2568 In the Old Testament, the revelation of prayer comes between the fall and the restoration of man, that is, between God's sorrowful call to his first c…
¶ 2569 Prayer is lived in the first place beginning with the realities of creation. the first nine chapters of Genesis describe this relationship with God as…
¶ 2570 When God calls him, Abraham goes forth "as the Lord had told him"; 8 Abraham's heart is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiv…
¶ 2571 Because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in covenant with him, 10 The patriarch is ready to welcome a mysterious Guest into his …
¶ 2572 As a final stage in the purification of his faith, Abraham, "who had received the promises," 13 is asked to sacrifice the son God had given him. Abrah…
¶ 2573 God renews his promise to Jacob, the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel. 17 Before confronting his elder brother Esau, Jacob wrestles all night w…
¶ 2574 Once the promise begins to be fulfilled (Passover, the Exodus, the gift of the Law, and the ratification of the covenant), the prayer of Moses becomes…
¶ 2575 Here again the initiative is God's. From the midst of the burning bush he calls Moses. 20 This event will remain one of the primordial images of praye…
¶ 2576 "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." 21 Moses' prayer is characteristic of contemplative prayer by whic…
¶ 2577 From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, 23 Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession…
¶ 2578 The prayer of the People of God flourishes in the shadow of God's dwelling place, first the ark of the covenant and later the Temple. At first the lea…
¶ 2579 David is par excellence the king "after God's own heart," the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His submission to the will of…
¶ 2580 The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his son, Solomon. the prayer at the dedication of the Tem…
¶ 2581 For the People of God, the Temple was to be the place of their education in prayer: pilgrimages, feasts and sacrifices, the evening offering, the ince…
¶ 2582 Elijah is the "father" of the prophets, "the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob." 30 Elijah's name, "The Lord is …
¶ 2583 After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the Word of God and confirms he…
¶ 2584 In their "one to one" encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this unfaithful wor…
¶ 2585 From the time of David to the coming of the Messiah texts appearing in these sacred books show a deepening in prayer for oneself and in prayer for oth…
¶ 2586 The Psalms both nourished and expressed the prayer of the People of God gathered during the great feasts at Jerusalem and each Sabbath in the synagogu…
¶ 2587 The Psalter is the book in which the Word of God becomes man's prayer. In other books of the Old Testament, "the words proclaim [God's] works and brin…
¶ 2588 The Psalter's many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or tha…
¶ 2589 Certain constant characteristics appear throughout the Psalms: simplicity and spontaneity of prayer; the desire for God himself through and with all t…
¶ 2590 "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God" (St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 3, 24: PG 94, 1089C…
¶ 2591 God tirelessly calls each person to this mysterious encounter with Himself. Prayer unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation as a reciprocal c…
¶ 2592 The prayer of Abraham and Jacob is presented as a battle of faith marked by trust in God's faithfulness and by certitude in the victory promised to pe…
¶ 2593 The prayer of Moses responds to the living God's initiative for the salvation of his people. It foreshadows the prayer of intercession of the unique m…
¶ 2594 The prayer of the People of God flourished in the shadow of the dwelling place of God's presence on earth, the ark of the covenant and the Temple, und…
¶ 2595 The prophets summoned the people to conversion of heart and, while zealously seeking the face of God, like Elijah, they interceded for the people.
¶ 2596 The Psalms constitute the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament. They present two inseparable qualities: the personal, and the communal. They exte…
¶ 2597 Prayed and fulfilled in Christ, the Psalms are an essential and permanent element of the prayer of the Church. They are suitable for men of every cond…
¶ 2598 The drama of prayer is fully revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek to understand his prayer through what his witnes…
¶ 2599 The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept all the great things the A…
¶ 2600 The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decis…
¶ 2601 "He was praying in a certain place and when he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray."' 45 In seeing the Master at pra…
¶ 2602 Jesus often draws apart to pray in solitude, on a mountain, preferably at night. 46 He includes all men in his prayer, for he has taken on humanity in…
¶ 2603 The evangelists have preserved two more explicit prayers offered by Christ during his public ministry. Each begins with thanksgiving. In the first, Je…
¶ 2604 The second prayer, before the raising of Lazarus, is recorded by St. John. 50 Thanksgiving precedes the event: "Father, I thank you for having heard m…
¶ 2605 When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father's plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only befo…
¶ 2606 All the troubles, for all time, of humanity enslaved by sin and death, all the petitions and intercessions of salvation history are summed up in this …
¶ 2607 When Jesus prays he is already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his Father is the theological path (the path of faith, hope, and charity) of our…
¶ 2608 From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the alt…
¶ 2609 Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible…
¶ 2610 Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe …
¶ 2611 The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. 70 Jesus calls his disciples to…
¶ 2612 In Jesus "the Kingdom of God is at hand." 72 He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer the disciple keeps watc…
¶ 2613 Three principal parables on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke: - the first, "the importunate friend," 75 invites us to urgent prayer: "Knock, a…
¶ 2614 When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be, once he has re…
¶ 2615 Even more, what the Father gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus is "another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of tr…
¶ 2616 Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the…
¶ 2617 Mary's prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Hol…
¶ 2618 The Gospel reveals to us how Mary prays and intercedes in faith. At Cana, 89 The mother of Jesus asks her son for the needs of a wedding feast; this i…
¶ 2619 That is why the Canticle of Mary, 91 The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song…
¶ 2620 Jesus' filial prayer is the perfect model of prayer in the New Testament. Often done in solitude and in secret, the prayer of Jesus involves a loving …
¶ 2621 In his teaching, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with a purified heart, with lively and persevering faith, with filial boldness. He calls them to …
¶ 2622 The prayers of the Virgin Mary, in her Fiat and Magnificat, are characterized by the generous offering of her whole being in faith.
¶ 2623 On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place." 92 While awaiting the Spirit, "a…
¶ 2624 In the first community of Jerusalem, believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers…
¶ 2625 In the first place these are prayers that the faithful hear and read in the Scriptures, but also that they make their own - especially those of the Ps…
¶ 2626 Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it …
¶ 2627 TWO fundamental forms express this movement: our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father - we bless him for having blessed us; …
¶ 2628 Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us 99 and …
¶ 2629 The vocabulary of supplication in the New Testament is rich in shades of meaning: ask, beseech, plead, invoke, entreat, cry out, even "struggle in pra…
¶ 2630 The New Testament contains scarcely any prayers of lamentation, so frequent in the Old Testament. In the risen Christ the Church's petition is buoyed …
¶ 2631 The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" 105 It i…
¶ 2632 Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. 107 There is a hierarchy in t…
¶ 2633 When we share in God's saving love, we understand that every need can become the object of petition. Christ, who assumed all things in order to redeem…
¶ 2634 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially s…
¶ 2635 Since Abraham, intercession - asking on behalf of another has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christi…
¶ 2636 The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. 116 Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the…
¶ 2637 Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the wo…
¶ 2638 As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. the letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgivi…
¶ 2639 Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what h…
¶ 2640 St. Luke in his gospel often expresses wonder and praise at the marvels of Christ and in his Acts of the Apostles stresses them as actions of the Holy…
¶ 2641 "[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." 124 Like the inspired writ…
¶ 2642 The Revelation of "what must soon take place," the Apocalypse, is borne along by the songs of the heavenly liturgy 127 but also by the intercession of…
¶ 2643 The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering" of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name 131 and, ac…
¶ 2644 The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of t…
¶ 2645 Because God blesses the human heart, it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing.
¶ 2646 Forgiveness, the quest for the Kingdom, and every true need are objects of the prayer of petition.
¶ 2647 Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. It knows no boundaries and extends to one's enemies.
¶ 2648 Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "…
¶ 2649 Prayer of praise is entirely disinterested and rises to God, lauds him, and gives him glory for his own sake, quite beyond what he has done, but simpl…

CHAPTER TWO THE TRADITION OF PRAYER (47 ¶)

¶ 2650 Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know…
¶ 2651 The tradition of Christian prayer is one of the ways in which the tradition of faith takes shape and grows, especially through the contemplation and s…
¶ 2652 The Holy Spirit is the living water "welling up to eternal life" 3 in the heart that prays. It is he who teaches us to accept it at its source: Christ…
¶ 2653 The Church "forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn 'the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ' ( ⇒ Phil 3:8) by fre…
¶ 2654 The spiritual writers, paraphrasing Matthew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the heart nourished by the word of God in prayer "Seek in r…
¶ 2655 In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the mystery of salva…
¶ 2656 One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of faith. Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we …
¶ 2657 The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us - to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of …
¶ 2658 "Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." 10 Prayer, formed by th…
¶ 2659 We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in …
¶ 2660 Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to "little children," to the servants of Christ, to the…
¶ 2661 By a living transmission -Tradition - the Holy Spirit in the Church teaches the children of God to pray.
¶ 2662 The Word of God, the liturgy of the Church, and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity are sources of prayer.
¶ 2663 In the living tradition of prayer, each Church proposes to its faithful, according to its historic, social, and cultural context, a language for praye…
¶ 2664 There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only…
¶ 2665 The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her praye…
¶ 2666 But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. the divine name may not be spoken by huma…
¶ 2667 This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. the most usual formulation, transmitted by the…
¶ 2668 The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the …
¶ 2669 The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart whi…
¶ 2670 "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." 21 Every time we begin to pray to Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of p…
¶ 2671 The traditional form of petition to the Holy Spirit is to invoke the Father through Christ our Lord to give us the Consoler Spirit. 23 Jesus insists o…
¶ 2672 The Holy Spirit, whose anointing permeates our whole being, is the interior Master of Christian prayer. He is the artisan of the living tradition of p…
¶ 2673 In prayer the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us i…
¶ 2674 Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has exten…
¶ 2675 Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering…
¶ 2676 This twofold movement of prayer to Mary has found a privileged expression in the Ave Maria: Hail Mary [or Rejoice, Mary]: the greeting of the angel Ga…
¶ 2677 Holy Mary, Mother of God: With Elizabeth we marvel, "and why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" 36 Because she gives u…
¶ 2678 Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the litany called the…
¶ 2679 Mary is the perfect Orans (prayer), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son…
¶ 2680 Prayer is primarily addressed to the Father; it can also be directed toward Jesus, particularly by the invocation of his holy name: "Lord Jesus Christ…
¶ 2681 "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord', except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). the Church invites us to invoke the Holy Spirit as the interior Teacher of C…
¶ 2682 Because of Mary's singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray in communion with the Virgin Mary, to magnify with…
¶ 2683 The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, 41 especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer…
¶ 2684 In the communion of saints, many and varied spiritualities have been developed throughout the history of the churches. the personal charism of some wi…
¶ 2685 The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the "domestic church" where God's ch…
¶ 2686 Ordained ministers are also responsible for the formation in prayer of their brothers and sisters in Christ. Servants of the Good Shepherd, they are o…
¶ 2687 Many religious have consecrated their whole lives to prayer. Hermits, monks, and nuns since the time of the desert fathers have devoted their time to …
¶ 2688 The catechesis of children, young people, and adults aims at teaching them to meditate on the Word of God in personal prayer, practicing it in liturgi…
¶ 2689 Prayer groups, indeed "schools of prayer," are today one of the signs and one of the driving forces of renewal of prayer in the Church, provided they …
¶ 2690 The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith and discernment for the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritua…
¶ 2691 The church, the house of God, is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged place for adoration of …
¶ 2692 In prayer, the pilgrim Church is associated with that of the saints, whose intercession she asks.
¶ 2693 The different schools of Christian spirituality share in the living tradition of prayer and are precious guides for the spiritual life.
¶ 2694 The Christian family is the first place for education in prayer.
¶ 2695 Ordained ministers, the consecrated life, catechesis, prayer groups, and "spiritual direction" ensure assistance within the Church in the practice of …
¶ 2696 The most appropriate places for prayer are personal or family oratories, monasteries, places of pilgrimage, and above all the church, which is the pro…

CHAPTER THREE THE LIFE OF PRAYER (62 ¶)

¶ 2697 Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget him who is our life and our all. This is why the Fa…
¶ 2698 The Tradition of the Church proposes to the faithful certain rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer. Some are daily, such as morning …
¶ 2699 The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal expressi…
¶ 2700 Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to h…
¶ 2701 Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the…
¶ 2702 The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need…
¶ 2703 This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the d…
¶ 2704 Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, c…
¶ 2705 Meditation is above all a quest. the mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord i…
¶ 2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from…
¶ 2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate r…
¶ 2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith,…
¶ 2709 What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between fr…
¶ 2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplat…
¶ 2711 Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the promp…
¶ 2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to re…
¶ 2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Cont…
¶ 2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "tha…
¶ 2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy cu…
¶ 2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of…
¶ 2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" 12 or "silent love." 13 Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are lik…
¶ 2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. the mystery of Christ is celebrated by th…
¶ 2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. the Paschal…
¶ 2720 The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts of the liturgical year.
¶ 2721 The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in comm…
¶ 2722 Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's exa…
¶ 2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by co…
¶ 2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a s…
¶ 2725 Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. the great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant be…
¶ 2726 In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activi…
¶ 2727 We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of "this present world" can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant. …
¶ 2728 Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have "…
¶ 2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom …
¶ 2730 In positive terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, he al…
¶ 2731 Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated f…
¶ 2732 The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When…
¶ 2733 Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia. the spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical…
¶ 2734 Filial trust is tested - it proves itself - in tribulation. 22 The principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition, for oneself or for others in …
¶ 2735 In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly…
¶ 2736 Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"? 23 Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before w…
¶ 2737 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." 26 If we ask with a divided heart, we are "adulterers"; 27 God ca…
¶ 2738 The revelation of prayer in the economy of salvation teaches us that faith rests on God's action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by his supr…
¶ 2739 For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit in us and on the faithful love of the Father who has given us his only Son. 31 T…
¶ 2740 The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition. He is its model, he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son seeks only…
¶ 2741 Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. All our petitions were gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and, in his Resurr…
¶ 2742 "Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." 33 St. Paul adds, "Pray at all…
¶ 2743 It is always possible to pray: the time of the Christian is that of the risen Christ who is with us always, no matter what tempests may arise. 36 Our …
¶ 2744 Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of…
¶ 2745 Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and loving …
¶ 2746 When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father. 43 His prayer, the longest transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of creation and sal…
¶ 2747 Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, fro…
¶ 2748 In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ: 45 God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; th…
¶ 2749 Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like his sacrifice, extends until the end of time. the prayer of this hour fills the en…
¶ 2750 By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from within, the prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer fulfills, fro…
¶ 2751 Finally, in this prayer Jesus reveals and gives to us the "knowledge," inseparably one, of the Father and of the Son, 51 which is the very mystery of …
¶ 2752 Prayer presupposes an effort, a fight against ourselves and the wiles of the Tempter. the battle of prayer is inseparable from the necessary "spiritua…
¶ 2753 In the battle of prayer we must confront erroneous conceptions of prayer, various currents of thought, and our own experience of failure. We must resp…
¶ 2754 The principal difficulties in the practice of prayer are distraction and dryness. the remedy lies in faith, conversion, and vigilance of heart.
¶ 2755 Two frequent temptations threaten prayer: lack of faith and acedia - a form of depression stemming from lax ascetical practice that leads to discourag…
¶ 2756 Filial trust is put to the test when we feel that our prayer is not always heard. the Gospel invites us to ask ourselves about the conformity of our p…
¶ 2757 "Pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It is even a vital necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable.
¶ 2758 The prayer of the hour of Jesus, rightly called the "priestly prayer" (cf Jn 17), sums up the whole economy of creation and salvation. It fulfills the…