Catechism of the Catholic Church
I. The life of man - to know and love God
II. Handing on the Faith: Catechesis
III. The Aim and Intended Readership of the Catechism
IV. Structure of this Catechism
V. Practical Directions for Using this Catechism
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION ONE I BELIEVE - WE BELIEVE
CHAPTER ONE MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD
II. Ways of Coming to Know God
III. The Knowledge of God According to the Church
IV. How Can We Speak about God?
CHAPTER TWO GOD COMES TO MEET MAN
Article 1 THE REVELATION OF GOD
Article 2 THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
CHAPTER THREE MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD
Article 2 WE BELIEVE : The Credo
CHAPTER ONE I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER
Article 1 I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
CHAPTER TWO I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
ARTICLE 2 AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD
Article 3 HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Article 4 JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED
Article 5 HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN
Article 6 HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER
Article 7 FROM THENCE HE WILL COME AGAlN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
ARTICLE 8 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
CHAPTER THREE I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Article 9 I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH
Article 10 I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Article 11 I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
Article 12 I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION ONE THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY
CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
Article 1 THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
Article 2 THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE CHURCH'S SACRAMENTS
CHAPTER TWO THE SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY
Article 1 CELEBRATING THE CHURCH'S LITURGY
Article 2 LITURGICAL DIVERSITY AND THE UNITY OF THE MYSTERY
SECTION TWO THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
Article 1 THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
Article 2 THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
Article 3 THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
CHAPTER TWO THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
Article 4 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION
Article 5 THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
CHAPTER THREE THE SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNION
ARTICLE 6 THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS
Article 7 THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
CHAPTER FOUR OTHER LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
SECTION ONE MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER ONE THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
Article 1 MAN: THE IMAGE OF GOD
Article 2 OUR VOCATION TO BEATITUDE
Article 4 THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS
Article 5 THE MORALITY OF THE PASSIONS
CHAPTER TWO THE HUMAN COMMUNION
Article 1 THE PERSON AND SOCIETY
Article 2 PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL LIFE
CHAPTER THREE GOD'S SALVATION: LAW AND GRACE
Article 2 GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION
Article 3 THE CHURCH, MOTHER AND TEACHER
SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Article 1 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
Article 2 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
Article 3 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
ARTICLE 4 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Article 5 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
Article 6 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Article 7 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
Article 8 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
Article 9 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
Article 10 THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
SECTION ONE PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER ONE THE REVELATION OF PRAYER - THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER
Article 1 IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Article 2 IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
Article 3 IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER TWO THE TRADITION OF PRAYER
Article 1 AT THE WELLSPRINGS OF PRAYER
CHAPTER THREE THE LIFE OF PRAYER
Article 1 EXPRESSIONS OF PRAYER
Article 2 THE BATTLE OF PRAYER
Article 3 THE PRAYER OF THE HOUR OF JESUS
Article 1 THE SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE GOSPEL
PART TWO:
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
Why the liturgy?
1066 In the Symbol of the faith the Church confesses the mystery of the Holy Trinity and of the plan of God's "good pleasure" for all creation: the Father accomplishes the "mystery of his will" by giving his beloved Son and his Holy Spirit for the salvation of the world and for the glory of his name. 1
Such is the mystery of Christ, revealed and fulfilled in history according to the wisely ordered plan that St. Paul calls the "plan of the mystery" 2 and the patristic tradition will call the "economy of the Word incarnate" or the "economy of salvation."
1067 "The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.' For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church."' 3
For this reason, the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation.
1068 It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the world:
For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. 4
What does the word liturgy mean?
1069 The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God." 5 Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.
1070 In the New Testament the word "liturgy" refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity. 6 In all of these situations it is a question of the service of God and neighbor. In a liturgical celebration the Church is servant in the image of her Lord, the one "leitourgos"; 7 she shares in Christ's priesthood (worship), which is both prophetic (proclamation) and kingly (service of charity):
The liturgy then is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. 8
Liturgy as source of life
1071 As the work of Christ liturgy is also an action of his Church. It makes the Church present and manifests her as the visible sign of the communion in Christ between God and men. It engages the faithful in the new life of the community and involves the "conscious, active, and fruitful participation" of everyone. 9
1072 "The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church": 10 it must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the faithful: new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the Church, and service to her unity.
Prayer and liturgy
1073 The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal. Through the liturgy the inner man is rooted and grounded in "the great love with which [the Father] loved us" in his beloved Son. 11 It is the same "marvelous work of God" that is lived and internalized by all prayer, "at all times in the Spirit." 12
Catechesis and liturgy
1074 "The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows." 13 It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God. "Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men." 14
1075 Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (It is "mystagogy." ) by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the "sacraments" to the "mysteries." Such catechesis is to be presented by local and regional catechisms. This Catechism, which aims to serve the whole Church in all the diversity of her rites and cultures, 15 will present what is fundamental and common to the whole Church in the liturgy as mystery and as celebration, and then the seven sacraments and the sacramentals.
1 Ò Eph 1:9. 2 Ò Eph 3:9; cf. Ò 3:4. 3 SC 5 # 2; cf. St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 138, 2: PL 37, 1784-1785. 4 SC 2. 5 Cf. Ò Jn 17:4. 6 Cf. Ò Lk 1:23; Ò Acts 13:2; Ò Rom 15:16, Ò 27; Ò 2 Cor 9:12; Ò Phil 2:14-17, Ò 25, Ò 30. 7 Cf. Ò Heb 8:2, 6. 8 SC 7 # 2-3. 9 SC 11. 10 SC 9. 11 Ò Eph 2:4; Ò 3:16-17. 12 Ò Eph 6:18. 13 SC 10. 14 John Paul II, CT 23. 15 Cf. SC 3-4.