APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
FIDEI DEPOSITUM
GUARDING THE
DEPOSIT OF FAITH IS THE MISSION WHICH THE LORD ENTRUSTED TO HIS
CHURCH, and which she fulfils in every age. The Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, which was opened 30 years ago by my predecessor
Pope John XXIII, of happy memory, had as its intention and purpose
to highlight the Church's apostolic and pastoral mission, and by
making the truth of the Gospel shine forth, to lead all people to
seek and receive Christ's love which surpasses all knowledge (cf.
Eph 3:19).
The principal task
entrusted to the Council by Pope John XXIII was to guard and
present better the precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order
to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all
people of good will. For this reason the Council was not first of
all to condemn the errors of the time, but above all to strive
calmly to show the strength and beauty of the doctrine of the
faith. "Illumined by the light of this Council", the Pope said,
"the Church... will become greater in spiritual riches and, gaining
the strength of new energies therefrom, she will look to the future
without fear... Our duty is... to dedicate ourselves with an
earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of
us, thus pursuing the path which the Church has followed for 20
centuries." [John XXIII, Opening Address to
the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 11 October 1962: AAS 54
(1962), pp. 788, 791.]
With the help of
God, the Council Fathers in four years of work were able to produce
a considerable collection of doctrinal statements and pastoral
norms which were presented to the whole Church. There the Pastors
and Christian faithful find directives for that "renewal of
thought, action, practices and moral virtue, of joy and hope, which
was the very purpose of the Council". [Paul
VI, Closing Address to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 8
December 1965: AAS 58 (1966), pp. 7-8.]
After its
conclusion the Council did not cease to inspire the Church's life.
In 1985 I was able to assert: "For me, then - who had the special
grace of participating in it and actively collaborating in its
development - Vatican II has always been, and especially during
these years of my Pontificate, the constant reference point of my
every pastoral action, in the conscious commitment to implement its
directives concretely and faithfully at the level of each Church
and the whole Church". [John Paul II,
Address of 25 January 1985: L'Osservatore Romano, 27 January
1985.]
In this spirit, on
25 January 1985 I convoked an Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod
of Bishops for the 25th anniversary of the close of the Council.
The purpose of this assembly was to celebrate the graces and
spiritual fruits of Vatican II, to study its teaching in greater
depth in order the better to adhere to it and to promote knowledge
and application of it.
On that occasion
the Synod Fathers stated: "Very many have expressed the desire that
a catechism or compendium of all Catholic doctrine regarding both
faith and morals be composed, that it might be, as it were, a point
of reference for the catechisms or compendiums that are prepared in
various regions. The presentation of doctrine must be biblical and
liturgical. It must be sound doctrine suited to the present life of
Christians." [Final Report of the
Extraordinary Synod, 7 December 1985, II, B, a, n. Enchiridion
Vaticanum, vol. 9, p. 1758, n. 1797.] After the Synod
ended, I made this desire my own, considering it as "fully
responding to a real need both of the universal Church and of the
particular Churches". [John Paul II,
Address at the closing of the Extraordinary Synod, 7 December 1985,
n. 6: AAS 78 (1986), p. 435.]
For this reason we
thank the Lord wholeheartedly on this day when we can offer the
entire Church this reference text entitled the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, for a catechesis renewed at the living sources
of the faith!
Following the
renewal of the Liturgy and the new codification of the canon law of
the Latin Church and that of the Oriental Catholic Churches, this
catechism will make a very important contribution to that work of
renewing the whole life of the Church, as desired and begun by the
Second Vatican Council.
1. The process and Spirit of Drafting the Text.
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church is the result of very extensive
collaboration: it was prepared over six years of intense work done
in a spirit of complete openness and fervent zeal.
In 1986 I entrusted
a commission of 12 Cardinals and Bishops, chaired by Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, with the task of preparing a draft of the
catechism requested by the Synod Fathers. An editorial committee of
seven diocesan Bishops, experts in theology and catechesis,
assisted the commission in its work.
The commission,
charged with giving directives and with overseeing the course of
the work attentively followed all the stages in editing the nine
subsequent drafts. The editorial committee, for its part, assumed
responsibility for writing the text, making the emendations
requested by the commission and examining the observations of
numerous theologians, exegetes and catechists, and above all, of
the Bishops of the whole world, in order to improve the text. The
committee was a place of fruitful and enriching exchanges of
opinion to ensure the unity and homogeneity of the text.
The project was the
object of extensive consultation among all Catholic Bishops, their
Episcopal Conferences or Synods, and of theological and
catechetical institutes. As a whole, it received a broadly
favourable acceptance on the part of the Episcopate. It can be said
that this catechism is the result of the collaboration of the whole
Episcopate of the Catholic Church, who generously accepted my
invitation to share responsibility for an enterprise which directly
concerns the life of the Church. This response elicits in me a deep
feeling of joy, because the harmony of so many voices truly
expresses what could be called the symphony of the faith. The
achievement of this catechism thus reflects the collegial nature of
the Episcopate: it testifies to the Church's catholicity.
2. Arrangement of the Material
A catechism should
faithfully and systematically present the teaching of Sacred
Scripture, the living Tradition of the Church and the authentic
Magisterium, as well as the spiritual heritage of the Fathers and
the Church's saints, to allow for a better knowledge of the
Christian mystery and for enlivening the faith of the People of
God. It should take into account the doctrinal statements which
down the centuries the Holy Spirit has intimated to his Church. It
should also help illumine with the light of faith the new
situations and problems which had not yet emerged in the
past.
The catechism will
thus contain the new and the old (cf. Mt 13:52), because the faith
is always the same yet the source of ever new light.
To respond to this
twofold demand, the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the
one hand repeats the old, traditional order already followed by the
Catechism of St Pius V, arranging the material in four parts: the
Creed, the Sacred Liturgy, with pride of place given
to the sacraments, the Christian way of life, explained
beginning with the Ten Commandments, and finally, Christian
prayer. At the same time, however, the contents are often
expressed in a new way in order to respond to the questions of our
age.
The four parts are
related one to the other: the Christian mystery is the object of
faith (first part); it is celebrated and communicated in liturgical
actions (second part); it is present to enlighten and sustain the
children of God in their actions (third part); it is the basis for
our prayer, the privileged expression of which is the Our
Father, and it represents the object of our supplication, our
praise and our intercession (fourth part).
The Liturgy itself
is prayer; the confession of faith finds its proper place in the
celebration of worship. Grace, the fruit of the sacraments, is the
irreplaceable condition for Christian living, just as participation
in the Church's liturgy requires faith. If faith is not expressed
in works, it is dead (cf. Jas 2:14-16) and cannot bear fruit unto
eternal life.
In reading the
Catechism of the Catholic Church we can perceive the
wondrous unity of the mystery of God, his saving will, as well as
the central place of Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
sent by the Father, made man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be our Saviour. Having died and
risen, Christ is always present in his Church, especially in the
sacraments; he is the source of our faith, the model of Christian
conduct and the Teacher of our prayer.
3. The Doctrinal Value of the Text
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the
publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic
Authority, is a statement of the Church's faith and of Catholic
doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, Apostolic
Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a valid
and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion and a sure norm
for teaching the faith. May it serve the renewal to which the Holy
Spirit ceaselessly calls the Church of God, the Body of Christ, on
her pilgrimage to the undiminished light of the kingdom!
The approval and
publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
represents a service which the Successor of Peter wishes to offer
to the Holy Catholic Church, and to all the particular Churches in
peace and communion with the Apostolic See: the service, that is,
of supporting and confirming the faith of all the Lord Jesus'
disciples (cf. Lk 22:32), as well as of strengthening the
bonds of unity in the same apostolic faith.
Therefore, I ask
the Church's Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this
catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in
fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling
people to the Gospel life. This catechism is given to them that it
may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic
doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms. It is
also offered to all the faithful who wish to deepen their knowledge
of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Eph 3:8). It is
meant to support ecumenical efforts that are moved by the holy
desire for the unity of all Christians, showing carefully the
content and wondrous harmony of the Catholic faith. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, lastly, is offered to
every individual who asks us to give an account of the hope that is
in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) and who wants to know what the
Catholic Church believes.
This catechism is
not intended to replace the local catechisms duly approved by the
ecclesiastical authorities, the diocesan Bishops and the Episcopal
Conferences, especially if they have been approved by the Apostolic
See. It is meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new
local catechisms, which must take into account various situations
and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and
fidelity to Catholic doctrine.
At the conclusion
of this document presenting the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, I beseech the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the
Incarnate Word and Mother of the Church, to support with her
powerful intercession the catechetical work of the entire Church on
every level, at this time when she is called to a new effort of
evangelization. May the light of the true faith free humanity from
ignorance and slavery to sin in order to lead it to the only
freedom worthy of the name (cf. Jn 8:32): that of life in
Jesus Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, here below and
in the kingdom of heaven, in the fullness of the blessed vision of
God face to face (cf. 1 Cor 13:12; 2 Cor 5:6-8)!
Given on 11 October
1992, the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the fourteenth year of my
Pontificate.
Joannes Paulus II