The Catechism

[HS_Dad]

Apotheoun writes about Islam, "The statement in the Catechism is not de fide, nor does it concern a topic that could be defined by the Church's Magisterium."

My question is how does one read the catechism and determine what is "official" or
magisterial teaching??? When I met with my Evangelical pastor before converting to Catholicism this past spring he held a Catholic catechism in his hand and stated that he did not believe it could be reconciled with the bible. I also had done considerable reading in the catechism and could find some various theological quibbles. But, it certainly cohered together as one unitary whole and as God wants us to engage the world, it makes sense that as imperfect creatures our words may not fully capture all nuances... I am not trying to undermine the catechism...

But, I'm still struggling with the role of tradition and teaching versus the Word of God which through historical analysis and context can become quite clear and powerful. Tradition and teaching of the Catholic Church has shown me a tremendous amount... But, I'm still uncertain how to weight various teachings and how to determine the proper scope of teaching and tradition....

Thanks for your help.

[cappie]

This is an extract from the Apostolic Constitution. A catechism is at the basis a conpendium of the teaching of the Catholic Church in the same way as the Code of Canon Law the different liturgical books etc are. It makes the teachings of the Church accessable to all. Of course we must always go back to the sources, teaching of the councils infallible statements etc, but for most people the Catechism represents the summary of the faith for the 21st cent.

The catechism is conceived as an organic presentation of the Catholic faith in its entirety. It should be seen therefore as a unified whole. Numerous cross-references in the margin of the text (numbers found at the end of a sentence referring to other paragraphs that deal with the same theme), as well as the analytical index at the end of the volume, allow the reader to view each theme in its relationship with the entirety of the faith.


APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
FIDEI DEPOSITUM

ON THE PUBLICATION OF THE

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

PREPARED FOLLOWING THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

JOHN PAUL, BISHOP
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD
FOR EVERLASTING MEMORY




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To my Venerable Brothers the cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and to all the People of God.


GUARDING THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH IS THE MISSION WHICH THE LORD ENTRUSTED TO HIS CHURCH, and which she fulfills 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."1

With the help of God, the Council Fathers in four years of work were able to produce a considerable number 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".2

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."3

In this spirit, on 25 January 1985, I convoked an extraordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the 20th 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 that all the Christian faithful might better 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."4 After the Synod ended, I made this desire my own, considering it as "fully responding to a real need of the universal Church and of the particular Churches".5

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. .........

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, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. 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 represent a service which the Successor of Peter wishes to offer to the Holy Catholic Church, 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 all 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 Pt 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 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 the ignorance and slavery of 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 11 October 1992, the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the fourteenth year of my Pontificate.

[cappie]

Re tradition vs Word of God:

So much of what Catholics do is not in the Bible. Why believe in all that extra stuff?

The answer to this question is one of the main reasons I have remained a Catholic, though I was tempted at times to leave the Church for something that seemed "more alive."

To answer the question I want to look at the assumption behind the question. It is one of the biggest differences between the Catholic faith and the many Protestant faiths. The question assumes that if something is not in the Bible, then we should not believe it or do it. Or to put it another way: we are only to believe and do things we find in the Bible. Now, that sounds very correct and it sounds very pious and holy, but I think it is very, very wrong and very, very dangerous.

Why? It is wrong because for one thing the Bible nowhere teaches that we are only to follow the Bible in terms of teachings and practices. And secondly, I don't know any Christian who really follows this assumption. Not one. That may sound odd but ask yourself this question: do you believe the Gospel of Matthew is inspired? If you answer “Yes”, then you believe something that the Bible does not teach. Read Matthew, all 28 chapters, in fact, read the whole Bible, and you will never find one verse that states: "Matthew is inspired." And yet according to this assumption I ought to be able to find a verse to that effect.

The Bible tells us all Scripture is inspired but it does not tell me what books are to be considered Scripture and therefore inspired.

Think about it for a minute: if we are to believe only what we find spelled out in the Bible, then I cannot believe Matthew is inspired because nowhere does it spell it out for me.

Some may think this is silly. Matthew, after all is in the Bible. It's a non-question as to what is supposed to be in the Bible. The Bible just is!

But the Bible IS NOT a given. A lot of prayer and sweat went into discerning inspired books from non-inspired books. Many people do not realize that the New Testament did not exist as a unified book until almost the year 400 AD!

Prior to this time, Christians in one area would gather to celebrate the Mass and read from Scripture. At first, only what we call the Old Testament was read. But then Christians started to see the writings of Peter and Paul as inspired and on a par with the Old Testament and these were read as Scripture.

The church in Corinth, for example, would read Paul's letter while Christians in Rome would read Romans. Word began to circulate that Corinth had a letter from Paul, as did Rome, and so copies began to be made and sent to other churches. Before long, churches everywhere began receiving copies of Paul's letters, as well as various gospels, and reading these as Scripture. So far, so good.

But in the midst of all this, other letters and other gospels (for example, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Nicodemus, 1 Clement) were being circulated and treated as Scripture though we now know they were not inspired.

It took the Church, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to sit down and sift through the various books and discern which were and which were not inspired.

The Church decided 27 books would comprise the New Testament (Catholics and non-Catholics, by the way, agree on this point). Let me repeat myself: it was the CHURCH that decided and it was not something found in the Bible. Therefore, the assumption behind the question cannot be correct.

Christians, whether they admit it or not, believe many, many things not found in the Bible. And as I have suggested I can give you 27 examples right off the bat: the books of the New Testament.

What the Bible DOES teach is that we are to follow what has been written down and what has been taught by word of mouth (see 2 Thessalonians 2.15). Recall what Jesus said before His ascension to His Apostles: "Go, make disciples of all nations, . . . TEACHING them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28.19-20).

Jesus commanded His Apostles to teach first; some would write, and do so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but first they were to teach. They were to "hand on" and "pass down" the faith Jesus taught them. Catholics give a word to this body of teachings that was "handed on" and passed down" – we call it Sacred Tradition. "Sacred" because it has Jesus as its source and "Tradition" because it means "to hand on" and "to pass down."

The Catholic Church then follows what Jesus wanted His Church to do. We follow Sacred Tradition and we follow Sacred Scripture. And there is never a contradiction between the two because Jesus is the source behind both.