CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL
OF TRENT FOR PARISH
PRIESTS
Issued by Order of Pope Pius V
Introductory
Such is the nature of the human mind and intellect that, although by means of diligent and laborious inquiry it has of itself investigated and discovered many other things pertaining to a knowledge of divine truths; yet guided by its natural lights it never could have known or perceived most of those things by which is attained eternal salvation, the principal end of man's creation and formation to the image and likeness of God.
It is true that the invisible things of
God from the creation of the world are, as the Apostle teaches, clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made: his eternal power also, and
divinity. 1 But the mystery which hath been hidden
from ages and generations so far transcends the reach of man's
understanding, there were it not made manifest by God to his Saints, to whom he
willed to make known by the gift of faith, the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, 2 man could by no effort attain to such
wisdom. {a}
But, as faith cometh by hearing, 3 it is clear how necessary at all times for the attainment of
eternal salvation has been the labor and faithful ministry of an authorized
teacher; for it is written, how shall they hear, without a preacher? And how
shall they preach unless they be sent? 4
And, indeed, never, from the very creation of the
world, has God, most merciful and benignant, been wanting to His own; but at
sundry times and in divers manners spoke to the Fathers by the prophets, 5 and pointed out to them in
a manner suited to the times and circumstances, a sure and direct path to the
happiness of heaven. But, as He had
foretold that He would give a teacher of justice to be the light of the
Gentiles, that His salvation might reach even to the ends of the earth, 6 in these last days he
hath spoken to us by his Son, 7 whom also by a voice from heaven, from the
excellent glory, 8
He has commanded all to hear and to obey.
Furthermore, the son gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and
others pastors and teachers, to announce the word of life; that we might
not be carried about like children tossed to and fro with every wind of
doctrine, 9
but holding fast to the firm foundation of the faith, we might be built
together into an habitation of God in the Spirit. 10
Lest any should receive the Word of God from the
ministers of the Church, not as the word of Christ, which it really is, but as
the word of man, the same Savior has ordained that there ministry should be
invested with so great authority that He says to them: He that heareth you,
heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me. 11 These words He spoke not only of those to whom His words were
addressed, but likewise of all who, by a legitimate succession, should
discharge the ministry of the word, promising to be with them all days even to the
consummation of the world. 12
But while the preaching of the divine Word should
never be interrupted in the church, surely in these, our days it becomes
necessary to labor with more than ordinary zeal and to piety to nourish and
strengthen the faithful with sound and whole some doctrine, as with the Food of
life. {b} For false prophets have gone forth into
the world, 13 to corrupt the minds of the faithful with
various and strange doctrine's, 14 of whom the Lord has said: I did not send
prophets, yet they ran; I spoke not to them, yet they prophesied. 15
In this work, to such extremes has there impiety,
practiced in all the arts of Satan, been carried, that it would seem almost
impossible to confine it within any bounds; and did we not rely on the splendid
promises of the Saviour, who declared that He had built his Church on so solid
a foundation that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, 16 we should have good reason to fear lest, beset on every side by
such a host of the enemies and assailed and attacked by so many machinations,
it would, in these days, fall to the ground.
For to say nothing of those illustrious States which
heretofore professed, in piety and Holiness, the true Catholic faith transmitted
to them by their ancestors, but are now gone astray, wandering from the paths
of truth and openly declaring that their best claims to piety are founded on a
total abandonment of the faith of their Fathers - there is no region, however
remote, no place, however securely guarded, no quarter of Christendom, into
which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself.
For those who intended to corrupt the minds of the
faithful, knowing that they could not hold immediate personal intercourse with
all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrine's, adopted another
plan which enabled them to disseminate error and impiety more easily and
extensively. Besides those voluminous
works by which they sought the subversion of the Catholic faith - to guard
against which (volumes) required perhaps little labor or circumspection, since
their contents were clearly heretical - they also composed innumerable smaller
books, which, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with
incredible facility the unsuspecting minds of simple folk.
The Fathers, therefore, of the General Council of
Trent, anxious to apply some healing remedy to so great and pernicious an evil,
were not satisfied with having decided the more important points of Catholic
doctrine against the heresies of our times, but deemed it further necessary to
issue, for the instruction of the faithful in the very rudiments of faith, a
form and method to be followed in all churches by those to whom are lawfully
entrusted the duties of pastor and teacher.
17
To works of this kind many, it is true, had already
given their attention, and earned the reputation of great piety and learning. {c} But
the Fathers deemed it of the first importance that a work should appear,
sanctioned by the authority of the Council, from which pastors and all others
on whom the duty of imparting instruction dissolves, may be able to seek and
find reliable matter for the edification of the faithful; that, as there is one
Lord, one faith, 18 there may also be one standard
and prescribed form of propounding the dogmas of faith, and instructing
Christians in all the duties of piety. {d}
As, therefore, the design of the work embraces a
variety of matters, it cannot be supposed that the Council intended that in one
volume of the dogmas of Christianity should be explained with that minuteness
of detail to be found in the works of those who profess to treat the teaching
and doctrine's of religion in their entirety.
Such a task would be one of my almost endless labor, and manifestly ill
suited to attain the proposed end. But,
having undertaken to instruct pastors and such as have care of souls in those
things that belong peculiarly to the pastoral office and are accommodated to
the capacity of the faithful, the Council intended that such things only should
be treated of as might assist the pious zeal of pastors in discharging the duty
of instruction, should they not be very familiar with the more abstruse
questions of theology.
Hence, before we proceed to develop in detail the
various parts of this summary of doctrine, our purpose requires that we premise
a few observations which the pastor should consider and bear in mind in order
to know to what end, as it were, all his plans and labors and efforts are to be
directed, and how this desired end may be more easily attained.
Knowledge of Christ
The first thing is ever to recollect that all
Christian knowledge is reduced to one single head, or rather, to use the words
of the Apostle, this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent. 19 A teacher in the Church should, therefore, use his best endeavors
that the faithful earnestly desire to know Jesus Christ, and him
Crucified, 20 that they be firmly convinced, and with the
most heartfelt piety and devotion believe, that there is no other name under
heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved, 21 for he is the
propitiation for our sins. 22
Observance of the Commandments
But since by this we know that we have known him,
if we keep his commandments, 22 the next consideration, and one intimately
connected with the preceding, is to press also upon the attention of the
faithful that their lives are not to be wasted in ease and indolence, but that
we are to walk even as he walked, 23 and pursue with all earnestness, justice,
godliness, faith, charity, patients, mildness; 24 for He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good
works. 25 These things the Apostle commands pastors to
speak and exhort.
Love of God
But as our Lord and Savior has not only declared, but
has also proved by His own example, that the law and the prophets depend on
love, 26 and as, according to the
Apostle, charity is the end of the Commandment, and the fulfillment of the
law, 27 it is unquestionably a chief duty of the
pastor to use the utmost diligence to excite the faithful to a love of the
infinite goodness of God towards us, that, burning with a sort of divine ardor,
they may be powerfully attracted to the Supreme and all perfect good, to adhere
to which is true and solid happiness, as is fully experienced by him who can say
with the prophet: What have I in heaven?
and besides thee what to do I desire upon earth. ? 28
This, assuredly, is that more excellent way 29 pointed out by the Apostle
when he sums up all his doctrine's and instructions in charity, which never
falleth away. 30 For whatever is proposed by the pastor,
whether it be the exercise of faith, of hope, or of some moral virtue, the love
of our Lord should at the same time be so strongly insisted upon as to show
clearly that all the works of perfect Christian virtue can have no other origin
no other end than divine love. 31
The Means Required for Religious Instruction.
But as in imparting instruction of any sort the
manner of communicating it is of highest importance, so in conveying religious
instruction to the people, the method should be deemed of the greatest moment.
Instruction Should be Accommodated to The Capacity
of The Hearer
Age, capacity, manners and condition must be borne in
mind, so that he who instructs may become all things to all men, in
order that he may be able to gain all to Christ, 32 prove himself a dutiful minister and
steward, 33 and, like a good and faithful servant, be
found worthy to be placed by his Lord over many things. 34 The priest must not
imagine that those committed to his care are all on the same level, so that he
can follow one fixed and unvarying method of instruction to lead all in the
same way to knowledge and true piety;
for some are as new-born infants, 35 others are growing up in Christ, while a few
are, so to say, of full maturity. Hence
the necessity of considering who they are that have occasion for milk, who for
more solid food, 36 and of affording to each such nourishment of
doctrine as may give spiritual increase, until we all meet in the unity of
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. 37 This the Apostle inculcates for all by his own example when he
says that he is a debtor to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, to the wise
and to the unwise, 38 thus given all who are called to this ministry to understand
that in announcing the mysteries of faith and the precepts of life, the
instruction is to be so accommodated to the capacity and intelligence of the hearers,
that, while the minds of the strong are filled with spiritual food, the little
ones be not suffered to perish with hunger, asking for bread, while there is none
to break it unto them. 39
Zeal
Nor should our zeal in communicating Christian
knowledge be relaxed because it has sometimes to be exercised in expounding
matters apparently humble and unimportant, and whose exposition is usually
irksome, especially to minds accustomed to the contemplation of the more
sublime truths of religion. If the
Wisdom of the eternal Father descended upon the earth in the meanness of our
flesh to teach us the maxims of a heavenly life, who is there whom the love
of Christ does not constrain 40 to become
little in the midst of his brethren, and, as a nurse fostering her children, so
anxiously to wish for the salvation of his neighbors as to be ready, as the
Apostles says of himself, to give them not only the gospel of God, but even his
own life. 41
Study Of The Word Of God
Now all the doctrines in which the faithful are to be
instructed are contained in the Word of God, which is found in Scripture and
tradition. To the study of these,
therefore, the pastor should devote his days and his nights, keeping in mind
the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, which all who have the care of souls
should consider as addressed to themselves: Attend to reading, to
exhortation, and to doctrine, 42 for all scripture divinely inspired is
profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the
man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work. 43 {e}
The truths revealed by Almighty God are so many and
so various that it is no easy task to acquire a knowledge of them, or, having
done so, to remember them so well as to be able to explain them with ease and
readiness when occasion requires. Hence
our predecessors in the faith have very wisely reduced all the doctrine's of
salvation to these four heads: the Apostles Creed, the Sacraments, The ten
Commandments, and the Lord's prayer.
The part on
the Creed contains all that is to be held according to the Christian faith,
whether it regard the knowledge of God, the creation and government of the
world, or the redemption of man, the rewards of a good and the punishments of
the wicked. The part devoted to the
Seven Sacraments teaches us what are the signs, and, as it were, the
instruments of grace. In the part on
the Decalogue is described whatever has reference to the law, whose end is
charity. 44 Finally, the Lord's Prayer contains
whatever can be the object of the Christians desires, or hopes, or
prayers. The exposition, therefore, of
these four parts, which are, as it were, the general heads of sacred scripture,
includes almost everything that a Christian should learn.
We therefore deem it proper to inform pastors that,
whenever they have occasion, in the ordinary discharge of their duty, to
expound any passage of the Gospel or any other part of Holy Scripture, they
will find its subject matter treated under some one of the four heads already
enumerated, to which they will recur, as to the source from which their
instruction is to be drawn.
Thus, if the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent is
to be explained, There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, etc..
, 45 whatever regards its explanation is contained under the article
of the Creed, He shall come to judge the living and the dead; and by embodying the substance of that
Article in his exposition, the pastor will at once instruct his people in the
Creed and in the Gospel. Whenever,
therefore, he has to communicate instruction and expound the Scriptures, he
will observe the same rule of referring all to these four principal heads under
which, as we observed, the whole teaching and doctrine of Holy Scripture is
contained. As for order, however, he is
free to follow that which he deems best suited to the circumstances of persons
and time.