What does the Catholic Church teach?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the Church's teaching document. It is arranged in four main parts:
The Profession of Faith (the Creed)
The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (the Sacred Liturgy, especially the Sacraments)
Life in Christ (including the Ten Commandments)
Christian Prayer (including The Lord's Prayer)
When presenting the Compendium of the Catechism in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI described it as being for: "every human being, who, in a world of distractions desires to know the Way of Life, the Truth, entrusted by God to His Son's Church."
The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council was a universal meeting of bishops in Rome that met for four consecutive autumns between 1962-65. It defined the role of the Church and her bishops and many pivotal documents were issued offering a template for dialogue, openness and engagement with the modern world.
This section, started in December 2008, contains resources and commentary on Vatican and papal releases. As it expands it will cover Encyclicals, Instructions, other doctrinal documents and more.
Pope Benedict XVI's third Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth) will appear here on release.
Publications of the Catholic Church in England and Wales
The Catholic Church has issued many teaching documents in recent years including: The Common Good (Catholic Social Teaching), Cherishing Life (on promoting life issues and human dignity), The Dispossessed (concern for refugees and migrants), The Call of Creation (on the environment), A Place of Redemption (on prisons) and many more. Click here to visit our publications section.