Documents of the Catholic Church

The Annuario Pontificio (Italian for Pontifical Yearbook) is the annual directory of the Holy See. It lists all the popes to date and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also gives complete lists, with contact information, of the cardinals and Catholic bishops throughout the world, the dioceses (with statistics about each), the departments of the Roman Curia, the Holy See's diplomatic missions abroad, the embassies accredited to the Holy See, the headquarters of religious institutes (again with statistics on ...

Read more here: » Annuario Pontificio: Encyclopedia - Annuario Pontificio

Unitatis Redintegratio is the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism. It was passed by a vote of 2,137 to 11 of the bishops assembled and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. The title in Latin means "Restoration of Unity," and is from the first line of the decree, as is customary with major Catholic documents. (The full text in English is available from the Holy See's website.) Unitatis Redintegratio - External link. Unitatis Redintegratio - Text of docume ...

Including:

• Unitatis Redintegratio - External link

Read more here: » Unitatis Redintegratio: Encyclopedia - Unitatis Redintegratio

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Catholic Church, first published in French in 1992 by the authority of Pope John Paul II.[1] Subsequently, in 1997, a Latin text was issued which is now the official text of reference [2] the contents of the first French text being amended at a few points [3] The volume, which is a stout book of over 900 pages, has since been translated into many other languages, including English, and became an instant best-seller. Thi ...

Including:

• Catechism of the Catholic Church - Critics
• Catechism of the Catholic Church - Points of Controversy
• Catechism of the Catholic Church - Conclusion
• Catechism of the Catholic Church - Footnotes

Read more here: » Catechism of the Catholic Church: Encyclopedia - Catechism of the Catholic Church

This text was considered by the conservative Bishops in the councils to promote what they termed "collegiality" - which they felt was an ambiguous mixture of ideas such as that bishops' conferences or synods can have de facto authority over their members by a majority vote, or that a council can have some authority over the pope, or that the Pope can not or should not act without consulting other Bishops. During the council, a liberal theologian wrote a letter explaining how he would intrepret the text as it stood to firmly support collegiality. This letter was shown to Pope Paul VI who ordered an appendix added to interpr ...

See also:

Lumen Gentium, Lumen Gentium - History and Highlights, Lumen Gentium - Archconservative reaction

Read more here: » Lumen Gentium: Encyclopedia II - Lumen Gentium - History and Highlights

Dignitatis Humanae - Preparation and First Session 1962. The initial conflict was over just what model of religious freedom was to be put before the Council, with the Curial party pushing for the traditional view. Just before the first session, in June, both the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity led by Cardinal Bea and the Theological Commission (led by Cardinal Ottaviani) introduced revised drafts of statements to the Central Commission. Pope John in July appointed an ad hoc joint committee to res ...

See also:

Dignitatis Humanae, Dignitatis Humanae - Background, Dignitatis Humanae - Nineteenth Century Catholic View of Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - John Courtney Murray and the American experience, Dignitatis Humanae - Vatican II and Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - Preparation and First Session 1962, Dignitatis Humanae - Second Session 1963, Dignitatis Humanae - Third Session 1964, Dignitatis Humanae - Fourth Session 1965, Dignitatis Humanae - Stages of the Text, Dignitatis Humanae - Summary of the Declaration, Dignitatis Humanae - The Fundamental Right to Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae - The Responsibility of the State, Dignitatis Humanae - Religious Freedom and the Christian Faith, Dignitatis Humanae - Aftermath

Read more here: » Dignitatis Humanae: Encyclopedia II - Dignitatis Humanae - Vatican II and Religious Freedom

"Traditionalist Catholics" claim to find CCC teachings inconsistent with traditional Catholic theology and mainly revert to the Roman Catechism, which was issued by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent, but which, while frequently cited in CCC, has not been in practical use since the early twentieth century, when it was superseded by a catechism issued by Pope Pius X. They argue that statements made in CCC conflict with past Catholic teachings on many topics[7] through allegedly unclear theology on the union of ...

See also:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Critics, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Points of Controversy, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Conclusion, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Footnotes

Read more here: » Catechism of the Catholic Church: Encyclopedia II - Catechism of the Catholic Church - Points of Controversy

Whether one considers these criticisms well-founded or baseless, CCC is clearly a prime source today for knowledge of the teaching of the Catholic Church, both in general and on particular questions that were not raised in previous official compilations, such as the Catechism of Pope Pius V or of the Council of Trent,[13] or that of Pope Pius X[14]. It is an authoritative source, declared by Pope John Paul II to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus ...

See also:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Critics, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Points of Controversy, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Conclusion, Catechism of the Catholic Church - Footnotes

Read more here: » Catechism of the Catholic Church: Encyclopedia II - Catechism of the Catholic Church - Conclusion

Dignitatis Humanae - Nineteenth Century Catholic View of Religious Freedom. Beginning in the Christianized Roman Empire of Constantine I and his successors, the Catholic Church and secular rulers formed a tightly inverwoven structure generally known as Christendom. While there was often competition and conflict among the different actors, the idea that there was an overarching church-state polity survived intact in Europe until the rise of nation-states and the Reformation. The Enlightenment offered a unity of th ...

See also:

Dignitatis Humanae, Dignitatis Humanae - Background, Dignitatis Humanae - Nineteenth Century Catholic View of Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - John Courtney Murray and the American experience, Dignitatis Humanae - Vatican II and Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - Preparation and First Session 1962, Dignitatis Humanae - Second Session 1963, Dignitatis Humanae - Third Session 1964, Dignitatis Humanae - Fourth Session 1965, Dignitatis Humanae - Stages of the Text, Dignitatis Humanae - Summary of the Declaration, Dignitatis Humanae - The Fundamental Right to Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae - The Responsibility of the State, Dignitatis Humanae - Religious Freedom and the Christian Faith, Dignitatis Humanae - Aftermath

Read more here: » Dignitatis Humanae: Encyclopedia II - Dignitatis Humanae - Background

The stated intention of the council was “to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society.” Dignitatis Humanae - The Fundamental Right to Religious Liberty. All persons have a right to religious liberty, a right with its foundation in the essential dignity of each human being. All persons must be free to seek the truth without coercion. The highest norm of human life is the divine law and truth, but it can only be sought after ...

See also:

Dignitatis Humanae, Dignitatis Humanae - Background, Dignitatis Humanae - Nineteenth Century Catholic View of Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - John Courtney Murray and the American experience, Dignitatis Humanae - Vatican II and Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae - Preparation and First Session 1962, Dignitatis Humanae - Second Session 1963, Dignitatis Humanae - Third Session 1964, Dignitatis Humanae - Fourth Session 1965, Dignitatis Humanae - Stages of the Text, Dignitatis Humanae - Summary of the Declaration, Dignitatis Humanae - The Fundamental Right to Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae - The Responsibility of the State, Dignitatis Humanae - Religious Freedom and the Christian Faith, Dignitatis Humanae - Aftermath

Read more here: » Dignitatis Humanae: Encyclopedia II - Dignitatis Humanae - Summary of the Declaration