Catechism of the Catholic Church
Explore the essential teachings of the Catholic faith organized by topic, with clear summaries and references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
The Profession of Faith
The Profession of Faith (The Creed)
CCC 185-267
The Creed is the summary of the principal truths of the Catholic faith, handed down from the Apostles and professed by the faithful throughout the cen...
The Holy Trinity
CCC 232-267
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. It is the mystery of God in Himself, the sou...
God the Creator
CCC 279-354
The Catechism teaches that God created the universe freely, directly, and without any pre-existing help. Creation is the foundation of all God's savin...
Original Sin and the Fall
CCC 385-421
The doctrine of original sin is, as it were, the "reverse side" of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all humanity. The Church's teaching clari...
Jesus Christ, the Son of God
CCC 422-682
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God made man, the central figure of the Christian faith and the fullness of divine revelation. The name "Jesus" mea...
The Church, the Body of Christ
CCC 748-870
The Church is the community of all baptized believers united in faith, sacraments, and governance under the successor of Peter and the bishops in comm...
The Blessed Virgin Mary
CCC 484-511, CCC 721-726, CCC 963-975
The Blessed Virgin Mary holds a singular place in the Catholic faith as the Mother of God (Theotokos), the Mother of the Church, and the most pre-emin...
The Communion of Saints
CCC 946-962
The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity that binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in Purgatory, and the blessed in heaven in th...
The Forgiveness of Sins
CCC 976-987
The forgiveness of sins is one of the articles of the Creed and a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith. Jesus Christ gave the Apostles the power ...
The Resurrection of the Body
CCC 988-1019
The resurrection of the body is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, professed in the Creed. God, in His almighty power, will definitively g...
Life Everlasting
CCC 1020-1060
The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views death as a step toward Christ and an entrance into everlasting life. The Church teaches ...
The Sacraments
The Sacraments of the Church
CCC 1076-1134
The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. There are se...
The Sacred Liturgy
CCC 1066-1112
The liturgy is the participation of the People of God in "the work of God." Through the liturgy, Christ, our Redeemer and High Priest, continues the w...
The Sacrament of Baptism
CCC 1213-1284
Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through ...
The Sacrament of Confirmation
CCC 1285-1321
Confirmation, together with Baptism and the Eucharist, forms the ensemble of the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded...
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
CCC 1322-1419
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostola...
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
CCC 1422-1498
The Sacrament of Penance, also called Reconciliation or Confession, is the sacrament by which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. It is called ...
The Anointing of the Sick
CCC 1499-1532
The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of healing instituted by Christ and attested by the Apostle James: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call fo...
The Sacrament of Holy Orders
CCC 1536-1600
Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of ti...
The Sacrament of Matrimony
CCC 1601-1666
The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward ...
Life in Christ
The Ten Commandments
CCC 2052-2557
The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, were revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and express the fundamental duties of humanity toward God and neighbo...
Moral Conscience
CCC 1776-1802
Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of the human person, where one is alone with God whose voice echoes in the depths of the heart. It is...
The Virtues
CCC 1803-1845
A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts but to give the best of oneself. The vi...
Sin and Its Consequences
CCC 1846-1876
Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to...
Grace and Justification
CCC 1996-2029
Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God, adoptive sons and daughters, partaker...
The Beatitudes
CCC 1716-1729
The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching and take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. They depict the countenance of J...
Social Justice and the Common Good
CCC 1877-1948, CCC 2401-2463
Catholic social teaching, rooted in Sacred Scripture and developed through the Church's Tradition, affirms that every human person has inherent dignit...
The Last Things (Eschatology)
CCC 1020-1060
The "last things" (eschata) refer to the realities that await each person and all of creation at the end of time: death, particular judgment, heaven, ...
Christian Prayer
Christian Prayer
CCC 2558-2758
Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God, or the requesting of good things from God. It is a vital and personal relationship with the livi...
The Lord's Prayer (Our Father)
CCC 2759-2865
The Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, is the prayer that Jesus Himself taught His disciples and is truly the summary of the whole Gospel. It is called th...
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