The History of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Rev. Benjamin P. Bradshaw

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1 The History of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Rev. Benjamin P. Bradshaw The Catechism of the Catholic Church 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 [teaching authority]. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. -Fidei Depositum/The Deposit of Faith Pope John Paul II October 11 th, 1992 On the 30 th anniversary of opening of Vatican Council II =============================================================== Only a year after becoming pope (October 16, 1979), John Paul II published his Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae/On Catechesis in Our Time, wherein he begins the documents by saying: The Church has always considered catechesis one of her primary tasks The goal of this effort to catechize others is, in its essence, one thing: love. Love is the fundamental goal in the evangelization and catechizing of others, which is altogether different from proselytizing. St. John the Apostle tells us in the New Testament: God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. (1 Jn 4:16). God is indeed love, and because he has created us in his image and likeness, we are called to love as God Himself loves, namely through a gift of self in service to others. John Paul II refers to this as the Law of the Gift in his book Love and Responsibility. The Second Vatican Council reiterates this point as well in the Constitution Gaudium et Spes/The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all may be one... as we are one" (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons in truth and charity. This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself (#24). Catechism #1 makes the point that it was out of love that God created man and it is in love that man is to live out his vocation following the example of Our Lord who did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt 20:28). The first line of Catechism reference number one states: God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength (#1). Just as God calls us to himself and gives himself to us, we too are called to give ourselves in service to others and to bring them to Jesus Christ. Part of this self-gift is 1

2 evangelization, with the understanding that we cannot give what we do not possess, thus we must actually know and live our faith before giving it to others. We should be clear that as Catholics it is not sufficient to simply pray or either to simply study about the faith. We must do both. In his encyclical Fides et Ratio/Faith and Reason (1998), John Paul II points out the following: Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth in a word, to know himself so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (Introduction to Fides et Ratio). Thus the Holy Father accentuates that both faith (our prayer and liturgical life) and reason (our study of the teachings of the faith) must work in conjunction with each other in order to guide our faith. There are some people for instance, who have a deep and active prayer life but have never studied their faith and thus are unprepared to defend it when they or their Catholic faith is attacked. Likewise, such people may firmly believe the faith, yet possess only a partial knowledge of the fullness of the faith. Similarly, there are theologians who have written dozens of works on theology yet they often lack a prayer life and thus, at least to some degree, their theology becomes not a reflection of God but rather of themselves and their opinions of God. Simply put, we need both prayer and study of the faith in order to genuinely grow over time. In the 11 th century, St. Anselm of Canterbury often noted Fides quaerens intellectum, or faith seeks understanding. The faith we believe in our hearts seeks to be understood in our minds. With catechesis we seek not only to grow personally in the faith, in both heart and mind, but also to impart that faith to others. The Greek word for catechesis is katechizo, which means simply to teach orally to another. Similarly, to catechize means literally to echo, or to have another receive the teachings given. Just as with learning to play the piano or learning another language one must repeat what one is taught, so too was catechesis taught in this manner for years prior to the faithful being able to read and study for themselves. With the invention of the printing press in 1450, the nature of catechesis slowly began to change as the lay faithful and the clergy became more educated with regards to the faith and the liturgy. It was this initial lack of catechesis on the part of the clergy that greatly scandalized Martin Luther and led to his departure from the Catholic Church on October 31, Throughout the history of the Church many of the European cathedrals themselves served as a form of catechesis for the lay faithful, teaching the story of Christ, the Blessed Mother, and the saints with their statues, stained-glass windows, music, and beautiful architecture. The intent of the architect and the musicians was to raise the hearts and minds of the faithful to God. Often in our current times one sees the motive of some liturgy to lift the heart and mind to ourselves rather than to God in a kind of performance rather than prayer. A concept 2

3 Pope Benedict XVI has often referred to as building a golden calf in honor of ourselves (The Spirit of the Liturgy. Ignatius Press. 1999). Genuine catechesis then comes from a desire to share truth. Jesus notes in John s Gospel: You will find the truth and the truth will set you free (Jn 8:32). Thus truth brings freedom, even as it challenges us to change. In 1993, John Paul II published a remarkable encyclical on moral theology entitled Veritatis Splendor/The Splendor of Truth, wherein he points out: The splendor of truth shines forth in all the works of the Creator and, in a special way, in man, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26). Truth enlightens man's intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord. Many in our culture understand freedom as the autonomy to do whatever I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want to do it. Ironically, such a mentality always leads one into greater misery and slavery to addictions and sin. Rather, true freedom and genuine catechesis are always to be found with the discovery of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the faith. Our Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). Jesus therein gives us the way to him by following and believing in the teachings of the faith of the Church, in union with the Pope and the bishops. In catechizing others, we should seek to always impart this in what we say, believe, teach, and do. I.) The Catechism of the Council of Trent: Following the tumultuous years of the Protestant Reformation ( ), the Catholic Church was forced to address in a more distinct way two major issues that would change the future of the Church in the years to come: 1.) Clerical abuses. During the time of the Protestant Reformation the Church was replete with gross examples of clerical abuses. Examples of these abuses include simony (the selling of spiritual goods or offices), absenteeism (bishops who never visited or lived in their respective dioceses and thus could not care for the spiritual needs of the people), pluralism (secular rulers who purchased the right to hold a Church office or multiple offices), selling indulgences (one of the major points of contention for Martin Luther), and clergy who openly lived with concubines or ignored their celibate promises. In 1517 the Church Fathers concluded the 18 th Ecumenical Council held at the Lateran Palace in Rome (Lateran V). This Council called for a major reform of the clergy and clerical abuses, unfortunately very few of the bishops actually implemented these teachings and thus the atmosphere of abuses continued. Only a few months after this Council concluded Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Cathedral door at Wittenberg. 2.) Catholic Doctrine. At this point the Church was forced to articulate her beliefs of such things as the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Seven Sacraments, the Canon of Scripture, Church authority, the Primacy of Peter, the Communion of Saints, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. While the Catholic Church had, of course, previously addressed all of these issues in various Ecumenical and local Councils, the time had come to update these teachings in a new, clear, and coherent way. This was done not only to address the Protestant movement that had swept through Europe but also for the lay 3

4 faithful and the proper formation of the clergy (the seminary system was established at the Council of Trent and implemented by men such as St. Charles Borromeo). The Council of Trent ( ) was summoned by Pope Paul III and was the 19 th Ecumenical Council in the history of the Catholic Church (21 total) and also the longest in the history of the Church. The decrees were finally confirmed by Pope Pius IV on January 26, In order to provide a more complete and accessible compilation of Roman Catholic beliefs, the Fathers of the Council of Trent developed a catechism. While the invention of the printing press certainly enabled Martin Luther to disseminate many false teachings regarding Catholic doctrine, this same tool would be used to present the true teachings as well in a catechism format. Men such as St. Peter Canisius ( ) and St. Robert Bellarmine ( ) contributed greatly to the further development of these catechisms as well. Overview of Trent: In the history of the Catholic Church we have had twenty-one Ecumenical/General/Universal Councils (to be distinguished from local/regional councils or synods). It is interesting that quite often the popes that called these Councils (though not every Council was convened by a pope), often never lived to see its conclusion, such as with Julius II (Lateran V), John XXIII (Vatican Council II), and Paul III (Council of Trent). While Paul III s predecessor Julius II only reluctantly called Lateran V in order to deal with clerical abuses and reform, Paul III enthusiastically called the Council of Trent and his personal holiness contributed greatly to the bishops initiative in its implementation. 3 Sessions of Trent: With the document Laetare Jerusalem, Paul III summoned the Council, which opened December 13, While the Council was itself plagued by political strife in Europe and constant delays, the Fathers were very energetic once they arrived. Period I: (Sessions I-VIII). Period II: (Session IX-XIV). Period III: (Sessions XV-XXV). Thus, there was a ten year delay between Period II and Period III. The Council officially closed on December 4, The sessions were attended by 169 bishops, 25 archbishops, and three cardinals. Just as with Vatican Councils I and II, each bishop was permitted to bring an official theologian/periti to advise them; though only the bishop could actually vote (Pope Benedict XVI served in this role during VCII for Cardinal Frings from Cologne). Interestingly enough, the time between Jesus Death and Resurrection and the first general Council (Nicea, 325) was about 292 years. The time between the Council of Trent and Vatican Council I (1869) was 306 years, the longest duration between two general councils in the history of the Catholic Church. Such a duration was a testimony to the Council s impact and effectiveness in the life of the Catholic Church. Issues Addressed: Of the twenty-five sessions of Trent, seventeen addressed official Church doctrine and the reform of the clergy. The following is a list of important topics addressed by the Council of Trent: 4

5 *The Two Primary Sources of Revelation: Scripture & Tradition (w/magisterium to interpret them as their servant). AKA Deposit of Faith/Fidei Depositum. *Canon of Scripture: Trent reaffirmed the books of the bible, as articulated at Synod of Rome (AD 382). Trent also rebuked the Protestant notion that anyone can accurately interpret Scripture and decide upon the official canon, as only the Magisterium of the Church has this authority. *Justification (process by which we become holy before God): This is achieved not by faith alone as Luther argued, but by man s cooperation with grace by actions and virtue. *Seven Sacraments: Trent reaffirmed that Jesus dispenses His Divine grace via the Seven Sacraments. *The Real Presence of Jesus in Eucharist: Trent used the word transubstantiation when referring to the Blessed Sacrament, adopting it from St. Thomas Aquinas (13 th century) and Lateran IV (1215), in reiterating that the substance of the bread and wine is transformed at the holy mass into the complete Body and Blood of Christ (not consubstantiation as Luther argued). Trent also reiterated that the Mass is fundamentally a sacrifice. It likewise reiterated that after each mass is completed the Real Presence of Christ remains in the Eucharist and thus in the Tabernacle as well. *Seminaries: Trent called for each Diocese in the world to establish a seminary for the training of priests in order to combat the poor training and education that priests were receiving at the time. Likewise, Trent mandated that the priest wear identifiable clerical garb and to behave appropriately in order to set an example for the lay faithful. Also, individual pastors were ordered to live among their people within the parish they were actually working. *The Role of Bishops: Trent called for the world s bishops to get to work! Not only did it mandate that they live greater poverty of spirit, it mandated that they personally supervise the implementation of the reforms in their Dioceses. They were to actually be present in their Dioceses (combat absenteeism) and to visit their parishes on a regular basis. *Clerical Abuses & Reform: Trent mandated that priests actually live their call to the celibate life and that they be educated in doctrine, liturgy, and morals. It likewise outlawed all forms of simony, concubinage, and the selling of indulgences. While Trent retained the use of indulgences, it abolished the office of alms collector, which so greatly scandalized Martin Luther. 5

6 The Catechism of the Council of Trent was completed in 1566 and was a splendid compilation of the above mentioned teachings presented in accessible and practical terms for the Church s faithful and pastors. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has said: It [Catechism of the Council of Trent] sought to present Catholic truths from the viewpoint of their inherent coherence and value for instructing the faithful. It became the enduring sourcebook for local catechisms up to its last edition in 1978 (Catholic Catechism for Adults. USCCB. 2006). The first English translation appeared in 1675, making available to many of the faithful an authentic text of what we genuinely believed, contrary to many misunderstandings about the faith circulating at the time. Pope St. Pius V completed this large undertaking in 1566 and it was finally published as simply the Roman Catechism. While much of the general population remained illiterate, the text provided a common and authentic benchmark for catechists instructing the illiterate and likewise for the pastors themselves who were often in need of catechesis. II.) The Baltimore Catechism: Until our present day when many people hear the term catechism they immediately think of the old Baltimore Catechism, which had its origins at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in Between the years , there were seven provincial and three plenary meetings of bishops in Baltimore, Maryland. The bishops of the United States convened and decided collectively to publish a local or regional catechism, drawing from the Catechism of the Council of Trent or the Roman Catechism. The text contained 421 questions and answers (37 chapters). The emphasis given to the Baltimore Catechism by the bishops was one of simplicity and clarity. It sought to present often theologically daunting concepts of the faith in easily accessible terms for the people in a brief and succinct in a question-and-answer format. Between the years the United States witnessed the influx of over 30 million immigrants from Italy, Germany, and Ireland alone, most of whom were Catholic and many of whom entered the seminary and served in their local Dioceses. The Baltimore Catechism was effective not so much because it was so widely used in the Catholic school system, but rather because it was so easily understandable by most, including immigrants, and thus easily taught as well. During the first years of the Catholic Church in the United States all of the established States and Catholic districts were under the leadership of the Archbishop of Baltimore and his archdiocese, with Bishop John Carroll serving as the first bishop of the United States. For this reason the Holy See in Rome sanctioned a Plenary or regional council of the bishops of the United States to be held in Baltimore in support of the local bishop. The first of the three sessions opened on May 9, 1852, with a total of 41 bishops in attendance (session two had 46 bishops and session three had a total of 75 bishops). While at first glance this may not appear to be many bishops in attendance, we should recall both that Catholics were a small but rapidly growing minority at the time and similarly that the bishops themselves often had to travel over great distances in order to attend. Among other things approved at the Baltimore Councils were mandated parochial schools and the establishing of the Catholic University of America, approved by Pope Leo XIII in The decrees themselves issued by the Council Fathers were finally approved by the Archbishop of Baltimore, Cardinal John Gibbons, and likewise by Leo XIII. It was decided by the Council Fathers that a Catechism should be compiled for the 6

7 faithful, the immigrants, and the children of the Church in the United States. The Fathers noted: "A catechism shall be written which is better adapted to the circumstances of this Province; it shall give the Christian Doctrine as explained in Cardinal Bellarmine's Catechism (1597), and when approved by the Holy See, it shall be published for the common use of Catholics" (Decree xxxiii). The original text was written by a simple pastor in New Jersey named Monsignor Januarius de Concilio (ironically his name itself means Council ). From this initial text several points were added to and/or subtracted from by the bishops. III.) Brief History of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: The idea of The Catechism of the Catholic Church was formulated during the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops held in Rome in The Synod was called at the 20 th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul II, himself an active participant at the Council, wished to call the Synod in order to better redirect the Church on a clearer course with regard to its theological and liturgical interpretations of the Council. This was in fact one of the reasons the College of Cardinals chose Karol Wojtyla at the conclave held in October of 1978, namely, because they knew he was a man of the Council, he was a gifted teacher and communicator, and he had a clear and coherent understanding of the sixteen documents issued by the Council Fathers themselves (1965). Prior to the Synod, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, published a book entitled The Ratzinger Report, whereby he openly critiques the faulty and misguided interpretations of the Second Vatican Council s actual teachings in the years following the Council, or what is often referred to as the spirit of the Council, juxtaposed to what the Council itself actually taught. In its time, the book served as a form of shock-therapy for the bishops, many of whom were unwilling to openly discuss the problems that had arisen in the last twenty years ( ) within their local churches due to faulty interpretations of liturgy, morals, and ecumenism. Ratzinger s assessment was both blunt and to-the-point in addressing the misguided nature of many of the interpretations by some of the bishops themselves. In the book Ratzinger notes: It is incontestable that the last ten years [ ] have been decidedly unfavorable for the Catholic Church What the Popes and the Council Fathers were expecting was a new Catholic unity, and instead one has encountered a dissension which, to use the words of Paul VI, seems to have passed over from self-criticism to self-destruction There had been expectations of a step forward, and instead one found oneself facing a progressive process of decadence that to a large measure has been unfolding under the sign of a summons to a presumed spirit of the Council and by doing so has actually increasingly discredited it (p.29-30). As Cardinal Ratzinger consistently called for an authentic understanding of the Second Vatican Council, it is no exaggeration to say that he did not enter the Synod of 1985 a popular man among his brother-bishops. The Ratzinger Report apparently had such an impact on the bishops of the world that as they came together in Rome for the Synod, Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium opened the Synod proceedings by stating frankly: This is not a Synod about a book, it s a Synod about the Council! (God s Choice. George Weigel. Harper-Collins p.197). Nonetheless, Ratzinger s book 7

8 provided the ample jolt that was needed in order for the Synod Fathers to agree that a comprehensive Catechism was indeed needed in order to redirect the Church along the intended path of the Second Vatican Council Fathers. Regarding the Ratzinger Report, George Weigel has noted: The book gave permission for the Synod fathers to discuss publically two matters that had been only bruited privately before: the misinterpretation of the Council, and the drift toward turning Catholicism into a form of liberal Protestantism (God s Choice. p.199). At the final proceedings of the 1985 Synod the bishops ultimately concurred with Cardinal Ratzinger s critique of the spirit of Vatican II juxtaposed to the authentic reading of the documents of Vatican II. In the bishop s final report they note that Vatican II was a grace of God and a gift of the Holy Spirit, but that partial and selective readings of its sixteen documents had led to a superficial interpretation of the Second Vatican Council s actual teachings. When approaching this history of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this faulty interpretation of the Council is vital to understand because it was with the intent of correcting these errors that Pope John Paul II decided to compile the first universal Catechism of the Catholic Church since the Council of Trent in the 16 th century. The Holy Father, following the directive of St. Peter when he said always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope (1 Pt.3:15), wished to offer the world a comprehensive explanation for our Catholic faith at the turn of the new millennium. He wished to do this not only to correct many of the theological, moral, catechetical, and liturgical errors that had materialized over the past 20 years ( ), but likewise to offer a sure norm for teaching the faith for the laity, Catholic educators and priests alike (Fidei Depositum/Deposit of Faith. October 11 th, 1992). Similarly, it is worth noting that John Paul himself recognized that there have been numerous times in the history of the Catholic Church wherein the faithful themselves have had to call their own pastors and bishops to liturgical and theological correction when they have departed from the bounds of Catholic orthodoxy. Such a genuine teaching would leave no doubt as to the Church s genuine teaching on a given subject. Issued first in French in 1992, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was superbly popular among both Catholics and non-catholics alike. Simply put: people wanted to know what the Catholic Church believed and taught. It was the desire of the Synod Fathers that from this universal Catechism (major catechism) that local or regional Catechisms (minor catechisms) be written in order to better address the local needs and culture of the people, thus in July of 2006 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, which more specifically addresses American issues and saints. On June 28, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI published the Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a more concise version of the Catechism, wherein he notes: The Compendium, which I now present to the Universal Church, is a faithful and sure synthesis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It contains, in concise form, all the essential and fundamental elements of the Church s faith, thus 8

9 constituting, as my Predecessor had wished, a kind of vademecum which allows believers and non-believers alike to behold the entire panorama of the Catholic faith. The massive project of compiling the Catechism of the Catholic Church was given by John Paul II to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Ratzinger then drafted his former student (for whom he directed his doctoral dissertation), Fr. Christoph Schonborn, now the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, as the editorial secretary for the project (Schonborn was created a bishop in 1991 and a Cardinal on February 21, 1998). The corpus of the Catechism itself is arranged in four sections: The Profession of Faith /The Creed, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery /The Sacramental Life, Life in Christ /Christian Morality, and Christian Prayer. The CCC addresses the ancient Traditions of the faith, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Holy Magisterium. These are placed in context of the teachings of the saints, the doctors of the Church, and current popes. Finally issued on the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the original text of the CCC contained over 24,000 amendments prior to being published. Since its publication over 3 million copies have been sold and it has been translated into over 12 languages. Originally published in French, it has been argued that the CCC has been the most successful English-language learning book since the Bible itself, surprising even its most ardent supporters. (Revised 5/16/10) 9