The Prologue to the Catechism of the Catholic Church states its purpose: "This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition". 418CCC 11. The Magisterium of the Church intends to render an ecclesial service for our times with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, recognizing that it is: – "a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion": 419FD 4a; cf. FD 4b. it desires to promote the bond of unity in the faith by helping the disciples of Jesus Christ to make "the profession of one faith received from the Apostles"; 420CCC 815. – "a sure norm for teaching the faith": 421FD 4a; cf. FD 4c. the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a clear response to the legitimate right of all the baptized to know from the Church what she has received and what she believes; it is thus an obligatory point of reference for catechesis and for the other forms of the ministry of the word. – "a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms": 422 the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in fact, "is not intended to replace the local catechism (duly approved)" 423FD 4d. but "to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms which take into account various situations and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to Catholic doctrine". 424Ibid. The nature or character proper to this document of the Magisterium consists in the fact that it is a comprehensive synthesis of the faith and thus it is of universal value. In this, it differs from other documents of the Magisterium, which do not set out to present such a synthesis. It differs also from local Catechisms, which, within the context of ecclesial communion, are destined for the service of a particular portion of the people of God. Structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 422FD 1f; cf. FD 4c.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is structured around four fundamental dimensions of the Christian life: the profession of faith; the celebration of the liturgy; the morality of the Gospel; and prayer. These four dimensions spring from a single source, the Christian mystery. This is: – the object of the faith (Part One); – celebrated and communicated in liturgical actions (Part Two); – present to enlighten and sustain the children of God in their actions (Part Three); – the basis of our prayer, whose supreme expression is the Our Father, and the object of our supplication, praise and intercession (Part Four); 425FD 3d. This four part structure develops the essential aspects of the faith: – belief in the Triune God and in his saving plan; – sanctification by him in the sacramental life; – loving him with all one's heart and one's neighbour as oneself; – prayer while waiting for the coming of his Kingdom and our meeting with him face to face. The Catechism of the Catholic Church thus refers to the faith as believed, celebrated, lived and prayed. It is a call to integral Christian education. The structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church derives from the profound unity of the Christian life. It maintains an explicit interrelation between "lex orandi", "lex credendi" and "lex vivendi". "The Liturgy itself is prayer; the confession of faith finds its proper place in the celebration of worship. Grace, the fruit of the sacraments, is the irreplaceable condition for Christian living, just as participation in the Church's Liturgy requires faith. If faith is not expressed in works it is dead and cannot bear fruit into eternal life". 426FD 2e. Structured around the four pillars 427Cf.CCC 13. which sustain the transmission of the faith (the Creed, the Sacraments, the Decalogue, the Our Father), the Catechism of the Catholic Church is presented as a doctrinal point of reference for education in the four basic tasks of catechesis, 428Cf. Part One, chap. 3. and for the drawing up of local catechisms. It does not, however, impose a predetermined configuration on the one or on the other. "The best structure for catechesis must be one which is suitable to particular concrete circumstances and cannot be established for the entire Church by a common catechism". 429H.E. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Il Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica e l'otttsimo dei redenti in J. Ratzinger-C. Schönborn,Brief introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (original title Kleine Hinfürung zum Catechismus der Katolischen Kirche, München 1993) Roma 1994, pp. 26-27. Perfect fidelity to Catholic doctrine is compatible with a rich diversity of presentation. The inspiration of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: trinitarian christocentricity and the nobility of the vocation of the human person
The axis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ, "the Way, the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14,6). Centred on him, it is orientated in two directions: toward God and toward the human person. – The mystery of the Triune God and of his economy of salvation inspires and organizes the internal structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in general and in particular. The profession of faith, the liturgy, the morality of the Gospel and prayer in the Catechism of the Catholic Church all have a trinitarian inspiration, which runs through the entire work.430Cf. CCC 189-190; 1077-1109; 1693-1695; 2564; etc. – The mystery of the human person is presented throughout the Catechism of the Catholic Church and specifically in some particularly significant chapters: "Man is capable of God", "The creation of Man", "The Son of God became Man", "The vocation of Man and life in the Spirit"... and others. 431Cf. CCC 27-49; 355-379; 456-478; 1699-1756; etc. This doctrine, contemplated in the light of the humanity of Jesus, the perfect man, demonstrates the highest vocation and the ideal of perfection to which every human person is called. Indeed, the doctrine of the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be distilled into the following remark of the Council: "Jesus Christ, by revealing the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling". 432GS 22a. The literary genre of The Catechism of the Catholic Church
It is important to understand the literary genre of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in order to foster the role which the Church's authority gives to it in the exercise and renewal of catechetical activity in our time. The principal characteristics of this follow: – The Catechism of the Catholic Church is above all a catechism; that is to say, an official text of the Church's Magisterium, which authoritatively gathers in a precise form, and in an organic synthesis the events and fundamental salvific truths which express the faith common to the People of God and which constitute the indispensable basic reference for catechesis. – In virtue of being a catechism, the Catechism of the Catholic Church collects all that is fundamental and common to the Christian life without "presenting as doctrines of the faith special interpretations which are only private opinions or the views of some theological school". 433Cf. DCG (1971) 119. – The Catechism of the Catholic Church is, moreover, a catechism of a universal nature and is offered to the entire Church. It presents an updated synthesis of the faith which incorporates the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council as well as the religious and moral concerns of our times. However, "by design this Catechism does not set out to provide the adaptation of doctrinal presentations and the catechetical methods required by the differences of culture, age, spiritual maturity and social and ecclesial condition amongst all those to whom it is addressed. Such indispensable adaptations are the responsibility of particular catechisms and, even more, of those who instruct the faithful". 434CCC 24. The Deposit of Faith and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Second Vatican Council set as one of its principal tasks the "better conservation and presentation of the precious deposit of Christian doctrine so as to render it more accessible to Christ's faithful and to all men of good will". The content of that deposit is the word of God which is safeguarded in the Church. The Magisterium of the Church, having decided to draw up "a reference text" for the teaching of the faith, has chosen from this precious treasure "things new and old" which it considers suitable for accomplishing this task. The Catechism of the Catholic Church thus constitutes a fundamental service by encouraging the proclamation of the Gospel and the teaching of the faith, which both draw their message from Tradition and Sacred Scripture entrusted to the Church, so as to achieve this function with complete authenticity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is not the only source of catechesis, since as an act of the Magisterium, "it is not superior to the word of God but at its service". However it is a particularly authentic act of interpretation of that word, such that the Gospel may be proclaimed and transmitted in all its truth and purity.
In the light of this relationship between the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the "deposit of faith", it may be useful to clarify two questions of vital importance for catechesis: – the relationship between Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as points of reference for the content of catechesis; – the relationship between the catechetical tradition of the Fathers of the Church, with its rich content and its profound understanding of the catechetical process, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Catechesis
The Constitution Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council emphasizes the fundamental importance of Sacred Scripture in the Church's life. Together with tradition, it is the "supreme rule of faith", since it transmits "the very word of God" and makes "to resound... the voice of the Holy Spirit". 435DV 21. For this reason the Church desires that in the ministry of the word, Sacred Scripture should have a pre-eminent position. In concrete terms, catechesis should be "an authentic introduction to lectio divina, that is, to a reading of the Sacred Scriptures done in accordance to the Spirit who dwells in the Church". 436MPD 9c. Cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The interpretation of the Bible in the Church, IV, c, 3 l.c. "In this sense, to describe Tradition and Scripture as sources for catechesis means that catechesis must imbibe and permeate itself with biblical and evangelical thought, spirit and attitudes by constant contact with them. It also means that catechesis will be as rich and as effective only to the extent that these texts are read with the mind and heart of the Church". 437CT 27; cf. Synod 1985, II B, a, 1. In this ecclesial reading of the Scriptures, done in the light of Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church plays a most important role.
Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are presented as two basic sources of inspiration for all catechetical activity in our time. – Sacred Scripture as, "the word of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit", 438DV 9. and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as a significant contemporary expression of the living Tradition of the Church and a sure orm for teaching the faith, are called, each in its own way and according to its specific authority, to nourish catechesis in the Church of today. – Catechesis transmits the content of the word of God according to the two modalities whereby the Church possesses it, interiorizes it and lives it: as a narration of the history of salvation and as an explicitation of the Creed. Both Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church must inform biblical as well as doctrinal catechesis so that they become true vehicles of the content of God's word. – In the ordinary development of catechesis it is important that catechumens and those to be catechized can have trust in both Sacred Scripture and the local catechism. Catechesis, by definition, is nothing other than the living and meaningful transmission of these "documents of faith". 439Cf. MPD 9. The catechetical tradition of the Fathers and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The whole Tradition of the Church together with Scripture is contained in the "deposit of faith". "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and in her prayer". 440DV 8c. With regard to this doctrinal and pastoral richness, some aspects merit special attention: – the decisive importance which the fathers attribute to the baptismal catechumenate in the structure of the particular churches; – the gradual and progressive conception of Christian formation, arranged in stages: 441When the Second Vatican Council called for the restoration of the adult catechumenate it underlined its necessary gradual nature: "The Adult Catechumenate arranged in various stages will be re-established" (SC 64). The fathers model the catechumenate on the divine pedagogy; in the catechumenal process the catechumen, like the people of Israel, goes through a journey to arrive at the promised land: Baptismal identification with Christ. 442The witness of Origen is significant: "When you abandon the darkness of idolatry and when you wish to arrive at a knowledge of the Divine Law then you begin your exodus from Egypt. When you are counted among the multitude of the catechumens, when you have started to obey the commandments of the Church, then you have crossed the Red Sea. During the sojourn in the desert, everyday, when you apply yourself to listen to the Law of God and to contemplate the face of Moses who uncovers for you the glory of the Lord. But when you arrive at the baptismal font, having crossed the Jordan, then you will enter into the Promised Land" (Homiliae in Iesu Nave, IV, 1: SCh 71, 149). – The organization of the content of catechesis in accordance with the stages of that process; in patristic catechesis a primary role is devoted to the narration of the history of salvation; as Lent advanced, the Creed and the Our Father were handed on to the catechumens together with their meaning and moral implications; after the celebration of the sacraments of initiation, mystagogical catechesis helped interiorize them and to savour the experience of configuration to Christ and of communion with him.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, for its part, brings to catechesis "the great tradition of catechisms". 443CCC 13. In the richness of this tradition the following aspects deserve attention: – The cognitive or truth dimension of the faith: this is not only living attachment to God but also assent of intellect and will; the catechisms constantly remind the Church of the need for the faithful to have an organic knowledge of the faith, however simple in form; – An education in the faith, which is well rooted in all its sources, embraces all the different dimensions of faith profession, celebration, life and prayer. The wealth of the patristic tradition and the tradition of catechisms comes together in the actual catechesis of the Church, enriching her in her own concept of catechesis and of its contents. These traditions bring to catechesis the seven basic elements which characterize it: the three phases in the narration of the history of salvation (the Old Testament, the life of Jesus Christ and the history of the Church) and the four pillars of its exposition (the Creed, the Sacraments, the Decalogue and the Our Father). With these seven foundation stones, both of initiatory catechesis and of continuing Christian development, various schemes and styles may be devised, in accordance with the different cultural situations of those to whom catechesis is addressed.