On Christian Doctrine and its Principal Parts

CATECHISM OF ST. PIUS X

 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent was directed to all priests.

The recently released Catechism of the Catholic Church was directed to all bishops.

The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X is that pope's partial realisation of a simple, plain, brief, popular Catechism for uniform use throughout the whole world. In other words it is directed to the layman. It was used in the ecclesiastical province of Rome and for some years in other parts of Italy. It was not, however, prescribed for use throughout the universal church.

[The Code of Canon Law has changed since this Catechism first appeared.]

 

Foreword

After the Second Vatican Council, a number of new catechisms appeared which did not present Catholic Doctrine as it should be presented, and these new publications even included some very grave errors. Coupled with the new methods, whereby children are not required to memorise, two generations of children have grown up not knowing the Catholic Faith. For many years Rome did nothing. Now there has been published the new Catechism of the Catholic Church. It has been written for Bishops, who are required to adapt it to the needs of the faithful. One may fear that some Bishops will put off this task for a very long time, others will water-down the Doctrine even further, yet others will give only a partial presentation of the Doctrine, leaving important points untold.

Thus the need is still great for a Catechism to be put in the hands of the student in which he may find clear and complete answers to his questions. What better could be given him than the Catechism of St. Pius X, the holy Pope of the modern era?

To my knowledge, the Catechism of St. Pius X has never been published in English in its original text. There is one Catechism of Christian Doctrine, published by the Rev. Msgr. Eugene Kevane in Virginia, USA in 1974, but in fact, it contains a much later text which lacks much of the original text: it is the translation of the Catechismo della Dottrina Cristiana, the standard Italian Catechism, as it was in 1953. That Italian Catechism is in turn, a summary and reduction of the original Catechism of St. Pius X. The American edition in 1974 has further been "adapted according to the Second Vatican Council", thus losing much of the value of the original text (e.g. expressions like "Soldiers of Christ" are suppressed from the teaching on the effects of Confirmation). The only book where I was able to find the authentic text is the excellent Compendium of Catechetical Instruction by the Right Reverend Monsignor John Hagan, first published in Dublin in 1910, and containing for each chapter of the Catechism the relevant part from the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the questions and answers of the Catechism of Saint Pius X and Father Raineri's Catechetical Instructions, which were very popular in the nineteenth century.

We present here Msgr. Hagan's text with very slight modifications of style only. The current discipline of the Church on matters such as fasting has been included in smaller print to bring the text up-to-date without altering the original answers.

May this edition of Saint Pius X's Catechism help priests, teachers and parents to impart the knowledge and love of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church to their pupils and their children in all its entirety and beauty. It is our hope that it will also help adult Catholics to revise and deepen their own knowledge of the Faith. It will be very helpful to catechumens to assist them towards a complete knowledge of the one true Faith. May the clear knowledge of the eternal truths of our Faith build in all readers the great certitudes that are the foundations of solid virtues. May the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary obtain all these graces for the readers of this volume, and may they pray for me.

[Abridged from the introduction of Father Francois Laisney 1993 Sydney Australia]

Introduction

[Taken from "A Compendium of Catechetical Instruction" Monsignor John Hagan - in which the Catechism of St. Pius X was published]

The Catechism, as we now know it, is of comparatively recent origin.

Previous to the invention of printing, and the consequent possibility of the spread of books and education among the masses of the people, the widespread use of a Catechism was plainly out of the question. Its place was supplied by brief formulae, not infrequently set to rhyme, which were committed to memory and handed down from generation to generation, conveying a brief statement of the truths more necessary to salvation. The nearest approaches to the modern Catechism would be St. Cyril's Catechesis, St. Augustine's Instruction of the Ignorant, and, later on, certain works of Alcuin, Rabanus Maurus, and Gerson.

The publication and widespread diffusion of an infinity of Catechisms compiled by Luther and his followers for the purpose of disseminating their new doctrines, stimulated the energies of Catholic writers in a similar direction; and accordingly several Catholic Catechisms were issued within the next few years giving a clear and simple statement of Catholic doctrine, particularly on those points that were being attacked by the reformers. Of these, several of which were prescribed for diocesan use, the principal were those of Erasmus, Witzel, Dietenberg, Fabri, Titelmann, Hosius, and Blessed Peter Canisius, in Germany; of Parvi, de Bourbon, du Bellay, de Thou, in France; of Sonnius, Hessel, and Hunnaeus, in the Low Countries; of Dominic Soto, John of St Thomas, and Florez, in Spain; of Bartholomew of the Martyrs and Louis of Granada in Portugal; and of Cardinal Contarini, Marini, and Crispoldi, in Italy.

But, as already pointed out, the Fathers of the Council of Trent showed at a very early date that they were satisfied with none of the existing works, and that they were fully alive to the need and necessity of preparing an authoritative Catechism. The realisation of their desire, however, was retarded for several years by events over which they had little control; and when the work was finally taken in hand another idea prevailed, resulting in the publication of a manual for the use of the clergy, and not, as originally suggested, a Catechism for children and uninstructed adults.

Of the countless Catechisms that continued to appear, two - those of Bellarmine and Canisius -- have steadily held their ground ever since, and to a large extent have served as the models of nearly an subsequent compilations of the kind. The influence of Canisius, however, has on the whole been limited to Germany; whereas Bellarmine's Catechism, which was written by command of Pope Clement VIII in 1597, has been copied in almost every other country in the world. At an early date it was translated into Arabic, Latin, Modern Greek, French, Spanish, German, English, and Polish. It had the warm approbation of Clement VIII, who prescribed it for use in the Papal States; of Urban VIII, who directed it to be adopted in all the Eastern missions; of Innocent XIII and Benedict XIV; particularly of the very important Council of all Italy, held at Rome, in 1725, which made it obligatory in all the dioceses of the peninsula; and finally of the Vatican Council which indicated it as the model for a proposed universal Catechism.

Though Bellarmine's Catechism was largely followed as a model all over the world, yet, owing to the modifications introduced in diocesan editions, it came to pass in the course of time that almost every diocese had its own Catechism, differing in many respects from the Catechisms of other dioceses.

The obvious inconvenience of this bewildering multiplicity of Catechisms occupied the attention of the Fathers of the Vatican Council, the great majority of whom were agreed as to the desirability of having a uniform small Catechism for the faithful all over the world. Early during the sittings of the Council, forty-one of the assembled Fathers devoted six sessions (February 10 to February 22) to an examination of the question; and the report which they drew up occupied the attention of the whole Council during the sittings of April 29 and 30. The question being put to a vote on May 4, an immense majority was found to be in favour of the compilation of a small uniform Catechism, to be compiled in Latin, translated into every language, and made obligatory in every diocese. But the approach of the Italian troops towards the walls of Rome brought the Council to an untimely end and there was no time to promulgate the constitution on the proposed uniform Catechism, so that it has not the force of law.

The idea, however, has never been lost sight of. During the sitting of the first Catechetical Congress in 1880, the then Bishop of Mantua (later St. Pius X) proposed that the Holy Father be petitioned to arrange for the compilation of a simple, plain, brief, and popular Catechism for uniform use all over the world. Shortly after his elevation to the Chair of Peter, Pius X at once set about realising, within certain limits, his own proposal of 1880, by prescribing a uniform Catechism -- the Compendium of Christian Doctrine -- for use in the dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Rome, at the same time indicating that it was his earnest desire to have the same manual adopted all over Italy. The text selected was, with slight modifications, that which had been adopted for some years by the united hierarchy of Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia, and Tuscany.

…

J.H. Irish College, Rome Feast of Saint Charles Borromeo, 1911.

Preliminary Lesson

On Christian Doctrine and its Principal Parts

1 Q. Are you a Christian?

A. Yes, I am a Christian, by the grace of God.

2 Q. Why do you say: By the grace of God?

A. I say: By the grace of God, because to be a Christian is a perfectly gratuitous gift of God, which we ourselves could not have merited.

3 Q. Who is a true Christian?

A. A true Christian is he who is baptised, who believes and professes the Christian Doctrine, and obeys the lawful pastors of the Church.

4 Q. What is Christian Doctrine?

A. Christian doctrine is the doctrine which Jesus Christ our Lord taught us to show us the way of salvation.

5 Q. Is it necessary to learn the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ?

A. It certainly is necessary to learn the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ, and those who fail to do so are guilty of a grave breach of duty.

6 Q. Are parents and guardians bound to send their children and those dependent on them to catechism?

A. Parents and guardians are bound to see that their children And dependents learn Christian Doctrine, and they are guilty before God if they neglect this duty.

7 Q. From whom are we to receive and learn Christian Doctrine?

A. We are to receive and learn Christian Doctrine from the Holy Catholic Church.

8 Q. How are we certain that the Christian Doctrine which we receive from the Holy Catholic Church is really true?

A. We are certain that the doctrine which we receive from the Holy Catholic Church is true, because Jesus Christ, the divine Author of this doctrine, committed it through His Apostles to the Church, which He founded and made the infallible teacher of all men, promising her His divine assistance until the end of time.

9 Q. Are there other proofs of the truth of Christian Doctrine?

A. The truth of Christian Doctrine is also shown by the eminent sanctity of numbers who have professed it and who still profess it, by the heroic fortitude of the martyrs, by its marvellous and rapid propagation in the world, and by its perfect preservation throughout so many centuries of ceaseless and varied struggles.

10 Q. What and how many are the principal and most necessary parts of Christian Doctrine?

A. The principal and most necessary parts of Christian Doctrine are four The Creed, The Our Father, The Commandments, and The Sacraments.

11 Q. What does the Creed teach us?

A. The Creed teaches us the principal articles of our holy faith.

12 Q. What does the Our Father teach us?

A. The Our Father teaches us all that we are to hope from God, and all we are to ask of Him.

13 Q. What do the Commandments teach us?

A. The Commandments teach us all that we are to do to please God - all of which is summed up in loving God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God

14 Q. What does the doctrine of the Sacraments teach us?

A. The doctrine of the Sacraments shows us the nature and right use of those means which Jesus Christ has instituted to remit our sins, give us His grace, infuse into and increase in us the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

The Apostle's Creed

The Creed in General

1 Q. What is the first part of Christian Doctrine?

A. The first part of Christian Doctrine is the Symbol of the Apostles, commonly called the Creed.

2 Q. Why do you call the Creed the Symbol of the Apostles?

A. The Creed is called the Symbol of the Apostles because it is a summary of the truths of faith taught by the Apostles.

3 Q. How many articles are there in the Creed?

A. There are twelve articles in the Creed.

4 Q. Recite them. (1) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; (2) And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; (3) Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary; (4) Suffered under Pontius Pilate: was crucified, dead, and buried; (5) He descended into hell: the third day He rose again from the dead; (6) He ascended into Heaven: sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; (7) From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. (8) I believe in the Holy Ghost; (9) The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints; (10) The forgiveness of sins; (11) The resurrection of the body; (12) Life everlasting. Amen.

5 Q. What is meant by the word: "I believe", which you say at the beginning of the Symbol?

A. The word: I believe, means I hold everything that is contained in these twelve articles to be perfectly true; and I believe these truths more firmly than if I saw them with my eyes, because God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, has revealed them to the Holy Catholic Church and through this Church to us.

6 Q. What do the articles of the Creed contain?

A. The articles of the Creed contain the principal truths to be believed concerning God, Jesus Christ, and the Church, His Spouse.

7 Q. Is it useful to recite the Creed frequently?

A. It is most useful to recite the Creed frequently, so as to impress the truths of faith more and more deeply on our hearts.