Dogmas of the Catholic Church
from "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by Dr. Ludwig
Ott
The following De Fide statements
comprise "Our Catholic Faith without which it is impossible to please God"
(The Council of Trent, Session V, explaining the correct interpretation of
Hebrews 11: 6). These positive "articles of faith" have the function
of fundamental principles which the faithful accepts without discussion as
being certain and sure by virtue of the authority of God, Who is absolute truth
(Council of the Vatican). They represent the mind of Christ as
St. Paul says:
1 Cor. 2:16. - But
we have the mind of Christ.
Hebrews 13:8. -
Jesus Christ yesterday, and today: and the same for ever.
Since Our Catholic Faith comes
from God, they are not open for debate, and they are not reversible. The
Christian is called to adhere to Christ and His teaching integrally; the unity of
faith is the dominant motif of divine revelation on which St. Paul insists energetically,
when he writes:
1 Cor. 1:10. - I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, and that there be no schisms among you: but that you be perfect in
mind and in the same judgement.
There is, then, no place for
"pick and choose" in the truths proposed to the Faith of Christians
by the Infallible Teaching Church for they are bound in Heaven by God Himself.
If something is decreed on earth and is also bound in Heaven, that thing must
be the truth. Otherwise, God is no longer the Truth, which is contrary to the
Gospel:
Matthew 16:19. -
And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou
shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven.
The Catholic Church is infallible
because it is:
1 Tim 3:15. - the church of the living God, the pillar
and the ground of the
truth.
If a baptized person deliberately
denies or contradicts a dogma, he or she is guilty of sin of heresy and
automatically becomes subject to the punishment of excommunication.
From the work of Dr. Ludwig Ott,
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, published by the Mercier Press Ltd., Cork,
Ireland, 1955. With Imprimatur of Cornelius, Bishop. Reprinted in U.S.A. by Tan
Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, 1974.
I. The Unity and Trinity of God
1. God, our Creator and Lord, can
be known with certainty, by the natural light of reason from created things.
2. God's existence is not merely
an object of rational knowledge, but also an object of supernatural faith.
3. God's Nature is
incomprehensible to men.
4. The blessed in Heaven possess
an immediate intuitive knowledge of the Divine Essence.
5. The immediate vision of God
transcends the natural power of cognition of the human soul, and is therefore
supernatural.
6. The soul, for the immediate
vision of God, requires the light of glory.
7. God's Essence is also
incomprehensible to the blessed in Heaven.
8. The divine attributes are
really identical among themselves and with the Divine Essence.
9. God is absolutely perfect.
10. God is actually infinite in
every perfection.
11. God is absolutely simple.
12. There is only one God.
13. The one God is, in the
ontological sense, the true God.
14. God possesses an infinite
power of cognition.
15. God is absolute veracity.
16. God is absolutely faithful.
17. God is absolute ontological
goodness in Himself and in relation to others.
18. God is absolute moral
goodness or holiness.
19. God is absolute benignity.
20. God is absolutely immutable.
21. God is eternal.
22. God is immense or absolutely
immeasurable.
23. God is everywhere present in
created space.
24. God's knowledge is infinite.
25. God's knowledge is purely and
simply actual.
26. God's knowledge is
subsistent.
27. God knows all that is merely
possible by the knowledge of simple intelligence.
28. God knows all real things in
the past, the present and the future.
29. By the knowledge of vision,
God also foresees the future free acts of rational creatures with infallible
certainty.
30. God's Divine Will is
infinite.
31. God loves Himself of
necessity, but loves and wills the creation of extra-divine things, on the other
hand, with freedom.
32. God is almighty.
33. God is the Lord of the
heavens and of the earth.
34. God is infinitely just.
35. God is infinitely merciful.
36. In God there are three
Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Each of the three Persons
possesses the one (numerical) Divine Essence.
37. In God there are two internal
divine processions.
38. The Divine Persons, not the
Divine Nature, are the subject of the internal divine processions (in the
active and in the passive sense).
39. The Second Divine Person
proceeds from the First Divine Person by generation, and therefore is related
to Him as Son to Father.
40. The Holy Ghost proceeds from
the Father and from the Son as from a single principle through a single
spiration.
41. The Holy Ghost does not
proceed through generation but through spiration.
42. The relations in God are
really identical with the Divine Nature.
43. The Three Divine Persons are
in one another.
44. All the ad extra activities
of God are common to the three Persons.
II. God the Creator
1. All that exists outside God
was, in its whole substance, produced out of nothing by God.
2. God was moved by His goodness
to create the world.
3. The world was created for the
glorification of God.
4. The Three Divine Persons are
one single, common principle of creation.
5. God created the world free
from exterior compulsion and inner necessity.
6. God has created a good world.
7. The world had a beginning in
time.
8. God alone created the world.
9. God keeps all created things
in existence.
10. God, through His Providence,
protects and guides all that He has created.
11. The first man was created by
God.
12. Man consists of two essential
parts - a material body and a spiritual soul.
13. The rational soul per se is
the essential form of the body.
14. Every human being possesses
an individual soul.
15. God has conferred on man a
supernatural destiny.
16. Our first parents, before the
fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace.
17. In addition to sanctifying
grace, our first parents were endowed with the preternatural gift of bodily
immortality.
18. Our first parents in Paradise
sinned grievously through transgression of the Divine probationary commandment.
19. Through sin our first parents
lost sanctifying grace and provoked the anger and the indignation of God.
20. Our first parents became
subject to death and to the dominion of the devil.
21. Adam's sin is transmitted to
his posterity, not by imitation but by descent.
22. Original sin is transmitted
by natural generation.
23. In the state of original sin
man is deprived of sanctifying grace and all that this implies, as well as of
the preternatural gifts of integrity.
24. Souls who depart this life in
the state of original sin are excluded from the Beatific Vision of
God.
25. In the beginning of time God
created spiritual essences (angels) out of nothing.
26. The nature of angels is
spiritual.
27. The evil spirits (demons) were
created good by God; they became evil through their own fault.
28. The secondary task of the
good angels is the protection of men and care for their salvation.
29. The devil possesses a certain
dominion over mankind by reason of Adam's sin.
III. God the Redeemer
1. Jesus Christ is true God and
true Son of God.
2. Christ assumed a real body,
not an apparent body.
3. Christ assumed not only a body
but also a rational soul.
4. Christ was truly generated and
born of a daughter of Adam, the Virgin Mary.
5. The Divine and human natures
are united hypostatically in Christ, that is, joined to each other in one
Person.
6. In the hypostatic union each
of the two natures of Christ continues unimpaired, untransformed, and unmixed
with each other.
7. Each of the two natures in
Christ possesses its own natural will and its own natural mode of operation.
8. The hypostatic union of
Christ's human nature with the Divine Logos took place at the moment of
conception.
9. The hypostatic union was
effected by the three Divine Persons acting in common.
10. Only the second Divine Person
became Man.
11. Not only as God but also as
man Jesus Christ is the natural Son of God.
12. The God-Man Jesus Christ is
to be venerated with one single mode of worship, the absolute worship of latria
which is due to God alone.
13. Christ's Divine and human
characteristics and activities are to be predicated of the one Word Incarnate.
14. Christ was free from all sin,
from original sin as well as from all personal sin.
15. Christ's human nature was
passable.
16. The Son of God became man in
order to redeem men.
17. Fallen man cannot redeem
himself.
18. The God-man Jesus Christ is a
high priest.
19. Christ offered Himself on the
Cross as a true and proper sacrifice.
20. Christ by His sacrifice on
the Cross has ransomed us and reconciled us with God.
21. Christ, through His passion
and death, merited award from God.
22. After His death, Christ's
Soul, which was separated from His Body, descended into the underworld.
23. On the third day after His
death, Christ rose gloriously from the dead.
24. Christ ascended body and soul
into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.
IV. The Mother of the Redeemer
1. Mary is truly the Mother of
God.
2. Mary was conceived without the
stain of original sin.
Mary
is the Immaculate Conception.
3. Mary conceived by the Holy
Ghost without the cooperation of man.
4. Mary bore her Son without any
violation of her virginal integrity.
5. After the birth of Jesus, Mary
remained a Virgin.
6. Mary was assumed body and soul
into Heaven.
V. God the Sanctifier
1. There is a supernatural
intervention of God in the faculties of the soul, which precedes the free act
of the will.
2. There is a supernatural
influence of God in the faculties of the soul which coincides in time with
man's free act of will.
3. For every salutary act,
internal supernatural grace of God (gratia elevans) is absolutely necessary.
4. Internal supernatural grace is
absolutely necessary for the beginning of faith and salvation.
5. Without the special help of
God, the justified cannot persevere to the end in justification.
6. The justified person is not
able for his whole life long to avoid sins, even venial sins, without the special
privilege of the grace of God.
7. Even in the fallen state, man
can, by his natural intellectual power, know religious and moral truths.
8. For the performance of a
morally good action, sanctifying grace is not required.
9. In the state of fallen nature,
it is morally impossible for man without supernatural Revelation, to know
easily, with absolute certainty, and without admixture of error, all religious
and moral truths of the natural order.
10. Grace cannot be merited by
natural works either de condigno or de congruo.
11. God gives all the just
sufficient grace for the observation of the divine commandments.
12. God, by His eternal resolve
of Will, has predetermined certain men to eternal blessedness.
13. God, by an eternal resolve of
His Will, predestines certain men, on account of their foreseen sins, to
eternal rejection.
14. The human will remains free
under the influence of efficacious grace, which is not irresistible.
15. There is grace which is truly
sufficient and yet remains inefficacious.
16. The causes of Justification.
(Defined by the Council of Trent) :
1.
The final cause is the honour of God and of
Christ and the eternal life of men.
2.
The efficient cause is the mercy of God.
3.
The meritorious cause is Jesus Christ, who as
mediator between God and men, has made atonement for us and merited the grace
by which we are justified.
4.
The instrumental cause of the first
justification is the Sacrament of Baptism. Thus it defines that Faith is a
necessary precondition for justification (of adults).
5.
The formal cause is God's Justice, not by which
He Himself is just, but which He makes us just, that is, Sanctifying Grace.
17. The sinner can and must
prepare himself by the help of actual grace for the reception of the grace by
which he is justified.
18. The justification of an adult
is not possible without faith.
19. Besides faith, further acts
of disposition must be present.
20. Sanctifying grace sanctifies
the soul.
21. Sanctifying grace makes the
just man a friend of God.
22. Sanctifying grace makes the
just man a child of God and gives him a claim to the inheritance of heaven.
23. The three Divine or
theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are infused with sanctifying grace.
24. Without special Divine
Revelation no one can know with the certainty of faith, if he be in the state
of grace.
25. The degree of justifying
grace is not identical in all the just.
26. Grace can be increased by
good works.
27. The grace by which we are
justified may be lost, and is lost by every grievous sin.
28. By his good works, the
justified man really acquires a claim to supernatural reward from God.
29. A just man merits for himself
through each good work an increase of sanctifying grace, eternal life (if death
finds him in the state of grace) and an increase in heavenly glory.
VI. The Catholic Church
1. The Catholic Church was
founded by the God-Man Jesus Christ.
2. Christ founded the Catholic
Church in order to continue His work of redemption for all time.
3. Christ gave His Church a
hierarchical constitution.
4. The powers bestowed on the
Apostles have descended to the Bishops.
5. Christ appointed the Apostle
Peter to be the first of all the Apostles and to be the visible Head of the
whole Catholic Church, by appointing him immediately and personally to the
primacy of jurisdiction.
6. According to Christ's
ordinance, Peter is to have successors in his Primacy over the whole Catholic
Church and for all time.
7. The successors of Peter in the
Primacy are the Bishops of Rome.
8. The Pope possesses full and
supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Catholic Church, not merely in
matters of faith and morals, but also in Church discipline and in the
government of the Church.
9. The Pope is infallible when he
speaks ex cathedra.
10. By virtue of Divine right,
the bishops possess an ordinary power of government over their dioceses.
11. Christ founded the Catholic
Church.
12. Christ is the Head of the
Catholic Church.
13. In the final decision on
doctrines concerning faith and morals, the Catholic Church is infallible.
14. The primary object of the
Infallibility is the formally revealed truths of Christian Doctrine concerning
faith and morals.
15. The totality of the Bishops
is infallible, when they, either assembled in general council or scattered over
the earth propose a teaching of faith or morals as one to he held by all the faithful.
16. The Church founded by Christ
is unique and one.
17. The Church founded by Christ
is holy.
18. The Church founded by Christ
is catholic.
19. The Church founded by Christ
is apostolic.
20. Membership of the Catholic
Church is necessary for all men for salvation.
VII. The Communion of Saints
1. It is permissible and
profitable to venerate the Saints in Heaven, and to invoke their intercession.
2. It is permissible and
profitable to venerate the relics of the Saints.
3. It is permissible and
profitable to venerate images of the Saints.
4. The living faithful can come
to the assistance of the souls in Purgatory by their intercessions.
VIII. The Sacraments
1. The Sacraments of the New
Covenant contain the grace which they signify, and bestow it on those who do
not hinder it.
2. The Sacraments work ex opere
operato, that is, the sacraments operate by the power of the completed
sacramental rite.
3. All the Sacraments of the New
Covenant confer sanctifying grace on the receivers.
4. Three Sacraments, Baptism,
Confirmation, and Holy Orders, imprint a character, that is an indelible
spiritual mark, and, for this reason, cannot be repeated.
5. The sacramental character is a
spiritual mark imprinted on the soul.
6. The sacramental character
continues at least until the death of the bearer.
7. All Sacraments of the New
Covenant were instituted by Jesus Christ.
8. There are seven Sacraments of
the New Law.
9. The Sacraments of the New
Covenant are necessary for the salvation of mankind.
10. The validity and efficacy of
the Sacrament is independent of the minister's orthodoxy and state of grace.
11. For the valid dispensing of
the Sacraments it is necessary that the minister accomplish the Sacramental
sign in the proper manner.
12. The minister must have the
intention of at least doing what the Church does.
13. In the case of adult
recipients moral worthiness is necessary for the worthy or fruitful reception
of the Sacraments.
IX. Baptism
1. Baptism is a true Sacrament
instituted by Jesus Christ.
2. The materia remota of the
Sacrament of Baptism is true and natural water.
3. Baptism confers the grace of
justification.
4. Baptism effects the remission
of all punishments of sin, both eternal and temporal.
5. Even if it be unworthily
received, valid Baptism imprints on the soul of the recipient an indelible
spiritual mark, the Baptismal Character, and for this reason, the Sacrament
cannot be repeated.
6. Baptism by water (Baptismus
fluminis) is, since the promulgation of the Gospel, necessary for all men
without exception for salvation.
7. Baptism can be validly
administered by anyone.
8. Baptism can be received by any
person in the wayfaring state who is not already baptised.
9. The Baptism of young children
is valid and licit.
X. Confirmation
1. Confirmation is a true
Sacrament properly so-called.
2. Confirmation imprints on the
soul an indelible spiritual mark, and for this reason, cannot be repeated.
3. The ordinary minister of
Confirmation is the Bishop alone.
XI. Holy Eucharist
1. The Body and Blood of Jesus
Christ are truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist.
2. Christ becomes present in the
Sacrament of the Altar by the transformation of the whole substance of the
bread into His Body and of the whole substance of the wine into His Blood.
3. The accidents of bread and
wine continue after the change of the substance.
4. The Body and Blood of Christ
together with His Soul and Divinity and therefore, the whole Christ, are truly
present in the Eucharist.
5. The Whole Christ is present
under each of the two Species.
6. When either consecrated
Species is divided, the Whole Christ is present in each part of the Species.
7. After the Consecration has
been completed the Body and Blood are permanently present in the Eucharist.
8. The Worship of Adoration
(latria) must be given to Christ present in the Eucharist.
9. The Eucharist is a true
Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.
10. The matter for the
consummation of the Eucharist is bread and wine.
11. For children before the age
of reason, the reception of the Eucharist is not necessary for salvation.
12. Communion under two forms is
not necessary for any individual members of the Faithful, either by reason of
Divine precept or as a means of salvation.
13. The power of consecration
resides in a validly consecrated priest only .
14. The Sacrament of the
Eucharist can be validly received by every baptised person in the wayfaring
state, including young children.
15. For the worthy reception of
the Eucharist, the state of grace as well as the proper and pious disposition
are necessary.
16. The Holy Mass is a true and
proper Sacrifice.
17. In the Sacrifice of the Mass,
Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross is made present, its memory celebrated, and its
saving power applied.
18. In the Sacrifice of the Mass
and in the Sacrifice of the Cross the Sacrificial Gift and the Primary
Sacrificing Priest are identical; only the nature and the mode of the offering
are different.
19. The Sacrifice of the Mass is
not merely a sacrifice of praise and thanks-giving, but also a sacrifice of
expiation and impetration.
XII. Penance
1. The Church has received from
Christ the power of remitting sins committed after Baptism.
2. By the Church's Absolution
sins are truly and immediately remitted.
3. The Church's power to forgive
sins extends to all sin without exception.
4. The exercise of the Church's
power to forgive sins is a judicial act.
5. The forgiveness of sins which
takes place in the Tribunal of Penance is a true and proper Sacrament, which is
distinct from the Sacrament of Baptism.
6. Extra-sacramental
justification is effected by perfect sorrow only when it is associated with the
desire for the Sacrament (votum sacramenti).
7. Contrition springing from the
motive of fear is a morally good and supernatural act.
8. The Sacramental confession of
sins is ordained by God and is necessary for salvation.
9. By virtue of Divine ordinance,
all grievous sins according to kind and number, as well as those circumstances
which alter their nature, are subject to the obligation of confession.
10. The confession of venial sins
is not necessary but is permitted and is useful.
11. All temporal punishments for
sin are not always remitted by God with the guilt of sin and the eternal
punishment.
12. The priest has the right and
duty, according to the nature of the sins and the ability of the penitent, to
impose salutary and appropriate works for satisfaction.
13. Extra-sacramental penitential
works, such as the performance of voluntary penitential practices and the
patient bearing of trials sent by God, possess satisfactory value.
14. The form of the Sacrament of
Penance consists in the words of Absolution.
15. Absolution, in association
with the acts of the penitent, effects the forgiveness of sins.
16. The principal effect of the
Sacrament of Penance is the reconciliation of the sinner with God.
17. The Sacrament of Penance is
necessary for salvation to those who, after Baptism, fall into grievous sin.
18. The sole possessors of the
Church's Power of Absolution are the bishops and priests.
19. Absolution given by deacons,
clerics or lower rank, and laymen is not Sacramental Absolution.
20. The Sacrament of Penance can
be received by any baptised person who, after Baptism, has committed a grievous
or a venial sin.
21. The Church possesses the
power to grant Indulgences.
22. The use of Indulgences is
useful and salutary to the Faithful.
XIII. Holy Orders
1. Holy Order is a true and
proper Sacrament which was instituted by Jesus Christ.
2. The consecration of priests is
a Sacrament.
3. Bishops are superior to
priests.
4. The Sacrament of Order confers
sanctifying grace on the recipient.
5. The Sacrament of Order
imprints a character on the recipient.
6. The Sacrament of Order confers
a permanent spiritual power on the recipient.
7. The ordinary dispenser of all
grades of Order, both the sacramental and the non-sacramental,
is the validly consecrated Bishop
alone.
XIV. Matrimony
1. Marriage is a true and proper
Sacrament instituted by God.
2. From the sacramental contract
of marriage emerges the Bond of Marriage, which binds both marriage partners to
a lifelong indivisible community of life.
3. The Sacrament of Matrimony
bestows sanctifying grace on the contracting parties.
XV. Anointing of the sick
1. Extreme Unction or anointing
of the sick is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.
2. The remote matter of Extreme
Unction is oil.
3. The form consists in the
prayer of the priest for the sick person which accomplishes the anointing.
4. Extreme Unction gives the sick
person sanctifying grace in order to arouse and strengthen him.
5. Extreme Unction effects the
remission of grievous sins still remaining and of venial sins.
6. Extreme Unction sometimes
effects the restoration of bodily health, if this be of spiritual advantage.
7. Only Bishops and priests can
validly administer Extreme Unction.
8. Extreme Unction can be
received only by the Faithful who are seriously ill.
XVI. The Last Things
1. In the present order of
salvation, death is a punishment for sin.
2. All human beings subject to
original sin are subject to the law of death.
3. The souls of the just which in
the moment of death are free from all guilt of sin and punishment for sin,
enter into Heaven.
4. The bliss of Heaven lasts for
all eternity.
5. The degree of perfection of
the Beatific Vision granted to the just is proportioned to each one's merit.
6. The souls of those who die in
the condition of personal grievous sin enter Hell.
7. The punishment of Hell lasts
for all eternity.
8. The souls of the just which,
in the moment of death, are burdened with venial sins or temporal punishment
due to sins, enter purgatory.
9. At the end of the world Christ
will come again in glory to pronounce judgement.
10. All the dead will rise again
on the last day with their bodies.
11. The dead will rise again with
the same bodies as they had on earth.
12. Christ, on His second coming,
will judge all men.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar