What is the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is a compilation of all the teachings of the Christian Faith. It is an enormously helpful tool for self-education, faith formation, and catechesis. And it can be found online at the following link:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

This truly is amazing if you think about it. Two thousand years of history and teachings and you can get the official stance of the Catholic Church on any issue with the click of the button. 

Introduction to the Catechism

Here is what the Catechism itself has to say about its contents:

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. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the liturgy, and the Church's Magisterium. It is intended to serve "as a point of reference for the catechisms or compendia that are composed in the various countries". 

This work is intended primarily for those responsible for catechesis: first of all the bishops, as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. It is offered to them as an instrument in fulfilling their responsibility of teaching the People of God. Through the bishops, it is addressed to redactors of catechisms, to priests, and to catechists. It will also be useful reading for all other Christian faithful. 

(CCC 11-12)

Structure of the Catechism

The Catechism is broken up into four main sections.

Part One: the Profession of Faith - Those who belong to Christ through faith and Baptism must confess their baptismal faith before men. First therefore the Catechism expounds revelation, by which God addresses and gives himself to man, and the faith by which man responds to God (Section One). the profession of faith summarizes the gifts that God gives man: as the Author of all that is good; as Redeemer; and as Sanctifier. It develops these in the three chapters on our baptismal faith in the one God: the almighty Father, the Creator; his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in the Holy Church (Section Two). - (CCC 14) 

Part Two: the Sacraments of Faith - The second part of the Catechism explains how God's salvation, accomplished once for all through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is made present in the sacred actions of the Church's liturgy (Section One), especially in the seven sacraments (Section Two). (CCC 15) 

Part Three: the Life of Faith - The third part of the Catechism deals with the final end of man created in the image of God: beatitude, and the ways of reaching it - through right conduct freely chosen, with the help of God's law and grace (Section One), and through conduct that fulfills the twofold commandment of charity, specified in God's Ten Commandments (Section Two). (CCC 16) 

Part Four: Prayer in the Life of Faith - The last part of the Catechism deals with the meaning and importance of prayer in the life of believers (Section One). It concludes with a brief commentary on the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer (Section Two), for indeed we find in these the sum of all the good things which we must hope for, and which our heavenly Father wants to grant us. (CCC 17)

Purpose of the Catechism

The purpose of the Catechism is to teach the Truth with Charity.

The Catechism emphasizes the exposition of doctrine. It seeks to help deepen understanding of faith. In this way it is oriented towards the maturing of that faith, its putting down roots in personal life, and its shining forth in personal conduct. (CCC 23) 

To conclude this Prologue, it is fitting to recall this pastoral principle stated by the Roman Catechism: The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love. (CCC 25)

Keep Pursuing,

What is Just War Doctrine?

The Catholic Church is the first to testify to the evils and injustices that accompany all war.

However, the Church also recognizes that as long as the danger of war persists, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.

As such, the Church crystallized thousands of years of learning into the "Just War" Doctrine to inform the decisions and actions of nations around the world.

CCC 2309 states:

The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:

• The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain 
• All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective 
• There must be serious prospects of success 
• The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. (The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.)

Almost every conflict in history fails to meet the conditions listed above. But the Catechism goes on to also discuss the limits for engaging once in a war:

The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties."
Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely. 

Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide. 

"Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation." A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes. 

- CCC 2312-2314

And here, any remaining wars that might have passed the criteria for entering into war, lose their status for a "just war" in how they were carried out.

To be clear, not a single war in history could be labeled as a "just war".

Keep Pursuing,

Additional Resources

Catholic Answers explores the "Just War" Doctrine in more detail

What is the Catholic view on the death penalty?

The results of the Gosnell trial  have sparked lots and lots of discussion about Catholic teachings, pro-life sentiments, and the death penalty.  So what does the Catholic Church teach about the death penalty?


Murder

Well to start with, we have the Fifth Commandment of the Ten Commandments given to man straight from the mouth of God in the Old Testament in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21: Thou shall not kill.

While that seems relatively straight forward, the Mosaic Law between Exodus 19:1 and 24:18 also lists numerous instances in which killing is acceptable or even called for.  And from there, as usual, we humans made quite a mess of things following the technicalities of the law.

Fortunately, in the New Testament, Jesus came to set us straight.  He preached the spirit, rather than the letter, of the law.  (A great example is the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37).  He also led by example, saving numerous sinners from their executions, such as the adulteress in John 8:3-11.  The Catechism summarizes all of this with:

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill," and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies. He did not defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath. ~ CCC 2262

In short the deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. (CCC 2261)

Self Defense

So we have established that murder is bad, however the Catechism goes on to address a specific situation that arises all too often: self defense.

Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow. ~ CCC 2264

Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life. Preserving the common good requires rendering the unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. To this end, those holding legitimate authority have the right to repel by armed force aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their charge. ~ CCC 2265

I find the distinction for self defense to be logical.  And while I do find relief in the fact that I am called to protect myself and my loved ones, this may also open the door to justification for the death penalty.

Capital Punishment

Skipping the intricacies of the relationship between Church and State, let's focus on whether we Christians should support capital punishment or not.  Well, starting with the basics, the Catechism states:

The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. ~ CCC 2266

To re-emphasize, it is the duty of a just State to protect human rights by penalizing crime.  But to what end?

The primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.  ~ CCC 2266

Fascinating.  The punishment is not only for the safety of society, but also for the rehabilitation of the criminal.  That is a beautiful concept.  So with this premise established, is capital punishment ever called for?

The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor. ~ CCC 2267

So yes, the Church acknowledges the potential need for the death penalty.

That could be considered the end of the argument.  However we would be repeating the mistakes of our Old Testament brethren if we only followed this technicality and did not give due diligence to the qualifiers listed: CERTAINTY of the offender and NO OTHER WAY to protect the innocent.

"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.  ~ CCC 2267

Practical Application

Those two qualifiers (certainty that you have the right guy and no other way to protect innocents) seem to be rarely, if ever, met.  Look at how many people are freed from wrongful imprisonment by modern DNA testing.  In addition, today we have the most advanced penal systems the world has ever known.

It appears that I am not alone in my reasoning either.  Blessed Pope Jean Paul II wrote similarly in EV 56.  In addition, I called Father Simon at Relevant Radio and you can listen to his answer in this broadcast between 18:14 and 20:25.

Given this, I can't see ever justifying the use of the death penalty today.

But we can still go further.  We also established that the punishment should be, whenever possible, aimed towards the rehabilitation of the criminal.

Just as a parent punishes because they love their child and hopes to correct ill behavior so their child can be a better person.  So to should we strive for correctional measures that help an offender to no longer commit crime.  This beautiful concept is very much in line with "love the sinner, hate the sin".  

And loving the sinner leads me to my final point.  That we, as Catholics, do not want ANYONE to be damned to an eternity in hell without God.  Rather, our mission in this life is to evangelize and lead as many souls to salvation as possible.

If that is true, then how could we ever wish for the death penalty for someone who is obviously in a state of mortal sin?  Given our calling, doesn't reason dictate that we always want to grant the criminal the opportunity to meditate on wrongdoings, obtain a penitent heart, and seek absolution?

Given this logic, and given the capabilities at the disposal of modern society, I don't think we should ever support capital punishment.

Closing Thought

In Luke 15:4-7 we learn that "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance".  In opposing the death penalty we might allow millions of sinners a second chance to come back to Christ.  If only one sinner repents and comes back, won't that be worth it?

Keep Pursuing,

How is a New Pope Elected?

How is a new Pope elected?
A new Pope is elected by a conclave.

What is a conclave?
A conclave is a gathering of Cardinals to elect a new Pope.  Cardinals must be under the age of 80 in order to participate in the conclave.

When is the conclave held?
The conclave must begin within 20 days of the papal vacancy.

How long does the conclave last?
The conclave will last as long as it takes to elect a new Pope.  Historically, the shortest conclave was one day and the longest was three years.

How does the conclave work?
Days in the conclave are divided into a morning session and an afternoon session.  There is one vote per session.  If a candidate receives two thirds of the vote (a super majority) he is elected as the next Pope.

What happens once a new Pope is elected?
First, the Cardinals ask him if he accepts.  If he accepts, then the Cardinals ask him what his papal name will be.  After accepting, he becomes the Pope and ushered into the Room of Tears to put on his new vestments.

What's up with the smoke?
The smoke is how the conclave let's the world know whether a new Pope has been selected.  After each round of voting, they burn the ballots.  They add chemicals to the ballots to produce different colors of smoke.  Black smoke means no new Pope yet.  White smoke means a new Pope has been selected!


Additional Resources

If you would like to read more, a number of fantastic resources are available.

• Focus has released a spectacular illustrated guide on the conclave:
• Illustrated Guide to the Conclave

• Aleteia has produced a great article that provides the details and some historical background:
• How is a New Pope Elected?

• And a website called Electing the Pope also provides a wealth of resources and knowledge on the subject:
• Electing the Pope

Keep Pursuing