Catholic Teaching

Catholic teaching is based on Sacred Scripture and Tradition, the deposit of faith entrusted to the whole Church. The significance and interpretation of this deposit of faith is discerned over time. The magisterium, that is, the bishops in union with the Pope, has the authority to ratify or reject specific teachings, or doctrines.

Catechisms and Summaries of Catholic Doctrine

Official Church Documents

Scripture

See this page.

Ecumenical Councils

Also known as "general councils", these are councils of bishops from the worldwide Church. Their pronouncements can rule on matters of doctrine, set church discipline, and give counsel. The Church counts 21 Ecumenical Councils, listed below (with on-line material where available):
  1. Nicea I (325)
  2. Constantinople I (381)
  3. Ephesus (431)
  4. Chalcedon (451)
  5. Constantinople II (553)
  6. Constantinople III (680-681)
  7. Nicea II (787)
  8. Constantinople IV (869-870)
  9. Lateran I (1123)
  10. Lateran II (1139)
  11. Lateran III (1179)
  12. Lateran IV (1215)
  13. Lyons I (1245)
  14. Lyons II (1274)
  15. Vienne (1311-1312)
  16. Constance (1414-1418)
  17. Basel (1431-1445)
  18. Lateran V (1512-1517)
  19. Trent (1542-1563)
  20. Vatican I (1869-1870)
  21. Vatican II (1962-1965)

Writings of the Pope

Papal encyclicals, constitutions, and other writings are often used to express Catholic teachings.

Bishop's Writings

The bishops of the Catholic Church are charged with teaching the Catholic faith in ways relevant to their local communities. You can find many bishop's statements in the Web pages for different dioceses and national conferences, on the dioceses page.

Catholic Official Documents by subject

I have a a partial listing, which has links to many of the major documents. If anyone does a more comprehensive version, please let me know.

Apologetics and Explanation

Here are some pointers to sites with sizable collections of apologetics (which argue for the truth of various Catholic teachings) and explanations of these teachings.

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John Mark Ockerbloom <spok+catholic@cs.cmu.edu> -- Last updated 25-Aug-1997