The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is now online on the Vatican website (hat tip: Pontifications). It is an excellent resource.
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The Compendium is far less intimidating for many readers because, of course, it is much shorter than the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The question and answer format is perfect for teaching and leading groups. And it is a very attractive volume, with reproductions of sacred art, commentary on the theological meaning of those pieces of art, and reproductions of numerous prayers (in both English and Latin).
In addition to the Compendium, there are a number of helpful works for those wishing to study the Catechism and appreciate its contents more deeply:
- Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Cardinals Ratzinger And Schonborn)
- Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church (The Creed), vol 1 (Cardinal Schonborn)
- Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church (The Sacraments), vol 2
- Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church, (Life in Christ), vol 3
- Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Prayer), vol 4
- Catholic Christianity (Peter Kreeft)
Compendium
OF THE
CATECHISM
OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
© Copyright 2005 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
Section One: "I Believe" — "We Believe"
Chapter One: Man's Capacity for God
Chapter Two: God Comes to Meet Man
The Revelation of God
The Transmission of Divine Revelation
Sacred Scripture
Chapter Three: Man's Response to God
I Believe
We Believe
Section Two: The Profession of the Christian Faith
The Creed
Chapter One: I Believe in God the Father
The Symbols of Faith
"I Believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth"
Heaven and Earth
Man
The Fall
Chapter Two: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God
"And In Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord"
"Jesus Christ Was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and Was Born of the Virgin Mary"
"Jesus Christ Suffered Under Pontius Pilate, Was Crucified, Died, and Was Buried"
"Jesus Christ Descended into Hell; On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead"
"Jesus Ascended into Heaven and Is Seated at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty"
"From Thence He Shall Come to Judge the Living and the Dead"
Chapter Three: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
"I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church"
The Church in the plan of God
The Church: people of God, body of Christ, temple of the Spirit
The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
The Faithful: hierarchy, laity, consecrated life
I believe in the communion of saints
Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church
"I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins"
"I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body"
"I Believe in Life Everlasting"
"Amen"
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
Section One: The Sacramental Economy
Chapter One: The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church
The Liturgy — Work of the Most Holy Trinity
The Paschal Mystery in the Sacraments of the Church
Chapter Two: The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery
Celebrating the Liturgy of the Church
Who celebrates?
How is the liturgy celebrated?
When is the liturgy celebrated?
Where is the liturgy celebrated?
Liturgical Diversity and the Unity of the Mystery
Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church
Chapter One: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation
The Sacrament of Baptism
The Sacrament of Confirmation
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
Chapter Two: The Sacraments of Healing
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
Chapter Three: The Sacraments at the Service of Communion and Mission
The Sacrament of Holy Orders
The Sacrament of Matrimony
Chapter Four: Other Liturgical Celebrations
The Sacramentals
Christian Funerals
PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST
Section One: Man's Vocation — Life In the Spirit
Chapter One: The Dignity of the Human Person
Man, the Image of God
Our Vocation to Beatitude
Man's Freedom
The Morality of the Passions
The Moral Conscience
The Virtues
Sin
Chapter Two: The Human Community
The Person and Society
Participation in Social Life
Social Justice
Chapter Three: God's Salvation — Law and Grace
The Moral Law
Grace and Justification
The Church, Mother and Teacher
Section Two: The Ten Commandments
Chapter One: "You Shall Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart, With All Your Soul, and With All Your Mind"
The First Commandment: I Am the Lord Your God, You Shall Not Have Other Gods Before Me
The Second Commandment: You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord Your God in Vain
The Third Commandment: Remember to Keep Holy the Lord's Day
Chapter Two: "You Shall Love Your Neighbour as Yourself"
The Fourth Commandment: Honour Your Father and Your Mother
The Fifth Commandment: You Shall Not Kill
The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery
The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Steal
The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbour
The Ninth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbour's Wife
The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbour's Possessions
PART FOUR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
Section One: Prayer in the Christian Life
Chapter One: The Revelation of Prayer
The Revelation of Prayer in the Old Testament
Prayer is Fully Revealed and Realized in Jesus
Prayer in the Age of the Church
Chapter Two: The Tradition of Prayer
At the Wellsprings of Prayer
The Way of Prayer
Guides for Prayer
Chapter Three: The Life of Prayer
Expressions of Prayer
The Battle of Prayer
Section Two: The Lord's Prayer — "Our Father"
"The Summary of the Whole Gospel"
"Our Father Who Art in Heaven"
The Seven Petitions
A. Common Prayers
B. Formulas of Catholic Doctrine
for the approval and publication
of the Compendium
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
To my Venerable Brothers the Cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Deacons and to all the People of God.
Twenty years ago, work began on the Catechism of the Catholic Church that had been requested by the extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council.
I am filled with heartfelt thanks to the Lord God for having given the Church this Catechism, promulgated in 1992 by my venerated and beloved Predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
The great value and beauty of this gift are confirmed above all by the extensive and positive reception of the Catechism among Bishops, to whom it was primarily addressed as a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine and, in particular, for formulating local catechisms. But it was also confirmed by its vast favourable reception in all segments of the People of God, who have come to know and appreciate it in more than fifty translations which to date have been published.
It is with great joy that I now approve and promulgate the Compendium of that Catechism.
The Compendium had been fervently desired by the participants in the International Catechetical Congress of October 2002, which gave voice to a need widely felt in the Church. My beloved Predecessor, recognizing this desire, decided in February 2003 to begin preparation of the text by entrusting the work to a Commission of Cardinals, over which I presided, and which was assisted by various experts. In the course of the work, a draft of the Compendium was submitted to all the Cardinals and the Presidents of Conferences of Bishops, the vast majority of whom evaluated the text favourably.
The Compendium, which I now present to the Universal Church, is a faithful and sure synthesis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It contains, in concise form, all the essential and fundamental elements of the Church’s faith, thus constituting, as my Predecessor had wished, a kind of vademecum which allows believers and non-believers alike to behold the entire panorama of the Catholic faith.
In its structure, contents and language, the Compendium faithfully reflects the Catechism of the Catholic Church and will thus assist in making the Catechism more widely known and more deeply understood.
I entrust this Compendium above all to the entire Church and, in particular, to every Christian, in order that it may awaken in the Church of the third millennium renewed zeal for evangelization and education in the faith, which ought to characterize every community in the Church and every Christian believer, regardless of age or nationality.
But this Compendium, with its brevity, clarity and comprehensiveness, is directed to every human being, who, in a world of distractions and multifarious messages, desires to know the Way of Life, the Truth, entrusted by God to His Son’s Church.
Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, may everyone who reads this authoritative text recognize and embrace ever more fully the inexhaustible beauty, uniqueness and significance of the incomparable Gift which God has made to the human race in His only Son, Jesus Christ, the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6).
Given on 28 June 2005, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in the first year of my Pontificate.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI