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The Magisterium
Encyclicals, council documents, the Catechism, and Canon Law — each linked to its official source.
Catechism
Promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official synthesis of Catholic doctrine in four pillars: The Profession of Faith (the Creed), The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (the Sacraments), Life in Christ (the moral life), and Christian Prayer (the Our Father).
Read on vatican.va →Council Document
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Affirms that Tradition and Scripture, flowing from the same divine wellspring, are bound closely together; that the Magisterium serves the Word of God; and that Scripture must be read in the Spirit in whom it was written.
Read on vatican.va →Encyclical
Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical. Reflects on God as love, the unity of love (eros and agape) in creation and salvation, and the practice of love by the Church as a community of love.
Read on vatican.va →Apostolic Exhortation
Pope Francis's programmatic apostolic exhortation on the Church's mission of evangelization. Calls for missionary disciples who go out to the peripheries with joy and proclaim Jesus Christ.
Read on vatican.va →Encyclical
Pope John Paul II's encyclical on the value and inviolability of human life. Definitively reaffirms the Church's teaching that the direct killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. Condemns abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty as applied today.
Read on vatican.va →Council Document
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. The longest document of the Second Vatican Council. Treats the dignity of the human person, the community of mankind, human activity, the role of the Church in the modern world, and pressing problems (marriage and family, culture, economic and social life, political life, peace).
Read on vatican.va →Encyclical
Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the regulation of birth, reaffirming the Church's teaching that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. Condemns contraception, sterilization, and abortion as intrinsically disordered.
Read on vatican.va →Encyclical
Pope Francis's encyclical on care for our common home. Diagnoses the ecological and human crisis of our time, presents the Catholic doctrine of creation, and calls for an 'integral ecology' that joins concern for the environment to concern for the poor and for the dignity of every human person.
Read on vatican.va →Council Document
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church promulgated by the Second Vatican Council. Defines the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, the People of God, and a sacrament of salvation. Treats the hierarchy, the laity, the universal call to holiness, religious life, and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of Christ and the Church.
Read on vatican.va →Council Document
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy — the first major document of the Second Vatican Council. Calls for the full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful in the liturgy and authorizes the liturgical reform that produced the Roman Missal of 1969.
Read on vatican.va →