|
A 'vademecum' to behold the faith
On Tuesday, 28 June, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, the Holy Father issued his Motu Proprio
"for the approval and publication of the Compendium of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church". This Compendium "contains,
in concise form, all the essential and fundamental elements of the
Church's faith". The work of preparing the text was entrusted to a
Commission of Cardinals, over which the present Holy Father, then
Cardinal Ratzinger, presided. The following is the text of Pope
Benedict's Motu Proprio.
MOTU PROPRIO
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 20th 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 50 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
|
