Church Documents

Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful to mark the Centenary of Orientalium Dignitas of Pope Leo XIII..

Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, was one of the chief accomplishments of the Second Vatican Council. The document was approved by a vote of 2,307 to 75 of the bishops assembled at the council, and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965, the day the council ended. As is customary with Catholic documents, the title is from the first sentence and means "Joy and Hope" in Latin. Contents - The numbers given correspond to section numbers within the text. Gaudium et Spes was promulgated by Pope Paul VI Preface (1-3) Introduction: The Situation of Men in the Modern World (4-10) Part 1: The Church and Man's Calling (11-45) The Dignity of the Human Person (12-22) The Community of Mankind (23-32) Man's Activity Throughout the World (33-39) The Role of the Church in the Modern World (40-45) Part 2: Some Problems of Special Urgency (46-93) Fostering the Nobility of Marriage and the Family (47-52) The Proper Development of Culture (53-62) The..

Dei Verbum. One of the principle documents of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. The document Dei Verbum is one of the most authoritative and important documents of the Council. Its purpose is to spell out the Churchs understanding of the nature of revelation, that is, the process whereby God communicates with human beings. It touches on questions about Scripture, tradition and the teaching authority of the Church. Dei Verbum continues the trajectory initiated by Divino Afflante Spiritu, allowing Catholic scripture scholars to read the Bible as arising within particular social and cultural contexts. The major concern of the document is to proclaim a Catholic understanding of the Bible as the "word of God." This understanding is placed within the larger context of the Church's understanding of revelation itself. Here the document speaks not of revelation about God, but the revelation of God. God communicates his very self t..

This parish favorite from Robert Hamma is the perfect tool for parent formation and for preparing the baptismal liturgy. New downloadable tools help parish leaders train parents to connect the sacrament with everyday life and better understand their role as their child's first catechists. Bestselling parish resource with 122,000 copies sold Official texts from the Rite of Baptism for Individual and Several Children and all approved lectionary readings contained in the booklet ..

Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Latin: The Church from the Eucharist) is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II published on April 17, 2003, the purpose of which is "to rekindle this Eucharistic 'amazement' […], in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which [he has] left to the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and its Marian crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae and which he hoped "will effectively help to banish the dark clouds of unacceptable doctrine and practice, so that the Eucharist will continue to shine forth in all its radiant mystery."..

Pope Benedict's first encyclical seeks to show the place of love in the life of the Church. Pope Benedict helps to clarify the meaning of love. He examines the nature of various kinds of love-human love and divine love, eros, friendship, and charity. He writes beautifully and inspirationally that we were made for love by the God who is love, the God who became one of us out of love-Jesus Christ. Benedict insists that we must take up the word love, which has been so abused, and purify it, showing how faith in this love might transforms us. In an age in which "hostility and greed have become superpowers", and in which religion has been abused "to the point of culminating in hatred," the burden of the encyclical is to show that on its own a neutral rationality can no longer protect us; that we need the God who has loved us unto death. This Love has a human face and a human heart. In the second part, Benedict links the Church's charitable work with the love of the Trinitarian God, stating ..

Church Documents on Catholic Education 1965 - 2002 ..

The love of Christ towards Migrants.  This encyclical was published in 2004.  It both summarises the teaching that is laid out in all previous documents and conextualises it in the present era. The love of Christ towards migrants urges us (cf. 2 Co 5:14) to look afresh at their problems, which are to be met with today all over the world. In fact nearly all countries are now faced with the eruption of the migration phenomenon in one aspect or another; it affects their social, economic, political and religious life and is becoming more and more a permanent structural phenomenon. Thus Christians are called on to: • give witness to and practice not only the spirit of tolerance – but also respect for the other’s identity. • to open a way towards sharing with people of different origins and cultures a “respectful proclamation” of their own faith. • called to a culture of solidarity so as to achieve together a real communion of persons. ..

The 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council (1963-65) are included in this volume together with Notes and an Index. Ideal for students...

This document underlines the "roots of obedience" found "in that search for God and His will which is also the will of believers". The text also deals with the issue of "difficult obedience", when "the demands made on the religious are particularly hard to meet" or when - in the words of St Francis of Assisi - the person who must obey feels that there are "better or more useful things for his soul than those ordered him by his superior". In these situations we appeal to "Christ first among the obedient" who "learned obedience through all he suffered". The function of authority is presented through the category of "human mediation" of God's will. The document goes on to clarify that this does not mean "the will of the superior coincides perfectly with God's own will". When, however, a person in religious life is faced with a legitimate order from a superior, the Lord asks him or her to obey the authority which in that moment represents Him...

This exciting new development for Christian unity offers a practical way for non Catholics to enter into the Catholic Church while retaining elements of their heritage and their hierarchy. It is important for both Catholics, Anglicans and other Christians to study this document in order to understand the new provision and how it will affect the life of the Church. The Apostolic Constitution and accompanying norms are the response of the Holy Father to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full, visible communion with the Catholic Church. The Constitution introduces a canonical structure which will allow for entry into full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. The Complementary Norms accompanying the Constitution will guide the implementation of this provision. This Apostolic Con..

"I wrote Verbum Domini because I would like the work of the synod to have a real effect on the life of the Church: on our personal relationship with the sacred Scriptures, on their interpreptation in the liturgy and catechesis, and in scientific research so that the Bible may not be simply a word from the past, but a living and timely word." This papal document perhaps is the most comprehensive official synthesis ever on the subject of the Scripture and divine revelation. It is masterfully written and presented with a depth which only a skilled theologian and seasoned teacher and pastor could achieve...

This historico-theological research document traces the history of the diaconate from the time of Christ through the post-Vatican II period. It highlights seven major areas for consideration. - From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles - The Diaconate in the New Testament and in the Writings of the Fathers - The Disappearance of the Permanent Diaconate - The Sacramentality of the Diaconate from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Centuries - The Restoration of the Permanent Diaconate at Vatican II - The Reality of the Permanent Diaconate Today - Theological Approach to the Diaconate in the Wake of Vatican II The International Theological Commission is a pontifical commission of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The commission advises the Congregation regarding important doctrinal matters. The commission is composed of theologians from various schools and nations, known for their scholarship and fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. The commission devote..

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Seventeen of the 33 men and women who have been declared Doctors of the Church lived in the first millennium. John Fink has provided here brief profiles of the life of each Doctor followed by one or more writings characteristic of his work. The excerpts chosen are representative of the particular Doctor’s writings but they were also selected in such a way as to give an overview of Christian doctrine and practice through the centuries. The Doctors included in Volume One are: Saints Athanasius, Ephrem, Hilary of Poitiers, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augus¬tine, Cyril of Alexandria, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, Bede, and John Damascene...

Sixteen of the 33 men and women who have been declared Doctors of the Church lived in the second millennium. As in Volume One of this work, John Fink has provided here brief profiles of the life of each Doctor followed by one or more writings characteristic of his or her work. The excerpts chosen are representative of the particular Doctor’s writings but they were also selected in such a way as to give a fairly thorough overview of Christian doctrine and practice through the centuries. The Doctors included in Volume Two are: Saints Peter Damian, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Anthony of Padua, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Jesus (Avila), John of the Cross, Peter Canisius, Robert Bellarmine, Lawrence of Brindisi, Francis de Sales, Alphonsus Liguori and Thérèse of Lisieux...