Church Documents

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...

The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) was one of the most significant events in the life of the modern Church. Between October 1962 and December 1965 the largest ever gathering of Catholic bishops answered the call of Pope John XXIII to let some fresh air into the Church. Completing the work of an earlier Vatican Council that had been cut short, and in a tradition of ecumenical councils dating back to the time of the Apostles, Vatican II laid the foundations for a renewal process that still continues. For this reason CTS have decided to republish the four major documents of the Council (known as Constitutions and named after their opening words in Latin), with new Introductions by leading churchmen, to encourage continued study of the Council in parishes and elsewhere. Lumen Gentium, promulgated in 1964, is the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. It reflects the Church's own modern self-understanding - in fact it brought that understanding into focus for the first time. We live in a..

Dies Domini - On keeping the Lord's Day Holy Ad Tuendam Fidem - On Protecting the Faith John Paul II ..

Pope Francis inaugurates the Year of Consecrated Life (30th November 2014 to 2nd February 2016) with this letter addressed to all consecrated people. Pope Francis writes not only as successor of Peter but also as a brother “who like yourselves is consecrated to God.”..

Pope Francis’ post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) on love in the family has been released. This much-awaited Apostolic Exhortation is the conclusion of a two-year synod process discussing both the beauty and challenges of family life today. The 2015 Synod’s theme was “the vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”..

In his latest address to consecrated people, Pope Francis expresses his appreciation for "contemplative sisters", emphasising that the church needs them "to bring today's men and women to the good news of the Gospel"..

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy has come to and end, but mercy must continue to be lived out and celebrated in our communities. In this Apostolic letter, issued at the Jubilee's conclusion, Pope Francis proposes various initiatives and points of reference to ensure that we continue to build our lives on mercy. Mercy can never be a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church; it constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father.   Pope Francis, Misericordia et Misera...

This new Directory for Catechesis represents the work of over 80 experts over 5 years, reflecting a dynamic renewal in catechesis since its predecessor, and incorporating the magisterial wisdom of the most recent episcopal Synods and Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. The Directory places catechetical instruction and formation of catechetical teachers clearly within the realm of evangelisation. It offers guidelines to assist in the creation of local directories and catechisms and clarifies the importance of catechetical renewal in Christian communities. The Directory will be indispensable for bishops and all those responsible for formal religious instruction, including priests, deacons, lay and religious catechists, and religious education teachers in dioceses, parishes, and schools. The Directory will also aid directors of formation who train the faithful in the forms and means of catechesis, including seminary rectors, directors of formation for the permanent ..

This new instruction from the Congregation for the Clergy tackles many of the issues surrounding the renewal or “conversion” of parish and diocesan structures into more missionary entities, including ways of assigning pastoral ministry within the parish, the role of the pastoral council, the provision of the sacraments, and the suppression or merging of parishes...

Published to mark the 150th anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis offers a rich and personal reflection on the fatherhood of St Joseph. In his pastoral and readable style, he writes about St Joseph as. * A beloved father * A tender and loving father * An obedient father * A creatively courageous father * A working father * A father in the shadows Announcing a year dedicated to St Joseph, the Holy Father presents St Joseph as an example of the type of father so sorely needed in the world and in the church today. In St Joseph we find a sure intercessor in the most difficult moments and impossible situations...

New Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis Pope Francis highlights the indispensable role catechists fulfil in teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. Already in the New Testament we find men and women helping the Apostle Paul to communicate the Good News. It is truly an ”˜ancient ministry' and one that has continued throughout the centuries to our present day. Recognising the work of catechists around the world, in this Apostolic Letter Pope Francis formally establishes the ”˜Ministry of the Catechist'...

Apostolic Letter on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God Pope Francis urges Catholics to value the liturgical reform borne out of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. He calls for a "serious and dynamic liturgical formation" for all. Without a proper understanding, the celebration can easily fall “into a preoccupation with the exterior (more or less refined) or into a concern only for rubrics (more or less rigid)." Pope Francis adds: “With this letter I simply want to invite the whole Church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration. I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the Church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue.”..