Pillar I — What We Believe
The Catechism & the Apostles' Creed
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the Church's official summary of the faith. At its heart is the Creed — the ancient statement of belief that every Christian since the apostles has professed.
What is the Catechism?
The word catechism comes from the Greek katēchein, "to echo" or "to instruct by word of mouth." A catechism is simply an organized summary of Christian teaching, and the Church has used them since the earliest centuries to hand on the faith clearly from one generation to the next.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II, is the most complete modern expression of that tradition. It draws on Scripture, the Church Fathers, the liturgy, and two thousand years of magisterial teaching, and it is organized around the same four pillars used throughout this site:
- The Creed — the profession of faith (what we believe)
- The Sacraments — the celebration of the Christian mystery (what we celebrate)
- Life in Christ — the Commandments and the moral life (how we live)
- Christian Prayer — centered on the Our Father (how we pray)
A century earlier, American Catholics learned the faith through the Baltimore Catechism, written in a simple question-and-answer format for children. Its opening lines are still quoted for their clarity: "Who made me? God made me. Why did God make me? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven." Both catechisms teach the same faith; the modern Catechism simply does so with the depth of the whole Christian tradition behind it.
The Apostles' Creed
The Creed is the Church's ancient summary of belief, prayed at Baptism and at every recitation of the Rosary. Praying it line by line is one of the simplest ways to see the whole shape of the Catholic faith at a glance.
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.
Notice the shape: the Creed moves from the Father (Creator), to the Son (Redeemer), to the Holy Spirit (Sanctifier) — the three Persons of the one God — and ends with the Church and the hope of eternal life. Every line answers a question someone in the early Church actually asked, which is why the Creed reads less like a list of rules and more like a rescue story.
Go deeper: the Holy Trinity
Every line of the Creed rests on one mystery — one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We've given it a full page of its own.
Explore the Holy Trinity →Further reading
The full Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online at no cost through the USCCB. It is a wonderful next step after this overview, and every paragraph is numbered for easy reference and citation.