Quotes
from The New Catholic Catechism
(Proving
Rome's
dogma has not changed)
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Catholic tradition honored equally with Scripture: "Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. ... Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence." (p. 682) "Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw
her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone,
hence both scripture and tradition must be accepted and honored with equal
feelings of devotion and reverence." (p. 755) Popes distribute salvation: "God's only-begotten Son ... has won a treasure for the militant Church ... he has entrusted it to blessed Peter, the key-bearer of heaven, and to his successors who are Christ's vicars on earth, so that they may distribute it to the faithful for their salvation ... The merits of the Blessed Mother of God and of all the elect ... are known to add further to this treasury." (p. 80) Pope is supreme head over the church: "The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, namely, and as pastor of the entire Church, has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a power, which he can always exercise unhindered." (p. 344) Sacrifice of the cross perpetuated in the Mass: "The Mass, the Lord's Supper, is ... a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated." (p. 108) "In this sacrament Christ is present in a unique way, whole and entire, God and man, substantially and permanently. this presence of Christ under the species is called real, not in an exclusive sense, as if the other kinds of presence were not real, but par excellence." (p. 114) "All the faithful out to show to this most holy sacrament the worship which is due to the true God, as has always been the custom of the Catholic Church. Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by Christ to be eaten. For even in the reserved sacrament he is to be adored because he is substantially present there through that conversion of bread and wine which, as the Council of Trent tells us, is most aptly named transubstantiation." (pp. 109-110) Salvation through sacraments and the church: "[Christ] also willed that the work of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical [ritualistic] life revolves. Thus by Baptism men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ. ... They receive the spirit of adoption as sons." (pp. 23-24) Salvation through baptism: "By the sacrament of Baptism, whenever it is properly conferred in the way the Lord determined and received with the proper dispositions of soul, man becomes truly incorporated into the crucified and glorified Christ and is reborn to a sharing of the divine life." (p. 427) Penance: "The doctrine of purgatory clearly demonstrates that even when the guilt of sin has been taken away, punishment for it or the consequences of it may remain to be expiated or cleansed. They often are. In fact, in purgatory the souls of those 'who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but who had not made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions' are cleansed after death with punishment designed to purge away their debt" (Vatican Council II, p. 64). Purgatory: "The doctrine of purgatory clearly demonstrates that even when the guilt of sin has been taken away, punishment for it or the consequences of it may remain to be expiated or cleansed. They often are. In fact, in purgatory the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but who had not made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions are cleansed after death with punishments deigned to purge away their debt." (p. 75) Masses for the dead: "The Church offers the Paschal Sacrifice [the Mass] for the Dead so that... the dead may be helped by the prayers and the living may be consoled by hope." (p. 197) Mary, sinless mother of God, perpetual virgin, bodily assumed into Heaven as queen over all: "Joined to Christ the head and in communion with all his saints, the faithful must in the first place reverence the memory of the glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ ... Because of the gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth. ... The immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things." (p. 378, 381-382) Mary, co-redemptress with Christ: "As St. Irenaeus says, she being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert with him in their preaching ... 'death through Eve, life through Mary' ... This union of the other with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death." (pp. 380-381) Mary, heavenly intercessor: "Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." (pp. 382-383) Mary, second only to Jesus: "Mary has by grace been exalted above all angels and men to a place second only to her Son, as the most holy mother of God who was involved in the mysteries of Christ; she is rightly honoured by a special cult in the Church. ... The sacred synod teaches this Catholic doctrine advisedly and at the same time admonishes all the sons of the Church that the cult, especially the liturgical cult, of the Blessed Virgin, be generously fostered, and that the practices and exercises of devotion towards her, recommended by the teaching authority of the Church in the course of centuries be highly esteemed, and that those decrees, which were given in the early days regarding the cult images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the saints, be religiously observed." (pp. 384-385) Intercessions of and prayers to dead saints: "The union of the living with their brethren who have fallen asleep in Christ is not broken. ... Now that they are welcomed in their own country and at home with the Lord, through him, with him and in him they intercede unremittingly with the Father on our behalf, offering the merit they acquired on earth through Christ Jesus. ... Their brotherly care is the greatest help to our weakness." (p. 77)
"Howbeit
in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men." Back to Catholicism: Should We Embrace it?
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