CATECHISM

Q. What is the ninth article of the Creed?
A. The ninth article of the Creed is, ‘the Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints’.
Church. The whole body of Catholic Christians. It is divided into three parts:
1. the Church triumphant, composed of the Saints in heaven;
2. the Church suffering, composed of the holy souls in Purgatory;
3. the Church militant, composed of the faithful on earth.

Q. What is the Catholic Church?
A. The Catholic Church is the union of all the faithful under one Head.
Union. The being joined together.
The faithful. All those who have been baptised and who profess the true faith. The whole
body of Catholics.
 
Q. Who is the Head of the Catholic Church?
A. The Head of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ.
 
Q. Has the Church a visible Head on earth?
A. The Church has a visible Head on earth - the Bishop of Rome, who is the Vicar of Christ.
Visible. That which we can see. Our Lord is the invisible Head of the Church. Invisible
means that which we cannot see.
Bishop. An overseer, one who has charge of a diocese; a successor of the Apostles.
Rome. The residence of the Popes, and the chief city of Italy. St. Peter was the first Bishop
of Rome.
Vicar. One who performs the office or duty of another; one who supplies the place of
another.
 
Q. Why is the Bishop of Rome the Head of the Church?
A. The Bishop of Rome is the Head of the Church because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom
Christ appointed to be the Head of the Church.
Successor. One who comes after or takes the place of another, and is equal to him in
power and authority.
Appointed. Chosen or picked out, placed over.
 
Q. How do you know that Christ appointed St. Peter to be the Head of the Church?
A. I know that Christ appointed St. Peter to be the Head of the Church because Christ said to him;
‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. And to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven’. Matt. 16:18,19
Peter. A rock. Our Lord added Peter to Simon’s name.
Prevail. To overcome or to conquer, to defeat.
The keys, etc. The power given to the Apostles and their successors to forgive sins, and to
rule the Church.
 
Q. What is the Bishop of Rome called?
A. The Bishop of Rome is called the Pope, which word signifies Father.
 
Q. Is the Pope the Spiritual Father of all Christians?
A. The Pope is the Spiritual Father of all Christians.
 
Q. Is the Pope the Shepherd and Teacher of all Christians?
A. The Pope is the Shepherd and Teacher of all Christians, because Christ made St. Peter the
Shepherd of the whole flock when he said: ‘Feed my lambs, feed my sheep’. He also prayed that
his ‘faith’ might never fail, and commanded him to ‘confirm’ his brethren. Jn.21:15-17, Lk.22:32
 
Q. Is the Pope infallible?
A. The Pope is infallible.
 
Q. What do you mean when you say that the Pope is infallible?
A. When I say that the Pope is infallible, I mean that the Pope cannot err when, as Shepherd and
Teacher of all Christians, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals, to be held by the
whole Church.
The Pope is infallible. The doctrine of the Infallibility was solemnly defined at the
Vatican Council in 1870.
 
Q. Has the Church of Christ any marks by which we may know her?
A. The Church of Christ has four marks by which we may know her: she is One - she is Holy - she
is Catholic - she is Apostolic.
Marks. The signs or notes which distinguish the true Church from all others.
 
Q. How is the Church One?
A. The Church is One because all her members agree in one Faith, have all the same Sacrifice and
Sacraments, and are all united under one Head.
Because all her members, etc. The Church is One in faith, in worship, and in government.
The members of the Church are those who belong to it, or form a part of it.
 
Q. How is the Church Holy?
A. The Church is Holy because Jesus Christ, Her Founder is holy, teaches a holy doctrine, and
offers to all the means of holiness.
The Church is Holy, etc. The Church is Holy in her doctrine, in her means of holiness, and
in the effects of her teaching upon her children, which has made so many of them Saints.
Those means which help us to become holy are the Sacraments, prayer, Holy Mass, good
example, hearing instructions reading good books, etc.
 
Q. What does the word Catholic mean?
A. The word Catholic means universal.
 
Q. How is the Church Catholic or universal?
A. The Church is Catholic or universal because she subsists in all ages, teaches all nations, and is
the source of all Truth.
Because she subsists, etc. The Church is Universal in time, in place and in doctrine.
 
Q. How is the Church Apostolic?
A. The Church is Apostolic because it was founded by Christ on the apostles and, according to His
Divine Will, has always been governed by their lawful successors.
Apostolic. Coming down from the time of the Apostles.
On the apostles, etc. The Church is Apostolic in her doctrine, or teaching; in her orders,
or priesthood; and in her mission, or that which she has been sent to do.
Successors. The bishops and priests of the Church, who are the shepherds of the fold of
Christ.
Always. In an unbroken succession.
 
Q. Can the Church err in what she teaches?
A. The Church cannot err in what she teaches as to faith or morals, for she is our infallible guide in
both.
To err. To make a mistake.
Faith. What we must believe. The Apostles’ Creed teaches us the chief articles of our
faith.
Morals. What we must do. The Commandments teach us morals.
Infallible guide. One who cannot deceive or lead in a wrong way. The Pope, when
speaking to the Church ex cathedra, as the successor of St. Peter, cannot err in faith or in
morals.
 
Q. How do you know that the Church cannot err in what she teaches?
A. I know that the Church cannot err in what she teaches because Christ promised that the gates of
hell shall never prevail against his Church; that the Holy Spirit shall teach her all things; and
that he himself will be with her all days, even to the consummation of the world. Matt. 16:18,
John 14:16-26, Matt. 28:20
 
Q. What do you mean by the Communion of Saints?
A. By the Communion of Saints I mean that all the members of the Church, in heaven, on earth,
and in purgatory, are in communion with each other, as being one body in Jesus Christ.
 
Q. How are the faithful on earth in communion with each other?
A. The faithful on earth are in communion with each other by professing the same faith, obeying
the same authority, and assisting each other with their prayers and good works.
 
Q. How are we in communion with the Saints in heaven?
A. We are in communion with the Saints in heaven by honouring them as the glorified members of
the Church, and also by our praying to them, and by their praying for us.
 
Q. How are we in communion with the souls in purgatory?
A. We are in communion with the souls in purgatory by helping them with our prayers and good
works: ‘It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from
sins’. 2 Mach. 12:46.
Purgatory. A place for cleansing or purifying
 
Q. What is purgatory?
A. Purgatory is a place where souls suffer for a time after death on account of their sins.

Q. What souls go to purgatory?
A. Those souls go to purgatory that depart this life in venial sin; or that have not fully paid the
debt of temporal punishment due to those sins of which the guilt has been forgiven.
Debt. That which one owes to another.
Temporal. Lasting only for a time.
108. What is temporal punishment?
Temporal punishment is punishment which will have an end, either in this world, or in the
world to come.

Q. How do you prove that there is a purgatory?
A. I prove that there is a purgatory from the constant teaching of the Church; and from the
doctrine of Holy Scripture, which declares that God will render to every man according to his
works; that nothing defiled shall enter heaven; and that some will be saved, “as one who has
gone through fires”. Matt. 16:27, Apoc. 21:27.1, Cor. 3:15
Scripture. A writing; the books of the Bible, the written word of God.
Render. To pay back, to give.
Defiled. Corrupted or stained, polluted, made dirty.