A Summary of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith

1. Whosoever wishes to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he keep and hold the Catholic Faith; which Faith, unless a man do keep whole and integral, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. Now the Catholic Faith is this: we believe that there is only one God, and no more than one God: that this same one God is a pure and eternal Spirit, the Lord, Creator, and Sovereign Judge of heaven and earth; Who has neither beginning nor end, but is always the same: changeless in every way; Who is omnipresent, that is, everywhere; Omniscient, that is, knows and sees all things; Almighty, that is, can do all things whatsoever He pleases; and is infinite in all perfections; and is a rewarder to all who seek Him with a sincere heart.

2. Every Catholic is bound to believe in the Supernatural Mystery of the Blessed Trinity: i.e., that in this same One God there are three distinct Persons, perfectly equal, of the same substance, and having the same nature: the First of these Divine Persons is the Father, Who proceeds from no one; the Second is the Son, Who is begotten of the Father before all ages; and the Third is the holy Ghost, Who proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son as from one principle; and that these three Persons are equally eternal, equal in wisdom and power, majesty and glory, and all three are one and the same Lord, one and the same God. Furthermore, we profess that this mystery of the Trinity is a supernatural one, that is, above created nature, and is therefore incapable of being comprehended by mere human minds. We know of this Truth because it has please our Lord Jesus Christ to reveal it.

3. Furthermore, we must believe that God created the angels to know, love, and serve Him forever, and to be with Him for all eternity. We profess that one part of these angels, lead by Lucifer, rebelled against God. In His Justice, God prepared a place for them called hell, and these rebellious angels became devils; we profess that God also created Adam and Eve, the first parents and progenitors of the human race, and placed them in the earthly paradise of Eden, from whence they were justly banished for the sin they committed (which is called Original, for it was the first rebellion of man) in eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree; and as we have inherited our nature and being from Adam, so, too, have we inherited his sin, and that because of this we are all, with the exception of Christ and His Blessed Mother, conceived and born in sin; and that unless God had sent a Savior, we would have no hope of salvation, but would be condemned to the same eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

4. We are bound to explicit belief in the Savior of all mankind, our most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Who at the same time is both true God and true man; perfect God from all eternity, equal to His Father in all things; and perfect man, from the time of His coming down from heaven for us, having a body and a soul like ours. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ.

5. We must believe that Jesus Christ, our Savior, Who had been long foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament, was, at God's appointed time, by the power of the Holy Ghost, without having any man for His father, conceived in the womb of the Ever-Virgin Mary; whom God had prepared for this wonderful maternity in a wonderful manner: in that by a singular grace and privilege, in view of the future merits of Jesus Christ , she was in the first instant of her conception preserved free from every taint of original sin. For it is unreasonable that the Divine Son of God should enter into the world through a defiled doorway. Of her, who is blessed among women for evermore, was born our Lord--she still remaining a pure virgin. During the time of His mortal life Jesus Christ founded a Church, the Catholic Church; and then offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, by dying upon a cross, to obtain mercy, grace, and salvation for those who would use and apply His merits to their souls through the means He instituted, i.e., the Sacraments and His Church; and that neither mercy, nor grace, nor salvation, ever could or ever would, since Adam's fall, be obtained except through the mediation of the Son of God.

6. We are bound to believe that this same Jesus Christ, after He died most horribly on the cross and was buried, arose on the third day from death to life by His own Divine power and authority, never to die again; and that, for the space of forty days, He was pleased, at different times and in diverse manners, to manifest Himself to His Apostles and disciples, and ascend into heaven before their eyes; where, as God-man, He continually intercedes for us. Thence He sent down the Holy Ghost upon His Apostles and disciples, to abide with them forever, as He had promised, and to guide them and their successors into all Truth, and to preserve His Church from error.

7. We must believe that Christ Jesus founded the Catholic or Universal Church, of which He is the perpetual Head, and His Spirit the perpetual Guide; which is founded upon the rock of Blessed Peter, and is ever victorious over all the powers of earth and hell. This same Roman Catholic Church, outside of which it is impossible to be saved, is always One, in all its members professing one Faith, in one communion, under one chief pastor, called the Pope, succeeding St. Peter, to whom Christ committed His whole flock. The Church is always Holy, in teaching a holy doctrine, in inviting all to a holy life, and in the eminent holiness of many of her children. It is Catholic, or Universal, for it subsists in all ages, and teaches all nations, and maintains all Truth. It is Apostolic, for it derives its doctrine, its communion, its orders, and its mission, by an uninterrupted line of succession from the Apostles of Christ.

8. We are bound to believe that no one is a member of this Church unless he accepts and submits to the authority of the legitimate successors of Peter, professes whole and entire the Catholic Faith, and partakes of the Sacraments of the Church, the most indispensable of which is the Sacrament of Baptism. Furthermore, we are bound to believe that outside the bosom and unity of the Roman Catholic Church there is no salvation for mortals; not to pagans or Jews who never received the Faith of the Church; not to heretics who, having received it, forsook or corrupted it; not to schismatics and apostates who left the peace and unity of the Church; finally neither to excommunicates who for any other serious cause deserved to be put away like pernicious members. We hold that those who die outside the Church are infallibly damned; and that if anyone dies outside the Church, he does so through his own fault by refusing to listen and heed the constant calling of God, Who desires all men to be savedand to come to a knowledge of the Truth.

9. We are bound to believe that with the Roman Catholic Church the Sacred Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testaments, were deposited by the Apostles. This same Catholic Church is the sole guardian and the sole interpreter of them, and the sole judge of all controversies relating to them. The Scriptures, thus interpreted, together with the Traditions of the Apostles passed down to us through the centuries by word of mouth, are to be received and admitted by all Christians for the rule of their faith and practice. We hold that those who dare to usurp these roles of guardian, interpreter, and judge of the Sacred Scriptures, are taking unto themselves a role they did not receive from God, and are therefore acting unlawfully. And that those who hold to private interpretation of Sacred Scripture, interpret them to their own damnation.

10. We are bound to believe that, when the Roman Pontiff , the Pope, speaks "ex cathedra"--i.e., when, in discharge of his office of Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, he defines, in virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, --he is endowed, by the Divine assistance promised him in Blessed Peter, with the infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed His Church should be furnished, in defining doctrines of faith or morals. And therefore such definitions of the Pope are irreformable of themselves, and not in virtue of the consent of the Church. However, the Pope is also a human being and possesses the gift of free will, and in non-infallible matters, that is, when the Pope does not speak "ex cathedra," he is quite capable of sin, even grave sin. But this neither diminishes, nor nullifies his office and authority.

11. We must believe that Jesus Christ has instituted in His Catholic Church seven Sacraments, or mysterious signs and instrumental causes of Divine Graces in our souls: the first and most important of which is BAPTISM, that is, a new birth, by which we are made Children of God, members of Christ's Mystical Body, the Church, and are cleansed from all stain of sin, particularly Original sin; CONFIRMATION, through which, by the imposition of the hands of the successors of the Apostles, we receive the Holy Ghost, become soldiers of Christ, and receive the graces and strength to bear witness to our Faith; the most Blessed EUCHARIST, which feeds and nourishes our souls with the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, or under either of them; PENANCE, by which penitent sinners are absolved from their sins, by virtue of the commission given by Christ to His ministers, the priests; EXTREME UNCTION, which wipes away the remains of sin, and arms and prepares the soul with the grace and strength necessary for its final journey to its creator; HOLY ORDERS, by which the ministers of God, that is, the deacons, priests, and bishops, are consecrated and are given supernatural powers and authority; and MATRIMONY, which, as a sacred sign of the indissoluble union of Christ and His Church, unites the married couple in a holy bond, and imparts to them a grace suitable to that state.

12. We are bound to believe that Jesus Christ has also instituted the great Eucharistic Sacrifice of His body and Blood, in which the Sacrifice of Calvary is offered in an unbloody manner. In this Sacrifice, called the MASS, He is mystically immolated every day upon our altars, being Himself both Priest and Victim. This Sacrifice is the principal worship of the New Law, in which, and by which, we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ; and with Him and through Him we adore God in spirit and in truth; give Him thanks for all His blessings; obtain His grace for ourselves and the whole world, and pardon for all our sins; and pray for the living and the dead.

13. We must believe that there is, in the Catholic Church of God, a Communion of Saints, by means of which we communicate with all holy persons and in all holy things. We communicate with the Saints in Heaven, as our fellow members of same head, Christ Jesus; we give thanks to God for His gifts to them, and we beg a share in their prayers. We communicate with all the those members of the Mystical Body of Christ (that is, all Roman Catholics) upon earth in the same Sacraments and Sacrifice, and in the holy union of Faith and Charity. And we also communicate with the faithful who have departed this life who are must still make reparation for their past sins,--and who by the law of God's justice are for a while in a state of suffering in Purgatory,--by offering prayers and alms and sacrifice to God for their release.

14. We are bound to believe that, by the full concession of Christ, there ever resides in the Church the active power of forgiving sin, and of granting Indulgences for the remission of the temporal punishments of sin; which may be applied to the souls both of the living and of the dead who have died friends of God and in the peace of Christ.

15. We must believe also the necessity of Divine Grace, without which we cannot make so much as one step towards heaven; and that all our good and all our merits are the gift of God; that Christ died for all men, and that His grace does not take away nor oppress our free will.

16. We are bound to believe that Jesus Christ will come from heaven on the last day to judge all men; that all the dead, both good and evil, shall arise from their graves, and shall be judged by Him according to their works; that the good shall go to Heaven with Him, body and soul, to be happy for all eternity in the enjoyment of the Sovereign Good; and that the wicked will be condemned, both body and soul, to the eternal torments of hell.

17. This, then, is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.