Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a post-Vatican II document that details the official views of the Catholic Church. Although it maintains the same fundamental views on faith and doctrine as other, more harsher summaries of belief (like the Baltimore Catechism), the Catechism of the Catholic Church is presented in a more friendly way.

As a basis this catechism uses traditional statements of faith such as the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and to a lesser extent the Nicene Creed, the Beatitudes, the Ave Maria. To support these statements of faith, the catechism uses support from scripture and the saints, especially the Fathers of the Church.

A summary of the contents is as follows:
Prologue: The Life of Man: To Know and Love God, Catechesis, How to Use This Catechism, etc.

1. The Profession of Faith (based on the Apostle's Creed)
   • Man's capacity for God
   • God's revelation
   • Scripture
   • Faith
   • The Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed
   • One God
   • The Father, Creator, Almighty
   • Creation, Divine Providence, Heaven and earth, man
   • The Fall, original sin
   • Jesus Christ, only son of God
   • The Word Became Flesh, True God and True Man,
   • Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
   • The mysteries of Christ's life
   • Jesus and Israel
   • The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, The Second Coming
   • The Holy Spirit
   • The Church in God's plan
   • The nature of the Church
   • The laity and consecrated Life
   • The communion of saints
   • Mary
   • Baptism, bodily resurrection, judgement, Heaven, hell and purgatory
2. The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (based on the seven Sacraments)
   • The Liturgy
   • The Sacraments of Christ, the Church, faith, salvation, and eternal life
   • Unity and diversity of liturgy
   • Baptism (necessity of baptism, grace of baptism, types)
   • Confirmation
   • Eucharist (most important sacrament, Eucharist is a sacrifice)
   • Penance and reconciliation (necessity, effects)
   • Anointing of the sick (effects, Viaticum)
   • Holy orders (the three degrees, who can receive this sacrament?)
   • Matrimony (marriage in God's plan, conjugal love)
   • Sacramentals
   • Christian funerals
3. Life in Christ (based on the Beatitudes, cardinal virtues and sins, and the Ten Commandments)
   • Human Dignity (created in the image of God, the Beatitudes)
   • Morality (man's freedom, good and evil acts, passions, moral conscience)
   • Virtues (human and theological)
   • Sin (what is sin?, mercy, mortal sin and venial sin, the proliferation of sin)
   • The person and society (authority, the common good, participation and responsibility, social justice)
   • Law and grace (moral law, old law, new law of the gospel, grace, merit, justification)
   • The Church, mother and teacher (magisterium, precepts of the church)
   • The first commandment (our duty to God, idolatry)
   • The second commandemnt (the name of the Lord is holy)
   • The third commandment (the Christian celebration of the Sabbath, the Lord's Day)
   • The fourth commandment (the family in God's plan, duties of family members)
   • The fifth commandment (respect for human life, abortion, euthanasia)
   • The sixth commandment (chastity, offenses against the dignity of marriage)
   • The seventh commandment (universal destination and the private ownership of goods, respect for property, social justice)
   • The eighth commandment (truth, media, art)
   • The ninth commandment (purification of the heart)
   • The tenth commandment (the desires of the spirit, poverty of heart)
4. Christian Prayer (based on the Lord's Prayer)
   • Prayer in the Old Testament
   • Prayer in the Church (blessing, adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise)
   • The way of prayer, guides for prayer
   • Expressions of prayer (vocal, meditation, contemplative)
   • The Lord's Prayer as summary of the Gospel
   • Our Father who art in Heaven (humility, we are God's children, heaven is not far away)
   • Hallowed be thy name (praise, holiness)
   • Thy Kingdom come (the kingdom of God, Christ coming in glory)
   • Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (doing God's will, the will of God in the church)
   • Give us this day our daily bread (petition, the Covenant, God sustains us)
   • And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (we ask forgiveness but we must first forgive)
   • And lead us not into temptation (fortitude)
   • But deliver us from evil (the devil)
   • Final doxology