TOUCHING THE NECESSITY, AUTHORITY, OFFICE, OF PASTORS IN THE CHURCH, AND THE PRINCIPAL HEADS OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

QUESTION I

Man left to his own Strength is unable to gain True Wisdom, and the certain Method of obtaining Happiness

Such is the nature of the human mind and intelligence, that, although, by the application of great labour and diligence, it has of itself investigated and ascertained many other matters which appertain to the knowledge of divine things; yet, illumined by the light of nature, it never could have known or comprehended the greater part of those things, by which eternal salvation is attained, the principal end for which man was created and formed after the image and likeness of God. The invisible things of God, as the Apostle teacheth, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made: his eternal power also and divinity; but so far does the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generations transcend the reach of man’s understanding, that were it not made manifest to his saints, to whom God, by the gift of faith, would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery amongst the Gentiles, which is Christ, to no man would it have been given to aspire to such wisdom by human research.

QUESTION II

Whence is so excellent a Gift of Faith received

But, as faith cometh by hearing, it is evident how necessary is the faithful labour and ministry of a legitimate teacher, at all times, towards attaining to eternal salvation, seeing it is written: How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? And, indeed, never from the very creation of the world has the most merciful and benignant God been wanting to his own; but at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets; and pointed out to them, suitably to the circumstances of the times, a certain and direct path to the happiness of heaven.

QUESTION III

Christ came into this World to teach the Faith, which the Apostles and their Successors afterwards propagated

But, seeing he had foretold that he would give a Teacher of Righteousness to be a light to the Gentiles, that his salvation may reach unto the end of the earth, in these last days he hath spoken unto us by his Son, whom also by a voice descending from heaven, from the excellent glory, he has commanded all to hear and to obey. Furthermore, the Son gave some to be Apostles; and some, Prophets; and others, Pastors and Teachers, to announce the word of life; that we might not be carried about like children, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, but, adhering fast to the firm foundation of the faith, may be built together for a habitation of God in the Holy Ghost.

QUESTION IV

How the Words of the Pastors of the Church are to be received

And that no one may receive the word of God from the ministers of the Church as the word of man, but as the word of Christ, what it really is, that same Saviour has ordained, that so great authority should be attributed to their ministry, that he says to them; He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; which words he would not wish to be understood with regard to those only, to whom his words were addressed, but likewise to all who, by legitimate succession, should discharge the office of teaching, promising to be with them all days, even unto the consummation of the world.

QUESTION V

The Truth being manifested, it is necessary even now that Pastors should Preach the Word of God

But since this preaching of the divine word should never be interrupted in the Church, so in these our days it is certainly necessary to labour with greater zeal and piety, to the end that the faithful may be nurtured and strengthened with sound and wholesome doctrine as with the food of life; for false prophets have gone out into the world to corrupt the minds of the faithful with divers and strange doctrines, of whom the Lord hath said; I did not send these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. In which matter to such extremes has their impiety, well trained in all the arts of Satan, been, carried, that it would seem almost impossible to confine it within any bounds; and did we not rely on that splendid promise of our Saviour, who declared that he had laid so solid a foundation for his Church, that the gates of hell should never be able to prevail against it, we should have had the greatest reason to dread lest, beset on every side by so many enemies, assailed and besieged by so many engines, it would in these days fall to the ground. For to omit those most noble states, which heretofore piously and holily retained the true and Catholic faith which they had received from their ancestors, but are now gone astray, wandering from the paths of truth, and openly declare that they best cultivate piety, by having totally abandoned the faith of their fathers; there is no region however remote, no place however securely guarded, no corner of the Christian commonwealth, into which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself.

QUESTION VI

The Heretics have chiefly made use of Catechisms to corrupt the Minds of Christians

For those who proposed to themselves to corrupt the minds of the faithful, aware that it was impossible that they could hold immediate personal intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, by adopting a different plan with the same intent, disseminated error and impiety much more easily and extensively. For besides those voluminous works, by which they sought to overthrow the Catholic faith (to guard against which, however, containing as they did open heresy, required perhaps little labour or diligence), they also composed innumerable smaller treatises, which, earrying a semblance of piety on their surface, deceived the simple and the incautious with incredible facility.

QUESTION VII

The Holy Synod rightly Decreed that both Pestilent Preaching and Writings of the False Prophets must be met by Opposition

The Fathers, therefore, of the œcumenical Synod of Trent, anxious to apply some healing remedy to an evil of such magnitude, and of so pernicious an influence, thought it not enough to decide the more important heads of Catholic doctrine against the heresies of our time, but deemed it further incumbent on them, to deliver some fixed form and manner of instructing the faithful people from the very rudiments of the faith; which [form] should be followed by those in all churches, to whom are intrusted the duties of a lawful pastor and teacher.

QUESTION VIII

It was necessary, even after so many Written Treatises of Christian Doctrine, to put forward a New Catechism for Pastors, by the Care of an Œcumenical Council and the Authority of the Sovereign Pontiff

In writings of this description, many, it is true, have already been employed, and have earned a great reputation for piety and learning. To the Fathers, however, it seemed of the first importance that a work should appear, sanctioned by the authority of the holy synod, from which pastors, and all others on whom the duty of imparting instruction devolves, may be able to seek and derive certain precepts for the edification of the faithful; that as there is one Lord, one Faith, so also there may be one common rule and prescribed form of delivering the faith, and instructing Christians unto all the duties of piety.

QUESTION IX

The whole Dogmas of our Religion are not here discussed at length

As, therefore, there are many things which seem to pertain to the design of the work, let no one suppose that the holy synod intended, that in one volume all the dogmas of Christianity should be explained with that minuteness of detail which is found in the works of those who profess to treat of the entire institutions and doctrines of religion. Such a system would evidently have been one of almost endless labour, and ill adapted to the proposed end. But, having undertaken to instruct pastors and priests, who have care of souls, in the knowledge of those things that belong most particularly to the pastoral office, and are accommodated to the capacity of the faithful, [the holy synod] intended that so much only should be brought forward as may assist the pious zeal of pastors in this office, should they not be very familiar with the more difficult disputations respecting divine matters. This being the case, the order of the present undertaking requires that, before we proceed to develop those things severally in which a summary of this doctrine is comprised, we premise a few observations explanatory of certain matters which pastors should make the first object of their attention, and which they should keep continually before their eyes, to the end that they may know to what end, as it were, all their plans, labours, and studies, are to be directed, and how this end, which they propose to themselves, may most easily be attained and effected.

QUESTION X

When the Pastors of Souls are here taken in hand to be instructed, what must form their First Consideration, that they may rightly fulfil the Functions of their Duty

That, therefore, seems to be first of all, that they always recollect that in this consists all the knowledge of a Christian man, or rather, as saith the Saviour, this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. The work of a teacher in the Church will therefore chiefly be directed to this end, that the faithful earnestly desire to know Jesus Christ and him crucified, that they be firmly convinced within themselves, and with the innermost piety and devotion of heart, believe, that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, for he is the propitiation for our sins. But as hereby do we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments, the next consideration, and one intimately connected with the preceding, is to show also that the lives of the faithful are not to be wasted in ease and sloth, but that we ought to walk even as [Christ] himself walked, and with all zeal follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, charity, meekness; for he gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people acceptable, following after good works. These things the apostle commands pastors to speak and exhort.

But as our Lord and Saviour has not only declared, but has also shown by his own example, that the law and the prophets depend on love, and as also, according to the apostle, charity is the end of the commandment and the fulfilment of the law, no one can doubt that this, as a paramount duty, should be attended to with the utmost assiduity, that the faithful people be excited to love the infinite goodness of God towards us; that, burning with a sort of divine ardour, they may be powerfully attracted to the supreme and all-perfect good, to adhere to which is true and solid happiness, as is fully perceived by him who can say with the prophet: What have I in heaven, and what do I desire upon earth, besides thee? This forsooth is that more excellent way which the same apostle pointed out, when he referred all the system of his doctrine and instructions to charity, which never faileth; for whatever is proposed [by the pastor], whether it be to be believed, hoped, or practised, the love of God should be so strongly pointed out therein, that any one may clearly perceive that all the works of perfect Christian virtue can have no other origin, nor be referred to any other end, than divine love.

QUESTION XI

It is not enough that Pastors should look to these Two Ends while teaching, but they ought to adapt themselves to the Capacity of each Person

But as in imparting instruction of any sort the manner of teaching is of the highest importance, so, in the instruction of the Christian people, it should be deemed of the greatest moment. For the age, capacity, manners, and condition of the hearers demand attention, that he who exercises the work of teaching may become all things to all men, to gain all to Christ, and approve himself a faithful minister and steward, and, like a good and faithful servant, be found worthy to be set by his Lord over many things. Nor let him think that the men committed to his charge are all of one kind, so that he may teach by one prescribed and fixed course of instruction, and lead all alike to the knowledge of true piety; for whereas some are as new-born babes, others begin to grow up in Christ, and others are in some sort of full maturity, it is necessary to consider diligently who they are that have occasion for milk, who, for more solid food, and to afford to each such aliments of doctrine as may make the spirit to increase, until we all come into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ. Now this the apostle pointed out to the observation of all in himself when he said, that he was a debtor to the Greek and to the barbarian, to the wise and to the unwise, to the end that those who are called to this ministry might understand, that in delivering forth the mysteries of faith, and the precepts of life, the instruction ought to be accommodated to the capacity and intelligence of the hearers; that, whilst they fill the minds of the strong with spiritual food, they do not meanwhile suffer the little ones to perish with hunger, asking for bread whilst there is none to break it to them.

Nor should any one’s zeal in teaching be relaxed, because it is sometimes necessary that the hearer be instructed in precepts touching matters apparently unimportant and humble, which cannot without tedium be discussed by those whose mind is accustomed to repose in the contemplation of more sublime things; for if the wisdom of the Eternal Father descended upon earth, that, in the humility of our flesh, he might teach us the precepts of a heavenly life, who is there whom the love of Christ does not constrain to become a little one in the midst of his brethren; and, as a nurse cherishing her children, so anxiously to long for the salvation of his neighbours, that, as the apostle testifieth of himself, he desire to impart not the gospel of God only to them, but even his own soul.

QUESTION XII

Since God hath withdrawn his Visible Presence from us, his Pastors derive his Word from Scripture and from Traditions

But all the doctrines which are to be imparted to the faithful are contained in the word of God, which is divided into Scripture and Tradition. In the study of these matters, therefore, the pastors will spend their days and nights, keeping in mind the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, which all whosoever have care of souls should consider as addressed to themselves. But that admonition is as follows:—Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine, for all Scripture divinely inspired is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in righteousness, that the man of God may he perfect, furnished to every good work.

But whereas the things divinely revealed are so many and so various, that it is no easy task either to acquire a knowledge of them, or, having acquired that knowledge, to retain them in the memory, so that when occasion may require, a prompt and ready explanation thereof may be at hand; our ancestors have very wisely reduced this whole force and system of the doctrine of faith to these four different heads: The Apostles’ Creed, the Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. In the doctrine of the Creed arc contained all things that are to be held according to the discipline of the Christian faith, whether regarding the knowledge of God, the creation and government of the world, or the redemption of the human race, the rewards of the good and the punishments of the wicked. In the doctrine of the seven Sacraments are comprehended the signs, and, is it were, the instruments for the obtaining of divine grace: in the Decalogue, whatever has reference to the Law, the end whereof is charity. Finally, in the Lord’s Prayer is contained whatever can be desired, hoped, or prayed for by the Christian. It follows, therefore, that these four as it were common places of sacred Scripture being explained, scarcely anything to be learnt by a Christian can be wanting.

QUESTION XIII

In what Manner Pastors may unite the Explanation of the Gospel with the Explanation of the Catechism

It therefore seems proper to acquaint pastors that, whenever they have occasion, in the ordinary exercise of their duty, to expound any passage of the Gospel or any other part of Holy Scripture, its substance will be found under some one of the four heads already enumerated, to which they will resort as to the source of that doctrine from which their exposition is to be drawn. For instance, if the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent is to be explained: There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, &c., whatever appertains to its explanation is contained under the article of the Creed, He shall come to judge the living and the dead; and, by including those particulars in his exposition, the pastor will at one effort instruct his people in the Creed and in the Gospel. Wherefore, whensoever he has to teach and to expound the Scriptures, he will observe this same rule of directing all things to these four first principal heads, to which, as we have already said, the whole force and doctrine of Holy Scripture are referred.

He will, however, observe that order which shall seem best suited to persons and seasons. We, following the authority of the Fathers, who, to initiate men unto Christ the Lord, and instruct them in his discipline, take their beginning from the doctrine of faith, have deemed it advantageous to explain first what appertains to faith.