Dogmas of the Catholic Church [Catholic Caucus]

Dogmas of the Catholic Church

With Christ and the Apostles General Revelation concluded. (Sent. certa.)

The Unity and Trinity of God

The Existence of God

The Natural Knowability of the Existence of God
God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty, by the natural light of reason from created things. (De fide.)
The Existence of God can be proved by means of causality. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The Supernatural Knowability of the Existence of God
God's existence is not merely an object of natural rational knowledge, but also an object of supernatural faith. (De fide.)

The Nature of God

The Knowledge of the Nature of God
Our natural knowledge of God in this world is not as immediate, intuitive cognition, but a mediate, abstractive knowledge, because it is attained through the knowledge of creatures. (Sent. certa.)
Our knowledge of God here below is not proper (cognitio propia) but analogical (cognitio analoga or analogica). (Sent. certa.)
God's Nature is incomprehensible to men. (De fide.)
The blessed in Heaven posses an immediate intuitive knowledge of the Divine Essence. (De fide.)
The Immediate Vision of God transcends the natural power of cognition of the human soul, and is therefore supernatural. (De fide.)
The soul, for the Immediate Vision of God, requires the light of glory. (De fide. D 475.)
God's Essence is also incomprehensible to the blessed in Heaven. (De fide.)

The Attributes or Qualities of God

The Attributes of God in General
The Divine Attributes are really identical among themselves and with the Divine Essence. (De fide.)
The Attributes of the Divine Being
God is absolutely perfect. (De fide.)
God is actually infinite in every perfection. (De fide.)
God is absolutely simple. (De fide.)
There is only One God. (De fide.)
The One God is, in the ontological sense, The True God. (De fide.)
God possesses an infinite power of cognition. (De fide.)
God is absolute Veracity. (De fide.)
God is absolutely faithful. (De fide.)
God is absolute ontological Goodness in Himself and in relation to others. (De fide.)
God is absolute Moral Goodness or Holiness. (De fide.) D 1782.
God is absolute Benignity. (De fide.) D1782.
God is absolute Beauty. D1782.
God is absolutely immutable. (De fide.)
God is eternal. (De fide.)
God is immense or absolutely immeasurable. (De fide.)
God is everywhere present in created space. (De fide.)
The Attributes of the Divine Life
God's knowledge is infinite. (De fide.)
God's knowledge is purely and simply actual.
God's knowledge is subsistent
God's knowledge is comprehensive
God's knowledge is independent of extra-divine things
The primary and formal object of the Divine Cognition is God Himself. (Scientia contemplationis)
God knows all that is merely possible by the knowledge of simple intelligence (scientia simplicis intelligentiae). (De fide.)
God knows all real things in the past, the present and the future (Scientia visionis). (De fide.)
By knowledge of vision (scientia visionis) God also foresees the free acts of the rational creatures with infallible certainty. (De fide.)
God also knows the conditioned future free actions with infallible certainty (Scientia futuribilium). (Sent. communis.)
God's Divine will is infinite. (De fide.)
God loves Himself of necessity, but loves and wills the creation of extra-Divine things, on the other hand, with freedom. (De fide.)
God is almighty. (De fide.)
God is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. (De fide.) D 1782.
God is infinitely just. (De fide.)
God is infinitely merciful. (De fide.)

Dogmatic Formulation and Positive Foundation of the Dogma of the Trinity

The Antitrinitarian Heresies and the Doctrinal Decisions of the Church
In God there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Each of the Three Persons possesses the one (numerical) Divine Essence. (De fide.)
The Triple Personality of God
In God there are two Internal Divine Processions. (De fide.)
The Divine Persons, not the Divine Nature, are the subject of the Internal Divine processions (in the active and in the passive sense). (De fide.)
The Second Divine Person proceeds from the First Divine Person by Generation, and therefore is related to Him as Son to a Father. (De fide.)
The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and from the Son as from a Single Principle through a Single Spiration. (De fide.)

Speculative Explanation of the Dogma of the Trinity

Speculative Explanation of the Internal Divine Processions
The Son proceeds from the Intellect of the Father by way of Generation. (Sent. certa.)
The Holy Ghost proceeds from the will or from the mutual love of the Father and of the Son. (Sent. certa.)
The Holy Ghost does not proceed through generation but through spiration. (De. fide.)
The Divine Relations and Persons
The Relations in God are really identical with the Divine Nature. (De fide.)
The Three Divine Persons are in One Another. (De fide.)
All the ad extra Activities of God are common to that Three Persons. (De fide.)
The Father sends the Son: the Father and the Son send the Holy Ghost. (Sent. certa.)
The Relation of the Trinity to Reason
The Trinity of God can only be known through Divine Revelation. (Sent. fidei proxima.)

God the Creator

The Divine Act of Creation

The Beginning or Creation of the World
All that exists outside God was, in its whole substance, produced out of nothing by God. (De fide.)
The world is the work of the Divine Wisdom. (Sent. certa.)
God was moved by His Goodness to create the world. (De fide.)
The world created for the Glorification of God. (De fide.)
The Three Divine Persons are one single, common Principle of the Creation. (De fide.)
God created the world free from exterior compulsion and inner necessity. (De fide.)
God was free to create this world or any other. (Sent. Certa.)
God has created a good world. (De fide.)
The world had a begining in time. (De fide.)
God alone created the World. (De fide.)
No Creature can, as Principal Cause (causa principalis) that is, from its own power, create something out of nothing. (Sent. communis.)

The Continuous Preservation and Governing of the World
God keeps all created things in existence. (De fide.)
God co-operates immediately in every act of His creatures. (Sent. communis.)
God through His providence, protects and guides all that He has created. (De fide.)

The Divine Work of Creation

The Doctrine of Revelation Regarding Man or "Christian Anthropology"
The first man was created by God. (De fide.)
The whole human race stems from one single human pair. (Sent. certa.)
Man consists of two essential parts--a material body and a spiritual soul. (De fide.)
The rational soul is per se the essential form of the body. (De fide.)
Every human being possesses an individual soul. (De fide.)
Every individual soul was immediately created out of nothing by God. (Sent. Certa.)
A creature has the capacity to receive supernatural gifts. (Sent. communis.)
The Supernatural presupposes Nature. (Sent communis.)
God has conferred on man a supernatural Destiny. (De fide.)
Our first parents, before the Fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace. (De fide.)
The donum rectitudinis or integritatis in the narrower sense, i.e., the freedom from irregular desire. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The donum immortalitatis, i.e.,bodily immortality. (De fide.)
The donum impassibilitatis, i.e., the freedom from suffering. (Sent. communis.)
The donum scientiae, i.e., a knowledge of natural and supernatural truths infused by God. (Sent. communis.)
Adam received sanctifying grace not merely for himself, but for all his posterity. (Sent. certa.)
Our first parents in paradise sinned grievously through transgression of the Divine probationary commandment. (De fide.)
Through the sin our first parents lost sanctifying grace and provoked the anger and the indignation of God. (De fide.)
Our first parents became subject to death and to the dominion of the Devil. (De fide.) D788.
Adam's sin is transmitted to his posterity, not by imitation, but by descent. (De fide.)
Original Sin consists in the deprivation of grace caused by the free act of sin committed by the head of the race. (Sent. communis.)
Original sin is transmitted by natural generation. (De fide.)
In the state of original sin man is deprived of sanctifying grace and all that this implies, as well as of the preternatural gifts of integrity. (De fide in regard to Sanctifying Grace and the Donum Immortalitatus. D788 et seq.)
Souls who depart this life in the state of original sin are excluded from the Beatific Vision of God. (De fide.)

Revelation Concerning the Angels or "Christian Angelology"
In the beginning of time God created spiritual essences (angels) out of nothing. (De fide.)
The nature of angels is spiritual. (De fide.)
The angels are by nature immortal. (Sent. communis.)
God set a supernatural final end for the angels, the immediate vision of God, and endowed them with sanctifying grace in order that they might achieve this end. (Sent. Certa.)
The angels were subjected to a moral testing. (Sent. certa. as regards the fallen angels, Sent. communis as regards the good.)
The evil spirits (demons) were created good by God; they became evil through their own fault.
The primary task of the good angels is the glorification and the service of God. (Sent. certa.)
The secondary task of the good angels is the protection of men and care for their salvation. (De fide on the ground of general teaching.)
Every one of the faithful has his own special guardian angel from baptism. (Sent. certa.)
The Devil posesses a certain dominion over mankind by reason of Adam's sin. (De fide.)

The Doctrine of God the Redeemer

The Doctrine of the Person of the Redeemer

The True Divinity of Christ
Jesus Christ is the True God and True Son of God. (De fide.)

Christ's True Humanity
Christ assumed a real body, not an apparent body. (De fide.)
Christ assumed not only a body but also a rational soul. (De fide.)
Christ was truly generated and born of a daughter of Adam, the Virgin Mary. (De fide.)

The Union of His Two Natures in the one Person, Christ
The Divine and the human natures are united hypostatically in Christ, that is, joined to each other in one Person (De fide.) (a) Christ Incarnate is a single, that is, a sole Person. He is God and man at the same time. (b) The God-Logos is connected with the flesh by an inner, physical or substantial unification. Christ is not the bearer of God, but is God really. (c) The human and the divine activities predicated of Christ in Holy Writ and in the Fathers may not be divided between two persons or hypostases, the Man-Christ and the God-Logos, but must be attributed to the one Christ, the Logos become Flesh. It is the Divine Logos, who suffered in the flesh, was crucified, died, and rose again. (d) The Holy Virgin is the Mother of God since she truly bore the God-Logos become Flesh.
In the Hypostatic Union each of the two natures of Christ continues unimpaired, untransformed and unmixed with the other. (De fide.)
Each of the two natures in Christ possesses its own natural will and its own natural mode of operation. (De fide.)
The Hypostatic Union of Christ's human nature with the Divine Logos took place at the moment of conception. (De fide.)
The Hypostatic Union was never interrupted. (Sent. certa.)
The Hypostatic Union will never cease. (De fide.)
The Blood in the Living Body of Jesus Christ is an integral constituent part of human nature, immediately, not merely mediately, united with the Person of the Divine Logos. (Sent. certa.)

Theological-Speculative Discussion on the Hypostatic Union
The Hypostatic Union was effected by the Three Divine Persons acting in common. (De fide.)
Only the Second Divine Person became Man. (De fide.)
Not only as God but also as man Jesus Christ is the natural Son of God. (De fide.)
The God-Man Jesus Christ is to be venerated with one single mode of Worship, the absolute Worship of Latria which is due to God alone. (De fide.)
Just as Latria is due to the whole Human nature of Christ, so is it due to the individual parts of His nature. (Sent. Certa.)
Christ's Divine and Human characteristics and activities are to be predicated of the one Word Incarnate. (De fide.)

Inferences from the Hypostatic Union
The two natures of Christ exist in the closest union (Sent. communis.)

The Attributes of Christ's Human Nature

The Preogatives of Christ's Human Nature
Christ's soul possessed the immediate vision of God from the first moment of its existence. (Sent. certa.)
Christ's human knowledge was free from positive ignorance and from error. (Sent. certa.) D2184 et seq.
From the begining of Christ's life, His soul possessed infused knowledge (scientia infusa). (Senta. communis.)
Christ's soul possessed also an acquired knowledge or experimental knowledge (scientia acquisita, sc. experimentalis). (Sent. communis.)
Christ was free from all sin, from original sin as well as from all personal sin. (De fide.)
Christ has not merely not actually sinned, but also could not sin. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
By reason of the Hypostatic Union, Christ's human nature, through the Uncreated Holiness of the Word, is substantially Holy. (Sent. communis.) Cf. Luke 1,35.
By reason of His endowment with the fullness of created habitual grace, Christ's soul is also accidentally holy. (Sent. certa.)
Sanctifying Grace overflows from Christ, the Head, to the members of HIs mystical Body. (Sent. communis.)
Christ's humanity, as instrument of the Logos, posesses the power of producing supernatural effects. (Sent. certa.)

The Defects or the Passibility of Christ's Human Nature
Christ's human nature was passible. (De fide.)
Christ's soul was subject to sensual emotions. (Sent. certa.)

The Work of the Redeemer

The Redemption in General
The Son of God became man in order to redeem men. (De fide.)
Fallen man cannot redeem himself. (De fide.)
God was not compelled to redeem mankind by either an internal or an external compulsion. (Sent. certa.)
Even on the presupposition of the Divine Resolve of Redemption, the Incarnation was not absolutely necessary. (Sent. communis.)
If God demanded a full atonement the Incarnation of a Divine Person was necessary. (Sent. communis.)

The Realisation of the Redemption through the Three Offices of Christ
Christ is the Supreme Prophet promised in the Old Covenant and the absolute teacher of humanity. (Sent. certa.)
The God-Man Jesus Christ is a High Priest. (De fide.)
Christ offered Himself on the Cross as a true and proper sacrifice. (De fide.)
Christ by His Sacrifice on the Cross has ransomed us and reconciled us with God. (De fide.)
Christ, through His Suffering and Death rendered vicarious atonement to God for the sins of man. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
Christ's Vicarious Atonement is adequate or of full value, by reason of its intrinsic merit. (Sent. communior.)
Christ's Vicarious Atonement is superabundant, that is, the positive value of the expiation is greater than the negative value of the sin. (Sent. communis.)
(a) [i] Christ did not die for the predestined only. (De fide.)
[ii]Christ died not for the Faithful only, but for all mankind without exception. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
(b) Christ's Atonement does not extend to the fallen angels.
Christ, through His Passion and Death, merited reward from God. (De fide.)
Christ merited for Himself the condition of exaltation (Resurrection, Transfiguration of the body, Ascension into Heaven). (Sent. certa.)
Christ merited all supernatural graces received by fallen mankind. (Sent. certa.)

The Glorious Conclusion of Christ's Work of Redemption
After His Death, Christ's soul, which was separated from His Body, descended into the underworld. (De fide.)
The underworld is the place of detention for the souls of the just of the pre-Christian era, the so-called vestibule of hell (limbus Patrum).
On the third day after His Death Christ rose gloriously from the dead. (De fide.)
Christ ascended Body and Soul into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. (De fide.)

The Mother of the Redeemer

Mary's Motherhood of God
Mary is truly the Mother of God. (De fide.)

The Privileges of the Mother of God
Mary was conceived without stain of Original sin. (De fide.)
From her conception Mary was free from all motions of concupiscence. (Sent. communis.)
In consequence of a Special Privilege of Grace from God, Mary was free from every personal sin during her whole life. (Sent. fidei proxima.) She was immune from all sin mortal and venial.
Mary was a Virgin before, during and after the Birth of Jesus Christ.
Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost without the co-operation of man. (De fide.)
Mary bore her Son without any violation of her virginal integrity. (De fide on the ground of the general promulgation of doctrine.)
Also after the Birth of Jesus Mary remained a Virgin. (De fide.)
Mary suffered a temporal death. (Sent. communior.)
Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. (De fide.)

Mary's Co-operation in the Work of the Redeemer
Mary gave the Redeemer, the Source of all graces, to the world, and in this way she is the channel of all graces. (Sent. certa.)
Since Mary's Assumption into Heaven no grace is conferred on man without her actual intercessory co-operation. (Sent. pia et probabilis.)
Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces by her co-operation in the Incarnation. (Mediatio in universali.)
Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces by her intercession in Heaven. (Mediatio in speciali.)
Mary, the Mother of God, is entitled to the Cult of Hyperdulia. (Sent certa.)

The Doctrine of God the Sanctifier

Actual Grace

The Nature of Actual Grace
Actual Grace internally and directly enlightens the understanding and strengthens the will. (Sent. certa.)
There is a supernatural intervention of God in the faculties of the soul, which precedes the free act of the will. (De fide.)
There is a supernatural influence of God in the faculties of the soul which coincides in time with man's free act of will. (De fide.)

The Necessity of Actual Grace
For every salutary act internal supernatural grace of God (gratia elevans) is absolutely necessary. (De fide.)
Internal supernatural grace is absolutely necessary for the beginning of faith and of salvation. (De fide.)
The justified also require actual grace for the performance of salutary acts. (Sent. communis.)
Without the special help of God the justified cannot perservere to the end in justification. (De fide.)
The justified person is not able for his whole life long to avoid all sins, even venial sins, without the special privilege of the grace of God. (De fide.)
Even in the fallen state, man can, by his natural intellectual power, know religious and moral truths. (De fide.)
For the performance of a morally good action Sanctifying Grace is not required. (De fide.)
The Grace of faith is not necessary for the performance of a morally good action. (Sent. certa.)
Actual Grace is not necessary for the performance of a morally good action. (Sent. certa.)
In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order. (De fide.)
In the condition of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without restoring grace (gratia sanans) to fulfil the entire moral law and to overcome all serious temptations for any considerable period of time. (Sent. certa.)

The Distribution of Actual Grace
Grace cannot be merited by natural works either de condigno or de congruo. (De fide.)
Grace cannot be obtained by petitions deriving from purely natural prayer. (Sent. Certa.)
Man of himself cannot acquire any positive disposition for grace. (Sent. certa.)
Despite men's sins God truly and earnestly desires the salvation of all men. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
God gives all the just sufficent grace (gratia proxime vel remote sufficiens) for the observation of the Divine Commandments. (De fide.)
God gives all the faithful who are sinners sufficent grace (gratia saltem remote sufficiens) for conversion. (Sent. communis.)
God gives all innocent unbelievers (infideles negativi) suffienct grace to achieve eternal salvation. (Sent. certa.)
God, by His Eternal Resolve of Will, has predetermined certain men to eternal blessedness. (De fide.)
God, by an Eternal Resolve of His Will, predestines certain men, on account of their foreseen sins, to eternal rejection. (De fide.)

The Relation between Grace and Freedom
The Human Will remains free under the influence of efficacious grace, which is not irresistable. (De fide.)
There is a grace which is truly sufficent and yet remains inefficacious(gratia vere et mere sufficiens. (De fide.)

Habitual Grace

The Process of Justification
The sinner can and must prepare himself by the help of actual grace for the reception of the grace by which he is justified. (De fide.)
The justification of an adult is not possible without Faith. (De fide.)
Besides faith, further acts of disposition must be present. (De fide.)

The State of Justification
Sanctifying Grace is a created supernatural gift really distinct from God. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
Sanctifying Grace is a supernatural state of being which is infused by God, and which permanently inheres in the soul. (Sent. certa.)
Sanctifying grace is not a substance, but a real accident, which inheres in the soul-substance. (Sent. certa.)
Sanctifying grace is really distinct from charity. (Sent. communior.)
Supernatural grace is a participation in the divine nature. (Sent. certa.)
Sanctifying grace sanctifies the soul. (De fide.)
Sanctifying grace bestows supernatural beauty on the soul. (Sent. communis.)
Sanctifying grace makes the just man a friend of God. (De fide.)
Sanctifying grace makes the just man a child of God and gives him a claim to the inheritance of Heaven. (De fide.)
Sanctifying grace makes the just man a Temple of the Holy Ghost. (Sent. certa.)
The three Divine or Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are infused with Sanctifying grace. (De fide)
The moral virtues also are infused with sanctifying grace. (Sent. communis.)
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost also are infused with sanctifying grace. (Sent. communis.)
Without special Divine Revelation no one can know with the certainty of faith, if he be in the state of grace. (De fide.)
The degree of justifying grace is not identical in all the just. (De fide.)
Grace can be increased by good works. (De fide.)
The grace by which we are justified may be lost, and is lost by every grievous [mortal, serious] sin. (De fide.)
The loss of sanctifying grace always involves the loss of Charity.

The Consequences or Fruits of Justification or the Doctrine Concerning Merit
By his good works the justified man really acquires a claim to supernatural reward from God. (De fide.)
A just man merits for himself through each good work an increas of sanctifying grace, eternal life (if he dies in a state of grace) and an increase of heavenly glory. (De fide.)

The Church

The Divine Origin of the Church
The Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. (Sent. certa.)
The Church was founded by the God-Man Jesus Christ. (De fide.)

The Constitution of the Church
Christ founded the Church in order to continue His work of redemption for all time. (De fide.)
By reason of her purpose and the means she uses to effect it the Church is a supernatural spiritual society. (Sent. certa.)
The Church is a perfect society. (Sent. certa.)
Christ gave His Church an hierarchial constitution. (De fide.)
The powers bestowed on the Apostles have descended to the bishops. (De fide.)
Christ appointed the Apostle Peter to be the first of all the Apostles and to be the visible head of the whole Church, by appointing him immediately and personally to the primacy of jurisdiction. (De fide.)
According to Christ's ordinance, Peter is to have successors in his Primacy over the whole Church and for all time. (De fide.)
The successors of Peter in the Primacy are the bishops of Rome. (De fide.)
The Pope possesses full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Church, not merely in matters of faith and morals, but also in Church discipline and in the government of the Church. (De fide.)
The Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra. (De fide.)
By virtue of Divine Right the bishops possess an ordinary power of government over their dioceses. (De fide.)
The individual bishop receives his pastoral power immediately from the Pope. (Sent. probabilior.)

The Internal Constitution of the Church
Christ founded the Church. (De fide.)
Christ is the Head of the Church. (De fide.)
Our Redeemer Himself conserves with divine power the society founded by Him, the Church. (Pius XII)
Christ is the Divine Redeemer of His Body, the Church. (Pius XII.)
The Holy Ghost is the Soul of the Church. (Sent. communis.)

The Properties or Essential Attributes of the Church
The Church is indefectible, that is, she remains and will remain the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world. (Sent. certa.)
In the final decision on doctrines concerning faith and morals the Church is infallible. (De fide.)
The primary object of the Infallibility is the formally revealed truths of Christian Doctrine concerning faith and morals. (De fide.)
The secondary object of the Infallibility is truths of the Christian teaching on faith and morals, which are not formally revealed, but which are closely connected with the teaching of Revelation. (Sent. certa.)
The Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra. (De fide.)
The totality of the Bishops is infallible, when they, either assembled in general council or scattered over the earth, propose a teaching of faith or morals as one to be held by all the faithful. (De fide.)
The Church founded by Christ is an external visible commonwealth. (Sent. certa.)
The Church founded by Christ is unique and one. (De fide.)
The Church founded by Christ is holy. (De fide.)
Not only those members who are holy but the sinners also belong to the Church. (Sent. certa.)
The Church founded by Christ is catholic. (De fide.)
The Church founded by Christ is apostolic. (De fide.)

The Necessity of the Church
The members of the Church are those who have validly received the Sacrament of Baptism and who are not separated from the unity of the confession of the Faith, and from the unity of the lawful communion of the Church. (Sent. certa.)
Membership of the Church is necessary for all men for salvation. (De fide.)

The Communion of Saints
The members of the Kingdom of God on earth and in the other world sanctified by the redeeming grace of Christ are united in a common supernatural life with the Head of the Church and with one another. (Sent. certa.)
By intercessory prayer the Faithful on earth can procure gifts from God for one another. (Sent. certa.)
By good works performed in the state of grace the Faithful on earth can merit de congruo gifts from God. (Sent. probabilis.)
The faithful on earth can, by their good works performed in the state of grace, render atonement for one another. (Sent. cert.)
It is permissible and profitable to venerate the Saints in Heaven, and to invoke their intercession. (De fide.)
It is permissible and profitable to venerate the relics of the Saints. (De fide.)
It is permissible and profitable to venerate images of the Saints. (De fide.)
The living Faithful can come to the assistance of the Souls in Purgatory by their intercessions (suffrages). (De fide.)
The Saints in Heaven also can come to the help of the Souls in Purgatory by their intercession. (Sent. communis.)
The Souls in Purgatory can intercede for other members of the Mystical Body. (Sent. probabilis.)
Suffrages are of no profit to the damned in Hell as they do not belong to the Mystical Body of Christ. (Sent. communis.)

The Sacraments

The Nature of the Sacraments
The Sacraments of the New Covenant are effective signs of grace instituted by Christ.
The outward sign of the sacraments is composed of two essential parts, namely, thing and word (res et verbum or elementum et verbum). (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The Efficacy and the Effects of the Sacraments
The Sacraments of the New Covenant contain the grace which they signify, and bestow it on those who do not hinder it. (De fide.)
The Sacraments work ex opere operato. (De fide.)
All the Sacraments of the New Covenant confer sanctifying grace on the receivers. (De fide.)
Each individual sacrament confers a specific sacramental grace. (Sent. communis.)
Three Sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders, imprint a character, that is, an indelible spiritual mark, and for this reason cannot be repeated. (De fide.)
The Sacramental Character is a spiritual mark imprinted on the soul. (De fide.)
The Sacramental Character confers the full power for the performance of acts of Christian Worship. (Sent. communis.)
The Sacramental Character continues at least until the death of its bearer. (De fide.)
The Institution and the Seven-fold Nature of the Sacraments
All the Sacraments of the New Covenant were instituted by Jesus Christ. (De fide.)
Christ instituted all the Sacraments immediately and personally. (Sent. certa.)
Christ fixed the substance of the Sacraments. The Church has no power to alter them. (Sent. certa.)
There are Seven Sacraments of the New Law. (De fide.)
God can communicate grace even without the Sacraments. (Sent. certa.)
The Sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for the salvation of mankind. (De fide.)
The Minister and the Recipient of the Sacraments
The primary minister of the Sacraments is the God-Man Jesus Christ. (Sent. certa.)
The secondary minister of the Sacrament is man in the wayfaring state. (Sent. communis).
The validity and efficacy of the Sacrament is independent of the minister's orthodoxy and state of grace.
For the valid dispensing of the Sacraments it is necessary that the minister accomplish the Sacramental Sign in the proper manner. (De fide.)
The minister must further have the intention at least of doing what the Church does. (De fide.)
Only a person in the wayfaring state can validly receive a Sacrament. (Sent. communis.)
Excepting the Sacrament of Penance, neither orthodox belief nor moral worthiness is necessary for the validity of the Sacrament, on the part of the recipient. (Sent. communis.)
For the validity of the Sacraments in the case of adult recipients the intention of recieving the Sacrament is necessary. (Sent. certa.)
In the case of adult recipients moral worthiness is necessary for the worthy or fruitful reception of the Sacraments. (De fide.)
The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders[1], when they are received validly but unworthily, revive after the removal of the moral indisposition, that is, the sacramental grace is conferred subsequently. (Sent. communis.)

Pre-Christian Sacraments and the Sacramentals
The Old Testament Sacraments wrought, ex opere operato, not grace, but merely an external lawful purity. (Sent. certa.)

The Seven Sacraments

The Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism is a true Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ. (De fide.)
The materia remota of the Sacrament of Baptism is true and natural water. (De fide.)
The materia proxima of the Sacrament of Baptism is the ablution, by physical contact, of the body with water. (Sent. certa.)
The form of Baptism consists in the words of the minister which accompany it and more closely determine it.
Baptism confers the grace of justification. (De fide.)
Baptism effects the remission of all punishments of sin, both the eternal and the temporal. (De fide.)
Eve if it be unworthily received, valid Baptism imprints on the soul of the recipient an indelible spiritual mark, the Baptismal Character, and for this reason, the Sacrament cannot be repeated. (De fide.)
Baptism by water (Baptismus fluminis) is, since the promulgation of the Gospel, necessary for all men without exception, for salvation. (De fide.)
Baptism can be validily administered by anyone. (De fide.)
Baptism can be received by any person in the wayfaring state who is not already baptised. (De fide.)
The Baptism of young children is valid and licit. (De fide.)

The Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation is a true Sacrament properly so-called. (De fide.)
The form of Confirmation consists in the words which the minister speaks when he imposes his hands on the recipient and anoints his forehead. (Sent. communis.)
As a Sacrament of the living, Confirmation effects (per se) an increase of Sanctifying Grace. (Sent. certa.)
The specific operation of Confirmation is the perfection of Baptismal Grace. (Sent. communis.)
Confirmation imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, and for this reason, cannot be repeated. (De fide.)
A baptised person can achieve eternal salvation even without Confirmation. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the Bishop alone. (De fide.)
The extraordinary minister of Confirmation is a priest on whom this full power is conferred by the common law or by a special apostolic indult. (Sent. certa.)
Confirmation can be received by any baptised person who is not already confirmated. (Sent. certa.)
The repetition of Confirmation is invalid and grievously sinful.

The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

The Fact of the Real Presence of Christ
The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist. (De fide.)

The Effecting of Christ's Real Presence, or the Transubstantiation
Christ becomes present in the Sacrament of the Altar by the transformation of the whole substance of the bread into His Body and the whole substance of the wine into His Blood. (De fide.)
The Accidents of bread and wine continue after the change of the substance. (De fide.)
The Sacramental Accidents retain their physical reality after the change of the substance. (Sent. certa.)
The Sacramental Accidents continue without a subject in which to inhere. (Sent. certa.)

Nature and Manner of the Real Presence of Christ
The Body and the Blood of Christ together with His Soul and HIs Divinity and therefore the Whole Christ are truly present in the Eucharist (De fide.)
The Whole Christ is present under each of the two Species. (De fide.)
When either consecrated species is divided the Whole Christ is present in each part of the species. (De fide.)
After the Consecration has been completed the Body and Blood are permanently present in the Eucharist. (De fide.)
The Worship of Adoration (latria) must be given to Christ present in the Eucharist. (De fide.)

The Blessed Eucharist and Human Reason
The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a mystery of Faith. (Sent. certa.)

The Eucharist as Sacrament
The Eucharist is a true Sacrament instituted by Christ. (De fide.)
The matter for the consummation of the Eucharist is bread and wine. (De fide.)
The form of the Eucharist consists in Christ's Words of institution, uttered at the Consecration. (Sent. certa.)
The Chief fruit of the Eucharist is an intrinsic union of the recipient with Christ. (Sent. certa.)
The Eucharist, as food for the soul, preserves and increases the supernatural life of the soul. (Sent. certa. )
The Eucharist is a pledge of heavenly bliss and of the future resurrection of the body. (Sent. certa.)
For children before the age of reason the reception of the Eucharist is not necessary for salvation. (De fide.)
For adults the reception of the Eucharist is necessary for salvation with the necessity of precept (necessitate praecepti). (Sent. certa.)
Communion under two forms is not necessary for any individual member of the Faithful, either by reason of Divine precept or as a means of salvation. (De fide.)
The power of consecration resides in a validly consecrated priest only. (De fide.)
The ordinary minister of the Eucharist is the priest; the extraordinary minister is the deacon (with permission of the local Ordinary or of the parish priest for some *weighty* reason). CIC 845
The Sacrament of the Eucharist can be validly received by every baptised person in the wayfaring state, including young children. (De fide.) D 933
For the worthy reception of the Eucharist the state of grace as well as the proper and pious disposition are necessary. (De fide as regards the state of grace.)

The Eucharist as Sacrifice

The Reality of the Sacrifice of the Mass
The Holy Mass is a true and proper Sacrifice. (De fide.)

The Nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass
In the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross is made present, its memory is celebrated, and its saving power is applied. (De fide.)
In the Sacrifice of the Mass and in the Sacrifice of the Cross the Sacrificial Gift and the Primary Sancrificing Priest are identical; only the nature and mode of the offering are different. (De fide.)
The essential Sacrificial Action consists in the Transsubstantiation alone. (Sent. communis.)

The Effects and Efficacy of the Sacrifice of the Mass
The Sacrifice of the Mass is not merely a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, but also a sacrifice of expiation and impetration. (De fide.)

The Church's Power to Forgive Sins

The Existence of the Church's Power to Forgive Sins
The Church has received from Christ the power of remitting sins committed after Baptism. (De fide.)

The Properties of the Church's to Forgive Sins
By the Church's Absolution sins are truly and immediately remitted. (De fide.)
The Church's power to forgive sins extends to all sin without exception. (De fide.)
The exercise of the Church's power to forgive sins is a judicial act. (De fide.)

The Church's Forgiveness of Sins as Sacrament

The Existence of the Church's Power to Forgive Sins
The forgiveness of sins which takes place in the Tribunal of Penance is a true and proper Sacrament, which is distinct from the Sacrament of Baptism. (De fide.)
Perfect contrition bestows the grace of justification on the mortal sinner even before the actual reception of the Sacrament of Penance. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
Extra-sacramental justification is effected by perfect sorrow only when it is associated with the desire for the Sacrament (votum sacramenti). (De fide.)
Contrition springing from the motive of fear is a morally good and supernatural act. (De fide.)
Imperfect contrition suffices for the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance. (Sent. communis.)
The Sacramental confession of sins is ordained by God and is necessary for salvation. (De fide.)
By virtue of Divine ordinance all grievous sins(mortal, serious) according to kind and number, as well as those cirumstances which alter their nature, are subject to the obligation of confession. (De fide.)
The confession of venial sins is not necessary but is permitted and is useful. (De fide.)
Those sins which are already forgiven directly by the Church's Power of the Keys are a sufficient object of confession. (Sent. certa.) CIC 902.
All temporal punishments for sin are not always remitted by God with the guilt of sin and the eternal punishment. (De fide.)
The priest has the right and the duty, according to the nature of the sins and the ability of the penitent, to impose salutary and appropriate works of satisfaction. (De fide.)
Extra-sacramental penitential works, such as the performance of voluntary penitential practices and the patient bearing of trials sent by God, possess satisfactory value. (De fide.)
The form of the Sacrament of Penance consists in the words of Absolution. (De fide.) D896 Cf. 699
Absolution, in association with the acts of the penitent, effects the forgiveness of sins. (De fide.)

The Effects of the Sacrament of Penance and its Necessity
The principal effect of the Sacrament of Penance is the reconciliation of the sinner with God. (De fide.)
The merits due to good works performed in the state of grace which have been rendered null by grievous sins, that is, have been made inefficacious, revive. (Sent. communis.)
The Sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation to those who, after Baptism, fall into grievous sin. (De fide.)

The Minister and the Recipient of the Sacrament of Penance
The sole possessors of the Church's Power of Absolution are the bishops and priests. (De fide.)
Absolution given by deacons, clerics of lower rank, and laymen is not Sacramental Absolution. (De fide.)
The Sacrament of Penance can be received by any baptised person, who, after Baptism, has commited a grievous or venial sin. (De fide.) D911, 917

Appendix

The Doctrine of Indulgences
The Church possesses the power to grant Indulgences. (De fide.)
The source of Indulgences is the Church's treasury of satisfaction which consists of superabundant satisfactions of Christ and of the Saints. (Sent. certa.)
The use of INdulgences is useful and salutary to the Faithful. (De fide.) D989,998

The Sacrament of Extreme Unction
Extreme Unction is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by Christ. (De fide.)
The remote matter of Extreme Unction is oil. (De fide.)
The form consists in the prayer of the priest for the sick person which accompanies the anointing. (De fide.)
Extreme Unction gives the sick person sanctifying grace in order to arouse and strengthen him. (De fide.)
Extreme Unction effects the remission of grievous sins still remaining and of venial sins. (De fide.)
Extreme Unction sometimes effects the restoration of bodily health, if this be of spiritual advantage. (De fide.) D909
Extreme Unction is not of itself (per se) necessary for salvation. (Sent. certa.) CIC 944.
Only bishops and priests can validly administer Extreme Unction. (De fide.)
Extreme Unction can be received only by the Faithful who are seriously ill. (De fide.) D910

The Sacrament of Holy Order (Ordo)
Holy Order is a true and proper Sacrament which was instituted by Christ. (De fide.)
The four Minor Orders and the Subdiaconate are not Sacraments but merely Sacramentals. (Sent. Communior.)
The consecration of priests is a Sacrament. (De fide.)
The consecration of a Bishop is a Sacrament. (Sent. certa.)
Bishops are superior to priests. (De fide.)
The Order of Diaconate is a Sacrament. (Sent. certa.)
The matter of the Orders of Diaconate, Priesthood, and Episcopate is the imposition of hands alone. (Sent. fidei proxima).
The handing over (traditio) of the instruments is not necessary for the validity of the consecration of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The form of the Order of Deacon, Priest, and Bishop consists solely in the words which more closely determine the imposition of the hands. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The Sacrament of Order confers sanctifying grace on the recipient. (De fide.) Cf. D843a, 959,964.
The Sacrament of Order imprints a character on the recipient. (De fide.)
The Sacrament of Order confers a permanent spiritual power on the recipient. (De fide.) Cf. D960 et seq.
The ordinary dispenser of all grades of Order, both the sacramental and the non-sacramental, is the validly consecrated bishop alone. (De fide.)
The extraordinary dispenser of the four Minor Orders and of the Order of the Subdiaconate is the presbyter. (Sent. certa.)
The Sacrament of Order can be validly received by a baptised person of the male sex only. (Sent. certa.) CIC 968, Par. 1.

The Sacrament of Matrimony
Marriage was not instituted by Man, but by God. (Sent. certa.) D 2225.
Marriage is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by God. (De fide.)
The primary purpose of Marriage is the generation and bringing-up of offspring. The secondary purpose is mutual help and the morally regulated satisfaction of the sex urge. (Sent. certa.) CIC 1013, Par. 1.
The essential properties of Marriage are unity (monogamy) and indissolubility. (Sent. certa.) CIC 1013, Par. 2.
Every valid contract of Marriage between Christians is of itself a sacrament. (Sent. certa.)
From the sacramental contract of marriage emerges the Bond of Marriage, which binds both marriage partners to a lifelong indivisible community of life. (De fide.)
The Sacrament of Matrimony bestows Sanctifying Grace on the contracting parties. (De fide.)
The contracting parties in Matrimony minister the Sacrament each to the other. (Sent. certa.)
The Church possesses the sole and exclusive right to make laws and administer justice in the matrimonial affairs of baptised persons, in so far as these affect the Sacrament. (Sent. certa.) Cf. CIC 1016, 1960.
The Doctrine of God the Consummator

The Doctrine of the Last Things or of the Consummation (Eschatology)

The Eschatology of the Individual Human Being
In the present order of salvation death is a punishment for sin. (De fide.)
All human beings subject to original sin are subject to the law of death. (De fide.) D789
With death the possibility of merit or demerit or conversion ceases. (Sent. certa.)
Immediately after death the particular judgment takes place, in which, by a Divine Sentence of Judgment, the eternal fate of the deceased person is decided. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
The souls of the just which in the moment of death are free from all guilt of sin and punishment for sin, enter into Heaven. (De fide.)
In addition to the essential bliss of Heaven which springs from the immediate Vision of God, there is also an accidental blessedness, which proceeds from the natural knowledge and love of created things. (Sent. communis.)
The bliss of heaven lasts for all eternity. (De fide. )
The degree of perfection of the beatific vision granted to the just is proportioned to each one's merits. (De fide.)
The souls of those who die in the condition of personal grievous sin enter Hell. (De fide. )
The punishment of Hell lasts for all eternity. (De fide.)
The punishment of the damned is proportioned to each one's guilt. (Sent. communis.)
The souls of the just which, in the moment of death, are burdened with venial sins or temporal punishment due to sins, enter Purgatory. (De fide.)
The purifying fire will not continue after the General Judgment. (Sent. communis.)

The Eschatology of the Whole of Humanity
At the end of the world Christ will come again in glory to pronounce judgment. (De fide.)
The time of Jesus' second coming is unknown to men. (Sent. certa.)
All the dead will rise again on the last day with their bodies. (De fide.)
The bodies of the just will be re-modelled and transfigured to the pattern of the risen Christ. (Sent. certa.)
The bodies of the godless will rise again in incorruption and immortality, but they will not be transfigured. (Sent. certa.)
Christ, on His second coming, will judge all men. (De fide. )
The present world will be destroyed on the Last Day. (Sent. certa.)
The present world will be restored on the Last Day. (Sent. certa.)

Extracted from "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by Dr Ludwig Ott; Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. 1974.

Footnote:

[1] The English translation of Dr Ott's "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" has:

"The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Consecration when they are received validly but unworthily, revive after the removal of the moral indisposition, that is, the sacramental grace is conferred subsequently. (Sent. communis.)" See A CRITIQUE by Fr. Camillus Hay, O.F.M. OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA

See also "Dogmatic Canons and Decrees" [of the Council of Trent], The Devin-Adair Company, 1912, p.61 - Session VII March 3, 1547, Decree on the Sacraments, On the Sacraments in General. Canon IX, AND
in somewhat more modern terms, "The Church Teaches - Documents of the Church in English Translation", 1955, by Jesuit Fathers of St Mary's College, p.264; my copy published by Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. 1973:

Canon 9. "If anyone says that in three sacraments, namely, baptism, confirmation, and holy orders, a character is not imprinted on the soul--that is, a kind of indelible spiritual sign whereby these sacraments cannot be repeated: let him be anathema."

F. John Loughnan
Revised Feb. 16, 2001

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Dogmas of the Catholic Church

The Unity and Trinity of God

The Existence of God

The Natural Knowability of the Existence of God

The Supernatural Knowability of the Existence of God

The Nature of God

The Knowledge of the Nature of God

The Attributes or Qualities of God

The Attributes of God in General

The Attributes of the Divine Being

The Attributes of the Divine Life

Dogmatic Formulation and Positive Foundation of the Dogma of the Trinity

The Antitrinitarian Heresies and the Doctrinal Decisions of the Church

The Triple Personality of God

Speculative Explanation of the Dogma of the Trinity

Speculative Explanation of the Internal Divine Processions

The Divine Relations and Persons

The Relation of the Trinity to Reason

God the Creator

The Divine Act of Creation

The Beginning or Creation of the World

The Continuous Preservation and Governing of the World

The Divine Work of Creation

The Doctrine of Revelation Regarding Man or "Christian Anthropology"

Revelation Concerning the Angels or "Christian Angelology"

The Doctrine of God the Redeemer

The Doctrine of the Person of the Redeemer

The True Divinity of Christ

Christ's True Humanity

The Union of His Two Natures in the one Person, Christ

Theological-Speculative Discussion on the Hypostatic Union

Inferences from the Hypostatic Union

The Attributes of Christ's Human Nature

The Preogatives of Christ's Human Nature

The Defects or the Passibility of Christ's Human Nature

The Work of the Redeemer

The Redemption in General

The Realisation of the Redemption through the Three Offices of Christ

The Glorious Conclusion of Christ's Work of Redemption

The Mother of the Redeemer

Mary's Motherhood of God

The Privileges of the Mother of God

Mary's Co-operation in the Work of the Redeemer

The Doctrine of God the Sanctifier

Actual Grace

The Nature of Actual Grace

The Necessity of Actual Grace

The Distribution of Actual Grace

The Relation between Grace and Freedom

Habitual Grace

The Process of Justification

The State of Justification

The Consequences or Fruits of Justification or the Doctrine Concerning Merit

The Church

The Divine Origin of the Church

The Constitution of the Church

The Internal Constitution of the Church

The Properties or Essential Attributes of the Church

The Necessity of the Church

The Communion of Saints

The Sacraments

The Nature of the Sacraments

The Efficacy and the Effects of the Sacraments

The Institution and the Seven-fold Nature of the Sacraments

The Minister and the Recipient of the Sacraments

Pre-Christian Sacraments and the Sacramentals

The Seven Sacraments

The Sacrament of Baptism

The Sacrament of Confirmation

The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

The Fact of the Real Presence of Christ

The Effecting of Christ's Real Presence, or the Transubstantiation

Nature and Manner of the Real Presence of Christ

The Blessed Eucharist and Human Reason

The Eucharist as Sacrament

The Eucharist as Sacrifice

The Reality of the Sacrifice of the Mass

The Nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass

The Effects and Efficacy of the Sacrifice of the Mass

The Church's Power to Forgive Sins