We are currently witnessing the greatest catechetical crisis in the history of the Church.
In 2018, Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) to change its teaching on the death penalty—a controversy that continues to be challenged by cardinals, bishops, priests, and theologians around the world.
But that was just the beginning. In addition to warping the very theology of the ordained ministry in his latest motu proprio, Francis is also on record as intending even more “updates” to the CCC that will include changes to its teaching on just warfare, and the inclusion of novel language about “ecological sins.”
Who knows? The Catechism could soon teach that it is sinful to own an air conditioner.
Far more troubling, however, is the Pope’s recent endorsement of homosexual civil unions, which may soon find its way into the CCC as well. For, as the Vatican’s 2020 Directory for Catechesis recently announced: “The [CCC] is therefore not a static expression of doctrine, but a dynamic instrument,” (n. 192) thus making it subject to perpetual revision at the whim of whoever wears the white.
It seems that the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is now entirely up for grabs.
The clearest acknowledgment of this newfound “evolutionary” approach is the fact that the Vatican Directory for Catechesis itself includes a highly revealing footnote within the section on capital punishment. After citing Pope Francis’ unprecedented new teaching on this subject, the footnote reads (emphasis mine): “Cf. also CCC 2267 (new edition August 1, 2018).”
Imagine that! In a bizarre impersonation of Protestantism, Catholics everywhere will now need to own the most current edition of the CCC, in order to ensure that the changeless teaching of Jesus Christ hasn’t suddenly changed under their very feet: “Oh, you have the 1997 edition of the Catechism? Sorry, we don’t believe that anymore. Check the new edition.”
To use any catechism as a vehicle for constant “development” in this way, tinkering with it whenever it serves popular opinion or the passing fancy of liberal elites, undermines the usefulness of that particular document. It also causes grave scandal and confusion about the abiding constancy of Catholic doctrine as a whole. As Raymond Cardinal Burke, Prefect Emeritus for the Apostolic Signatura, stated so simply: “If the Catechism can be changed by [Francis] in this way, where does that leave the infallible teaching of the Church before? That’s the whole point.” (Marian Catechist Weekend, July 21, 2019).
Indeed, as Saint Paul reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb 13:8) The doctrine that Our Lord entrusted to his Apostles does not change from age to age or place to place. This is why, in the latter part of the 19th century, the First Vatican Council thundered against any who would seek to alter Catholic teaching to suit modern sensibilities:
The doctrine of the faith which God has revealed, is put forward not as some philosophical discovery capable of being perfected by human intelligence, but as a divine deposit committed to the spouse of Christ to be faithfully protected and infallibly promulgated. (Dei Filius, Ch. 4)
Even so, because catechisms are not infallible documents in themselves, the Vatican’s new approach of constantly revising the CCC will be highly effective in misleading those who still innocently believe that the CCC is the authoritative lodestar of Catholic orthodoxy—an inerrant compendium of Catholic faith and moral teaching.
To make matters worse, there are innumerable local and regional catechisms, textbooks, and teaching aids that are modeled on the CCC, using it as their chief point of reference: all of these must be updated as well. For example, the US Bishops’ Catholic Catechism for Adults, having been recently revised to match the CCC’s latest evolution on capital punishment, was rather embarrassingly admitted by Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles as employing “eloquent ambiguity” in its teaching—as if the purpose of a catechism was to confuse, rather than to clarify the teaching of Christ and his Church! A true catechism crisis, if ever there was one.
The doctrinal instability, inherent in the CCC and so many other texts that rely on it, has left men and women both inside and outside the Church wondering: “If these more recent catechisms are unreliable, are there any older catechisms that we should turn to instead?”
The simplest answer is: “Yes, all of them.”
Even many Catholics are surprised to learn that thousands of different catechisms have been issued by the Church’s teaching office throughout the centuries, and that these display a remarkable continuity of teaching from one to another.
But such continuity ought not surprise us. Christ committed to His Church a single, “defined body of doctrine, applicable to all times and all men,” (Pius X, Lamentabili Sane, n. 59) and we should expect this doctrine to peruse not only decades, but entire centuries of Catholic catechisms. In it, we discover harmonious agreement and unbroken continuity on all matters of faith and morals.
When Catholic bishops spread across the nations and throughout the centuries offer a unified voice to their teaching office in the catechisms officially approved by them, this is an authentic expression of the Universal Ordinary Magisterium. It is an organ of infallibility, and an effective antidote in our own time against the erroneous notion (long since condemned by the Church) that dogma can “evolve….”
The above comes from a Jan. 27 story in Crisis Magazine.
all of the American bishops should resign if they cannot stand up for the truth of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, compiled by Pope John Paul II and , at the time, Cardinal Raztzinger. It was a source of unity and clarity for all of the divisive, different interpretations of Vatican II. Furthermore, none of the American bishops did anything about McCarrick, and the cabal around him. They knowingly kept silent, as long as the money kept flowing to their chanceries to build their political fiefdoms.
Sadly, long before Francis got ahold of it, the CCC itself was rife with non infallible proclamations that we’re conjoined to Catholic doctrine in an attempt to make their theological speculations appear infallible and magisterial. In effect they succeeded. The death penalty and sodomy are scripturally chiseled in concrete and non negotiable. Go’s has spoken in no uncertain terms. The act of “pastorally massaging” sacred scripture to diminish the Truth is repugnant to God and the Body of Christ.
The Bible is infallible. Catechisms are not but they do contain infallible dogmas and doctrines. There is no claim that the CCC is infallible. Everything does not have to be infallible.
The Catechism of Trent says that the soul is created not at the time of conception but sometime later. That is not infallible and is now considered untrue. it does not invalidate the whole catechism.
“eloquent ambiguity”
Typical Barron speak.
Weaponized ambiguity!
Is it any wonder that the Catholic laity have been thrown into a state of flux? We are really in dark times if our own leadership is rent asunder.
It is not the leadership of the Church doing this although I grant you that some of them are giving pause. This article is a silly, irresponsible diatribe written by a traditionalist who is working on compiling and selling a catechism series.
We are not in a catechetical crisis.
Please don’t let one person’s inflammatory gossip upset you.
None of this is true.
I don’t know what to call this. It is like when you tell your wife that you are going bowling and she answers “So you are going to see that blonde.”
Please don’t fall for this stuff.
I love when the dissenters here try and turn good into evil by trying to convince you that none of this is true. It’s one person’s inflammatory gossip & a silly irresponsible diatribe, they say. Nice try but it won’t work. All of the above is true so if it’s bothering your conscience maybe that’s a good thing. Face reality,
All of the above, with few exception, is dissidence.
Anyone who tries to cast doubt on the Catechism of the Catholic Church is being used by Satan.
Erm … exactly *which* Catechism of the Catholic Church should we defend? The Trent one, the 1982 one, the 1997 one, the 2018 version?
This is such a poorly written and poorly researched article. Pope Francis did not “change” the teaching of the Church on the death penalty. The truth is that the traditional teaching of the Church says that societies have recourse to the death penalty if it is the “only”–get that people, “only”–means to defend society. It was actually Pope St. John Paul II who judged that in most societies there are other means to protect society without having to resort to the death penalty thereby making its use “cruel and unnecessary.” Pope Benedict continued this teaching; and so did Pope Francis. It is just so convenient for Francis-detractors to wrongly accuse the present Pontiff of “changing” doctrine when he didn’t. The traditional doctrine is the same as I stated earlier and it is untouched.
That’s not the traditional teaching of the church. Jon’s post gets four Pinocchio’s.
The Catechism of the Council of Trent tells us,
“Far from being guilty of breaking this commandment [Thou shall not kill], such an execution of justice is precisely an act of obedience to it. For the purpose of the law is to protect and foster human life. This purpose is fulfilled when the legitimate authority of the State is exercised by taking the guilty lives of those who have taken innocent lives”
(Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent, 1566, Part III, 5, n. 4.).
Jon:
If you read the Roman Catechism, there is no such stipulation about “only”. The only issue is proportionality. John Paul II made a change and some of us were bothered at the time, for good cannot become evil or evil good with the passage of time. We were also told that life imprisonment without parole was a desirable substitute for execution – until Francis said THAT”s not nice. I don’t like moved goalposts. I don’t like my faith called into question by outsiders who jeer at my claims of certainty for the Faith because they point to the moved goalposts. If the death penalty was acceptable to Sixtus V and Bl. Pius IX (who enforced it on the Papal States) and to Bl. Pius XII (who complained that Nuremberg didn’t hang enough Nazis), then how does it become unacceptable now? How can the Truth change so much is less than a century?
Pope Francis approved a revision of the Catechism. The Catechism is written and revised by the Congregation on the Doctrine of the Faith.
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/08/02/180802a.html
Pope Francis also sent a letter to the bishops explaining this.
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/08/02/180802b.html
The Church is trying to teach the sacredness of human life.
I find it interesting that Jesus did not prevent the execution of the adulteress under the law but asked for holiness from her executioners. They could not meet the criteria.
As followers of Christ, we too should be holy.
As someone who opposes the death penalty, I have no problem with that one aspect however, recognizing sodomite unions is giving consent to sin and is a direct attack on the Natural Law, and on marriage and family. Ecological sins is a joke. And what happened to global warming? Now it’s climate change although for millions of years we have had climate change. It’s cyclical. It’s all about control.
The Catechism, the Constitution, the Bible, remember, just like gender, they’re all fluid.
Like everything else…
(Well, except taxes and big tech censorship.)
Yeah, why not make the Catechism into an online wiki. It would be updated every day, and men such as Fr. James Martin could have their say in what it teaches.
The Bible is infallible. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is not infallible, but is a sure norm.
The person who wrote this needs to go to Confession for the sin of scandal.
The devil is active and after all of us.
Unilateral changing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is most unfortunate. The Catechism was drafted carefully, with broad consultation. This Pope speaks of collegiality, accompaniment, consultation, collaboration and then does things on his own, without consulting his brother bishops. Some of these changes have little or no resemblance to the development of doctrine, described by Saint John Henry Newman. Development of doctrine cannot mean reversal of doctrine. The developed tree must have grown from the seed and resemble it. The Biblical and consistent teaching of the Church regarding homosexual acts, to give one example, cannot be “overturned” and now, somehow, the Church can “bless” what Christians (and Jews and others) have known for millennia is sinful. (There is nothing compassionate, merciful or loving about encouraging people to continue to sin.) Pope Benedict emphasized the hermeneutic of continuity, rather than the hermeneutic of disruption. He warned us of “studied ambiguity.” We all need to deepen our knowledge of the Scriptures and the authentic Tradition of the Church and point to that.
And, amen to what Father John said!
anonymous clergyman, the Church does not bless homosexual acts. They are a mortal sin.
Having worked in a prison, I can tell you all
that the death penalty / life imprisonment inmates are an ever-present danger
(and evil influence) to other inmates, guards, and medical staff.
Even if an inmate is segregated with tight security, there are still inhouse Doctor appts and outside Specialists appointments, trips to court, etc. which bring them into exposure with many others. Nurses have to deliver meds to them or the murderer come to the public inmate med area.
Often, they travel with other inmates and few guards by bus, return through the inmate Reception area into the presence of Nurses, inmates, & few guards. If they miss a medication delivery, they are allowed to get on the medication line with the general inmate population. ( 1 guard)
So lets say, they are in a crowded room with few guards at least every 2 months at the very least.
The inmates enjoy seeing the infamous murderer and many are envious of their notoriety.
They want to emulate them. Instead of a deterrent to crime, it is an incentive to crime.
Death Row inmates are legendary, heroes to gossip about.
Often the guards will avoid confronting them about misdeeds or even threats to staff
because of fear or caution.
And the opportunity to fulfill the threat to kill that staff member, did materialize after return from court, but the physical attack was interrupted by a guard.
In addition, Escape and incitement to violence are both ever-present dangers.
They have nothing to lose – so anger, boredom, taking offense at nothing can be a daily
habit.
If they were going to convert and repent, its more likely to have happened early in their
sentencing and penalty date.
But, on the whole, the inmates were very decent and good-hearted people.
Please remember inmates in your prayers.
et tu brutes, fluid Druid. Pure sophistry. Truth is not fluid. Truth is a person and that person is Jesus the Christ. “I am the way , the TRUTH and the life…” look it up and be converted. May God enlighten you.
Qou, is it possible I’m not really a Celtic magician, but, maybe, someone trying to point out the absurdity of claiming that everything changes?
Maybe not a lot of Druids read the California Catholic Daily (although it does seem a popular site). Check out the Delaware Druid Daily. Their former Senator, now holding a higher office, may be a Druid. You should read the outrageous things he claims! (Transgenderism “is the civil rights issue of our time!” for example.)
Benedicat nos Deus, omnia.
The Catechism does need updating.
The Church and its people are dealing with issues like gender theory, societal accommodations of gay and transgender individuals, families who use IVF, genetic manipulation, economic issues, vaccine morality, etc that were not prominent issues in the 1980s. There have been some statements but there are also a lot of opinions from people not in authority who really should defer with docility to the Church.
You confound addressing new applications of old principles with changing the principles. Sex deliberately sterilized and sex outside a marriage of a man and woman are still sins, no matter how many new forms a perverse world invents to challenge the Commandments. The same is true with cheating, stealing and coveting: new ways to get around old rules require new applications but not new rules. The change on the death penalty is an innovation: an about-face of long-standing teaching. So would prove church approval of socialism (if it ever happens). The Pope is a custodian, not a dictator.
The death penalty is not the issue here. It is the fact that someone is saying that the Church cannot be trusted to teach the Catholic Faith which is scandal.
Aaron Seng is the founder and president of the Catholic nonprofit Tradivox, dedicated to “Giving Voice to Tradition” His best-known work is on the internationally acclaimed Catholic Catechism Index, a monumental project restoring long-lost traditional catechisms to a worldwide audience. The author of this article may mean well, but I suspect that he is really trying to sell his Catechism Index.
Excellent piece. Well thought out and well written. I read some of the dissenting comments and I wonder why they stick around. They sound like rabble rousers.
There is no catechetical crisis.
Pope Francis did not revise the catechism. He approved the revision proposed by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith-the same Vatican body which issued the Catechism with the approval and promulgation of Pope John Paul II.
How did Pope Francis warp the theology of the ordained ministry in his latest moto proprio?
The Catechism is not going to teach that it is sinful to own an air conditioner.
The quote by Cardinal Burke is taken totally out of context.
The CCC is the authoritative compilation of the teaching of the Church. If he thinks there is a crisis now, he should have the “80s.
The thousands of catechisms issued by the Church must be local catechisms. They did not come from the Vatican.
Why would you not want the latest edition of the Catechism? The Truths of the Catholic Church do not change and have not changed. Mostly what would “change” is application of a moral principle, like “Thou shalt not kill”. Old catechisms did not envision questions about keeping someone alive by a machine, using aborted baby retinas to produce life-saving vaccines, a stranger carrying a married couples baby in her womb, infertile women being made pregnant through technology using a stranger’s cells, Of course get the latest.
Old catechisms have merit because the sins of simpler times are still rampant today. Maybe not dueling, but we are not far from there. Some of their formats are easier to look things up in than the CCC.
I don’t remember anything about birth control in the Baltimore Catechism.
This is exactly why you need the Catechism of the Catholic Church (latest edition.)
I learned early not to buy books (remember those) from laypeople.
Stick with priests, bishops the Pope. If you have been alienated from this Pope, then go back to Benedict or St. John Paul II.
Thank you Jesus that I had good books explaining the Faith and that I converted before the age of the Internet.
Talk to a priest, if you do not understand.
Only the original edition of the CCC was declared to be a “sure norm” by Pope St. John Paul II. Ignore all the “new editions”; conflicting editions can’t all be correct.
Dave N., the 1994 English CCC was published with the understanding that it would be altered where it varied from the official Latin. For lack of a better word, we are using the term edition but really there were some corrections that were made. You can google what they were.
The original text, the one actually approved by Pope St. John Paul I in 1994, was published in French–the Latin editio typica came later. If you compare the French and Latin texts closely, you will see that the •many• changes were more than minor translation issues.
Then the Catechism was revised again in 1997 and then *again* in 2018. Any text that claims to be a “sure norm” shouldn’t need to be revised several times within a couple of decades.
Is it true that the German bishops are releasing a new Catechism of the German Church, Mein Katechizm und Mein Kirke?
It’s only available in an online version so that it can be updated weekly.
The original version had some quotes from Father Martin Luther but they were subsequently deleted as he was deemed to be too Catholic, too conservative and “rigid.”
With 8-9 percent of every German Catholic’s income tax going to the Church, they’re rich financially, yet dying numerically and spiritually.
Saint Boniface, pray for the volks.