Depositum fidei

In Catholicism, the Latin term depositum fidei denotes the item of faith, the "background of faith". This primarily means the complete doctrinal content of Christian revelation, as it is, according to the Catholic view, passed on through the apostolic tradition through the Church .

In the broader sense, besides the instruction of the faith, the lex credendi , the lex orandi also belongs to the deposit; that is, the law of prayer , since the liturgical life of the Church also fully embodies the sense of faith, especially in the celebration of the sacraments . The deposit also includes the awareness of the church itself that it is the structured, visible presence of Christ, its founder, in time.

The concept of the depositum fidei is not in contradiction to the authority of the Bible , as this, according to the Catholic understanding, requires lively development through the community of the Church, i.e. it cannot be applied autonomously outside of the religious community.

source

• Vatican II , Constitution Dei Verbum , 1965.