Catechism of the Catholic Church

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church (abbreviated KKK , unofficial name: Catechism , sometimes: Catechism of the k atholischen Church ) is a manual of instruction in the fundamental questions of Roman Catholic faith . Catechism is derived from the Greek  κατηχέω ( katechéo  "I teach / instruct"). The KKK is a "statement of the faith of the Church and of Catholic teaching as witnessed or enlightened by the Holy Scriptures, the apostolic tradition and the Magisterium of the Church". With continuous paragraph numbering, summarizing short texts at the end of the individual chapters and extensive references to comparable paragraphs and to texts from the Bible and the Catholic tradition, the KKK is, in addition to a coherent description, also a reference work for the Roman Catholic understanding of the Christian faith.

Pope John Paul II. Has left him on 25 June 1992 approved and its publication on 11 October 1992 by Apostolic Constitution Fidei deposit located. The catechism has been translated into numerous languages, but the official edition is Latin . The Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae , published in 1997, is the authentic template for all national language editions , the changes of which have been incorporated into the current editions.

predecessor

The first catechism was written in the 8th century by the English scholar Alcuin , and other expanded catechisms followed. During the Reformation, Martin Luther wrote the small catechism in 1529 and, from 1528, the large catechism especially for theologians and pastors . This prompted Petrus Canisius to publish the Greater Catechism for Students in 1555 . In 1566 the Catechism Romanus was finally drawn up based on a decree of the Council of Trent and was primarily intended for pastors. This was translated into several national languages, including German. After that, more adult and minor catechisms appeared, especially in the 20th century.

Emergence

The KKK was initially developed under the working title "World Catechism". According to his own statements, Pope John Paul II implemented a wish of the Synod of Bishops on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council in 1985. In 1986 he convened a commission of twelve cardinals and bishops chaired by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger , which in six years prepared a draft for the catechism. She was supported by an editorial committee of seven diocesan bishops as well as experts in theology and catechesis .

The secretary of the catechism commission was Christoph Schönborn , initially professor of dogmatics in Friborg , and since 1991 auxiliary bishop in Vienna . Besides Joseph Ratzinger, members of the commission were: Cardinal William Wakefield Baum , Cardinal Simon D. Lourdusamy , Cardinal Jozef Tomko , Cardinal Antonio Innocenti , Archbishop Jan Schotte , Cardinal Bernard F. Law ( Boston ), Archbishop Jerzy Stroba ( Poznan ), Archbishop Henry Sebastian D'Souza ( Calcutta ), Coadjutor Archbishop Isidore de Souza ( Cotonou , Benin), Bishop Felipe Santiago Benítez Ávalos ( Asunción , Paraguay), the Melkite Archbishop of Syrian Aleppo Néophytos Edelby (later replaced by the Maronite Bishop Guy-Paul Noujaim ) .

The editorial committee consisted of: José Manuel Estepa Llaurens (Spanish military bishop), Archbishop Jean-Marcel Honoré ( Tours ), Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic ( Paraná , Argentina ), Bishop David Every Konstant ( Leeds ), Archbishop Joseph Levada ( Portland in Oregon ), Bishop Alessandro Maggiolini ( Carpi , Como since 1989 ), Bishop Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez ( Rancagua , Chile), the Maronite priest Jean Corbon (Lebanon).

At the beginning of the work on the catechism, the principles for the work were recorded:

  • The catechism is intended to offer an organic and synthetic, as concise and complete as possible, presentation of the essential and fundamental elements of the Catholic doctrine and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and in continuity with the tradition of the Church.
  • The addressees of the catechism should first and foremost be the bishops as teachers of the faith, and secondly the authors of catechisms, catechists and all the faithful .
  • The structure should be tripartite: creed , sacraments , decalogue .

After a series of drafts and submissions from the bishops from all over the world church, the final text and title of the catechism (previously: “Catechism for the world church”) were determined on February 14, 1991.

The KKK was first published in French in 1992, then translated into various languages, until the relevant Latin edition appeared in 1997 (with changes that were then incorporated into the current editions).

In 2003 Pope John Paul II commissioned Joseph Ratzinger to create a short catechism from the KKK. The "Volkskatechismus" ( Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church ) published in 2005 answers 598 questions on 256 pages , following on from old catechism traditions (see Martin Luther's Small Catechism ). It was first published in Italian in 2005, but is now also in German available. On August 2, 2018, Pope Francis enshrined the general rejection of the death penalty in the catechism.

structure

After the prologue (1–25), the text of the KKK is divided into four parts:

The Creed (Faith)

  • Paragraphs 26-1065
  • First of all, fundamental statements (cf. fundamental theology ) about the audibility and the transmission ( apostles , bible ) of the revelation are made and reflected upon about faith .
  • The second section of the Apostles' Creed forms the guideline on the basis of which statements and explanations about the contents of the faith are made.

The celebration of the Christian mystery (sacraments)

Life in Christ (morality)

Christian prayer (prayer life)

  • Paragraphs 2558-2865
  • First, the meaning, sources and forms of prayer in Christian prayer are explained and interpreted.
  • In the second section, the Lord's Prayer is presented as a summary of the entire Gospel and the address “Father” is explained spiritually. The seven petitions of the Our Father are unfolded in detail.

scope

The KKK “is not intended to replace the […] local catechisms […] It is intended to encourage the writing of new local catechisms and to support those who take account of different situations and cultures, but at the same time carefully consider unity of faith and to maintain faithfulness to Catholic teaching. ”( Fidei depositum , No. 4) According to this requirement, the content of the KKK is considered to be an authentic doctrine of the entire Catholic Church and should be viewed as binding.

The catechism aims to address the most varied of addressees and fulfill tasks:

  • It should serve as a guide and an authoritative point of reference for the development of various catechisms for the various ages in the dioceses, countries and regions of the universal Church.
  • For priests, religion teachers and catechists, it should be an aid (“safe and authentic reference text”) in teaching the faith.
  • For the Catholics who want to orient themselves coherently and comprehensively about their faith, it should represent a kind of reader and reference work.
  • For people of other religions or world views, it should serve as a source of information about the Catholic faith.

criticism

In addition to broad appreciation of the KKK as an overall representation of the Christian faith according to the Roman Catholic understanding - especially by Hansjürgen Verweyen and Ulrich Ruh - the KKK was fundamentally criticized for the fact that the catechism, due to the unclear or diverging target group, missed the meaning and purpose of a uniformity of Work is only superficially available, the KKK shows an unhistorical self-image and it takes too little account of today's understanding of faith or today's Christian way of life.

The most serious objection is probably that the KKK theologically falls behind the Second Vatican Council in some essential points. This can be explained using individual examples:

Dealing with Bible texts

  • The historically and critically secured questioning about the earthly Jesus is not carried out , nor is sufficient attention paid to the independent theological statements of the biblical authors: "The theology of the catechism authors dominates over that of the New Testament authors, who again only act as suppliers of references."
  • The spiritual interpretation of scriptures is presented in a historicizing way against the biblical text in some places (especially in the paragraph “The Mysteries of the Life of Christ” KKK 512-570).

Dealing with texts of the Second Vatican Council

  • The understanding of revelation , which since Vatican II (Constitution Dei Verbum ) has broken away from the instructional ( faith = holding a teaching to be true) and extrinsicistic (faith is based on miracles instead of rational insight ) and is now more christological and holistically, is traced back in the KKK to the old model: Revelation shows itself to be a treasure trove of teachings that are to be taken to be true, that are not penetrable by human reason and are legitimized by miracles.
  • Ever since the relationship between Scripture (Bible) and tradition (Church tradition) was understood as a mutual priority in Dei Verbum , the KKK today again indicated a preponderance of tradition and Church authority over Scripture, with the special emphasis on spiritual interpretation and Church authority .

expenditure

In German language

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church . Oldenbourg, Munich and Vienna / St. Benno, Leipzig / Paulusverlag, Freiburg im Üechtland / Veritas, Linz 1993, ISBN 3-486-55999-0 (born) ISBN 3-486-56038-7 (paperback).
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church. New translation based on the Editio typica latina . With CD-ROM. Oldenbourg, Munich and Vienna / St. Benno, Leipzig / Paulusverlag, Freiburg im Üechtland, ISBN 3-486-56637-7 ; corrected reprint 2005.

First edition in French and editio typica latina

  • Catéchisme de l'Eglise Catholique . Mame / Plon, Paris 1992. ISBN 2-7289-0549-5 .
  • Catechism Catholicae Ecclesiae . Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano 1997, ISBN 88-209-2428-5 .

Abstract (compendium)

literature

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fidei depositum , No. 4
  2. ↑ Online edition: http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism_lt/index_lt.htm .
  3. ↑ List of the most important changes ( Memento of July 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).
  4. ↑ List of the most important changes ( Memento of July 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ Death penalty generally rejected. Deutschlandfunk from August 2, 2018
  6. ↑ Ruh, pp. 130-133.
  7. ↑ Verweyen, p. 23.
  8. ↑ Verweyen, pp. 27-38.
  9. ↑ Verweyen, pp. 38-52.