1. The highest degree of certainty appertains to the immediately revealed truths. The belief due to them is based on the authority of God Revealing (fides divina), and if the Church, through its teaching, vouches for the fact it a truth is contained in Revelation, one’s certainty is then also based on the authority of the Infallible Teaching Authority of the Church (fides catholica). If Truths are defined by a solemn judgment of faith (definition) of the Pope or of a General Council, they are “de fide definita.”

2. Catholic truths or Church doctrines, on which the infallible Teaching Authority of the Church has finally decided, are to be accepted with a faith which is based on the sole authority of the Church (fides ecclesiastica). These truths are as infallibly certain as dogmas proper.

3. A Teaching proximate to Faith (sententia fidei proxima) is a doctrine, which is regarded by theologians generally as a truth of Revelation, but which has not yet been finally promulgated as such by the Church.

4. A Teaching pertaining to the Faith, i.e., theologically certain (sententia ad fidem pertinens, i.e., theologice certa) is a doctrine, on which the Teaching Authority of the Church has not yet finally pronounced, but whose truth is guaranteed by its intrinsic connection with the doctrine of revelation (theological conclusions).

5. Common Teaching (sententia communis) is doctrine, which in itself belongs to the field of free opinions, but which is accepted by theologians generally.

6. Theological opinions of lesser grades of certainty are called probable, more probable, well-founded (sententia probabilis, probabilior, bene fundata). Those which are regarded as being in agreement with the consciousness of Faith of the Church are called pious opinions (sententia pia). The least degree of certainty is possessed by the tolerated opinion (opinio tolerata), which is only weakly founded, but which is tolerated by the Church.

With regard to the doctrinal teaching of the Church it must be well noted that not all the assertions of the Teaching Authority of the Church on questions of Faith and morals are infallible and consequently irrevocable. Only those are infallible which emanate from General Councils representing the whole episcopate and the Papal Decisions Ex Cathedra (cf D 1839). The ordinary and usual form of the Papal teaching activity is not infallible. Further, the decisions of the Roman Congregations (Holy Office, Bible Commission) are not infallible.

Nevertheless normally they are to be accepted with an inner assent which is based on the high supernatural authority of the Holy See (assensus internus supernaturalis, assensus religiosus). The so-called “silentium obsequiosum,” that is “reverent silence,” does not generally suffice. By way of exception, the obligation of inner agreement may cease if a competent expert, after a renewed scientific investigation of all grounds, arrives at the positive conviction that the decision rests on an error.

1. God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty, by the natural light of reason from created things.

2. God's existence is not merely an object of rational knowledge, but also an object of supernatural faith.

3. God's Nature is incomprehensible to men.

4. The blessed in Heaven possess an immediate intuitive knowledge of the Divine Essence.

5. The immediate vision of God transcends the natural power of cognition of the human soul, and is therefore supernatural.

6. The soul, for the immediate vision of God, requires the light of glory.

7. God's Essence is also incomprehensible to the blessed in Heaven.

8. The divine attributes are really identical among themselves and with the Divine Essence.

9. God is absolutely perfect.

10. God is actually infinite in every perfection.

11. God is absolutely simple.

12. There is only one God.

13. The one God is, in the ontological sense, the true God.

14. God possesses an infinite power of cognition.

15. God is absolute veracity.

16. God is absolutely faithful.

17. God is absolute ontological goodness in Himself and in relation to others.

18. God is absolute moral goodness or holiness.

19. God is absolute benignity.

20. God is absolutely immutable.

21. God is eternal.

22. God is immense or absolutely immeasurable.

23. God is everywhere present in created space.

24. God's knowledge is infinite.

25. God's knowledge is purely and simply actual.

26. God's knowledge is subsistent.

27. God knows all that is merely possible by the knowledge of simple intelligence.

28. God knows all real things in the past, the present and the future.

29. By the knowledge of vision, God also foresees the future free acts of rational creatures with infallible certainty.

30. God's Divine Will is infinite.

31. God loves Himself of necessity, but loves and wills the creation of extra-divine things, on the other hand, with freedom.

32. God is almighty.

33. God is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth.

34. God is infinitely just.

35. God is infinitely merciful.

36. 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.

37. In God there are two internal divine processions.

38. The Divine Persons, not the Divine Nature, are the subject of the internal divine processions (in the active and in the passive sense).

39. The Second Divine Person proceeds from the First Divine Person by generation, and therefore is related to Him as Son to Father.

40. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and from the Son as from a single principle through a single spiration.

41. The Holy Ghost does not proceed through generation but through spiration.

42. The relations in God are really identical with the Divine Nature.

43. The Three Divine Persons are in one another.

44. All the ad extra activities of God are common to the three Persons.

1. All that exists outside God was, in its whole substance, produced out of nothing by God.

2. God was moved by His goodness to create the world.

3. The world was created for the glorification of God.

4. The Three Divine Persons are one single, common principle of creation.

5. God created the world free from exterior compulsion and inner necessity.

6. God has created a good world.

7. The world had a beginning in time.

8. God alone created the world.

9. God keeps all created things in existence.

10. God, through His Providence, protects and guides all that He has created.

11. The first man was created by God.

12. Man consists of two essential parts - a material body and a spiritual soul.

13. The rational soul per se is the essential form of the body.

14. Every human being possesses an individual soul.

15. God has conferred on man a supernatural destiny.

16. Our first parents, before the fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace.

17. In addition to sanctifying grace, our first parents were endowed with the preternatural gift of bodily immortality.

18. Our first parents in Paradise sinned grievously through transgression of the Divine probationary commandment.

19. Through sin our first parents lost sanctifying grace and provoked the anger and the indignation of God.

20. Our first parents became subject to death and to the dominion of the devil.

21. Adam's sin is transmitted to his posterity, not by imitation but by descent.

22. Original sin is transmitted by natural generation.

23. 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.

24. Souls who depart this life in the state of original sin are excluded from the Beatific Vision of God.

25. In the beginning of time God created spiritual essences (angels) out of nothing.

26. The nature of angels is spiritual.

27. The evil spirits (demons) were created good by God; they became evil through their own fault.

28. The secondary task of the good angels is the protection of men and care for their salvation.

29. The devil possesses a certain dominion over mankind by reason of Adam's sin.

1. Jesus Christ is true God and true Son of God.

2. Christ assumed a real body, not an apparent body.

3. Christ assumed not only a body but also a rational soul.

4. Christ was truly generated and born of a daughter of Adam, the Virgin Mary.

5. The Divine and human natures are united hypostatically in Christ, that is, joined to each other in one Person.

6. In the hypostatic union each of the two natures of Christ continues unimpaired, untransformed, and unmixed with each other.

7. Each of the two natures in Christ possesses its own natural will and its own natural mode of operation.

8. The hypostatic union of Christ's human nature with the Divine Logos took place at the moment of conception.

9. The hypostatic union was effected by the three Divine Persons acting in common.

10. Only the second Divine Person became Man.

11. Not only as God but also as man Jesus Christ is the natural Son of God.

12. 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.

13. Christ's Divine and human characteristics and activities are to be predicated of the one Word Incarnate.

14. Christ was free from all sin, from original sin as well as from all personal sin.

15. Christ's human nature was passable.

16. The Son of God became man in order to redeem men.

17. Fallen man cannot redeem himself.

18. The God-man Jesus Christ is a high priest.

19. Christ offered Himself on the Cross as a true and proper sacrifice.

20. Christ by His sacrifice on the Cross has ransomed us and reconciled us with God.

21. Christ, through His passion and death, merited award from God.

22. After His death, Christ's Soul, which was separated from His Body, descended into the underworld.

23. On the third day after His death, Christ rose gloriously from the dead.

24. Christ ascended body and soul into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.

1. Mary is truly the Mother of God.

2. Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Mary is the Immaculate Conception.

3. Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost without the cooperation of man.

4. Mary bore her Son without any violation of her virginal integrity.

5. After the birth of Jesus, Mary remained a Virgin.

6. Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven.

1. There is a supernatural intervention of God in the faculties of the soul, which precedes the free act of the will.

2. There is a supernatural influence of God in the faculties of the soul which coincides in time with man's free act of will.

3. For every salutary act, internal supernatural grace of God (gratia elevans) is absolutely necessary.

4. Internal supernatural grace is absolutely necessary for the beginning of faith and salvation.

5. Without the special help of God, the justified cannot persevere to the end in justification.

6. The justified person is not able for his whole life long to avoid sins, even venial sins, without the special privilege of the grace of God.

7. Even in the fallen state, man can, by his natural intellectual power, know religious and moral truths.

8. For the performance of a morally good action, sanctifying grace is not required.

9. 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.

10. Grace cannot be merited by natural works either de condigno or de congruo.

11. God gives all the just sufficient grace for the observation of the divine commandments.

12. God, by His eternal resolve of Will, has predetermined certain men to eternal blessedness.

13. God, by an eternal resolve of His Will, predestines certain men, on account of their foreseen sins, to eternal rejection.

14. The human will remains free under the influence of efficacious grace, which is not irresistible.

15. There is grace which is truly sufficient and yet remains inefficacious.

16. The causes of Justification. (Defined by the Council of Trent):

    1. The final cause is the honour of God and of Christ and the eternal life of men.

    2. The efficient cause is the mercy of God.

    3. The meritorious cause is Jesus Christ, who as mediator between God and men, has made atonement for us and merited the grace by which we are justified.

    4. The instrumental cause of the first justification is the Sacrament of Baptism. Thus it defines that Faith is a necessary precondition for justification (of adults).

    5. The formal cause is God's Justice, not by which He Himself is just, but which He makes us just, that is, Sanctifying Grace.

17. The sinner can and must prepare himself by the help of actual grace for the reception of the grace by which he is justified.

18. The justification of an adult is not possible without faith.

19. Besides faith, further acts of disposition must be present.

20. Sanctifying grace sanctifies the soul.

21. Sanctifying grace makes the just man a friend of God.

22. Sanctifying grace makes the just man a child of God and gives him a claim to the inheritance of heaven.

23. The three Divine or theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are infused with sanctifying grace.

24. Without special Divine Revelation no one can know with the certainty of faith, if he be in the state of grace.

25. The degree of justifying grace is not identical in all the just.

26. Grace can be increased by good works.

27. The grace by which we are justified may be lost, and is lost by every grievous sin.

28. By his good works, the justified man really acquires a claim to supernatural reward from God.

29. A just man merits for himself through each good work an increase of sanctifying grace, eternal life (if death finds him in the state of grace) and an increase in heavenly glory.

1. The Catholic Church was founded by the God-Man Jesus Christ.

2. Christ founded the Catholic Church in order to continue His work of redemption for all time.

3. Christ gave His Church a hierarchical constitution.

4. The powers bestowed on the Apostles have descended to the Bishops.

5. Christ appointed the Apostle Peter to be the first of all the Apostles and to be the visible Head of the whole Catholic Church, by appointing him immediately and personally to the primacy of jurisdiction.

6. According to Christ's ordinance, Peter is to have successors in his Primacy over the whole Catholic Church and for all time.

7. The successors of Peter in the Primacy are the Bishops of Rome.

8. The Pope possesses full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Catholic Church, not merely in matters of faith and morals, but also in Church discipline and in the government of the Church.

9. The Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra.

10. By virtue of Divine right, the bishops possess an ordinary power of government over their dioceses.

11. Christ founded the Catholic Church.

12. Christ is the Head of the Catholic Church.

13. In the final decision on doctrines concerning faith and morals, the Catholic Church is infallible.

14. The primary object of the Infallibility is the formally revealed truths of Christian Doctrine concerning faith and morals.

15. 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 he held by all the faithful.

16. The Church founded by Christ is unique and one.

17. The Church founded by Christ is holy.

18. The Church founded by Christ is catholic.

19. The Church founded by Christ is apostolic.

20. Membership of the Catholic Church is necessary for all men for salvation.

1. It is permissible and profitable to venerate the Saints in Heaven, and to invoke their intercession.

2. It is permissible and profitable to venerate the relics of the Saints.

3. It is permissible and profitable to venerate images of the Saints.

4. The living faithful can come to the assistance of the souls in Purgatory by their intercessions.

1. The Sacraments of the New Covenant contain the grace which they signify, and bestow it on those who do not hinder it.

2. The Sacraments work ex opere operato, that is, the sacraments operate by the power of the completed sacramental rite.

3. All the Sacraments of the New Covenant confer sanctifying grace on the receivers.

4. Three Sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, imprint a character, that is an indelible spiritual mark, and, for this reason, cannot be repeated.

5. The sacramental character is a spiritual mark imprinted on the soul.

6. The sacramental character continues at least until the death of the bearer.

7. All Sacraments of the New Covenant were instituted by Jesus Christ.

8. There are seven Sacraments of the New Law.

9. The Sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for the salvation of mankind.

10. The validity and efficacy of the Sacrament is independent of the minister's orthodoxy and state of grace.

11. For the valid dispensing of the Sacraments it is necessary that the minister accomplish the Sacramental sign in the proper manner.

12. The minister must have the intention of at least doing what the Church does.

13. In the case of adult recipients moral worthiness is necessary for the worthy or fruitful reception of the Sacraments.

1. Baptism is a true Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.

2. The materia remota of the Sacrament of Baptism is true and natural water.

3. Baptism confers the grace of justification.

4. Baptism effects the remission of all punishments of sin, both eternal and temporal.

5. Even 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.

6. Baptism by water (Baptismus fluminis) is, since the promulgation of the Gospel, necessary for all men without exception for salvation.

7. Baptism can be validly administered by anyone.

8. Baptism can be received by any person in the wayfaring state who is not already baptised.

9. The Baptism of young children is valid and licit.

1. Confirmation is a true Sacrament properly so-called.

2. Confirmation imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, and for this reason, cannot be repeated.

3. The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the Bishop alone.

1. The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist.

2. Christ becomes present in the Sacrament of the Altar by the transformation of the whole substance of the bread into His Body and of the whole substance of the wine into His Blood.

3. The accidents of bread and wine continue after the change of the substance.

4. The Body and Blood of Christ together with His Soul and Divinity and therefore, the whole Christ, are truly present in the Eucharist.

5. The Whole Christ is present under each of the two Species.

6. When either consecrated Species is divided, the Whole Christ is present in each part of the Species.

7. After the Consecration has been completed the Body and Blood are permanently present in the Eucharist.

8. The Worship of Adoration (latria) must be given to Christ present in the Eucharist.

9. The Eucharist is a true Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.

10. The matter for the consummation of the Eucharist is bread and wine.

11. For children before the age of reason, the reception of the Eucharist is not necessary for salvation.

12. Communion under two forms is not necessary for any individual members of the Faithful, either by reason of Divine precept or as a means of salvation.

13. The power of consecration resides in a validly consecrated priest only .

14. The Sacrament of the Eucharist can be validly received by every baptised person in the wayfaring state, including young children.

15. For the worthy reception of the Eucharist, the state of grace as well as the proper and pious disposition are necessary.

16. The Holy Mass is a true and proper Sacrifice.

17. In the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross is made present, its memory celebrated, and its saving power applied.

18. In the Sacrifice of the Mass and in the Sacrifice of the Cross the Sacrificial Gift and the Primary Sacrificing Priest are identical; only the nature and the mode of the offering are different.

19. The Sacrifice of the Mass is not merely a sacrifice of praise and thanks-giving, but also a sacrifice of expiation and impetration.

1. The Church has received from Christ the power of remitting sins committed after Baptism.

2. By the Church's Absolution sins are truly and immediately remitted.

3. The Church's power to forgive sins extends to all sin without exception.

4. The exercise of the Church's power to forgive sins is a judicial act.

5. 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.

6. Extra-sacramental justification is effected by perfect sorrow only when it is associated with the desire for the Sacrament (votum sacramenti).

7. Contrition springing from the motive of fear is a morally good and supernatural act.

8. The Sacramental confession of sins is ordained by God and is necessary for salvation.

9. By virtue of Divine ordinance, all grievous sins according to kind and number, as well as those circumstances which alter their nature, are subject to the obligation of confession.

10. The confession of venial sins is not necessary but is permitted and is useful.

11. All temporal punishments for sin are not always remitted by God with the guilt of sin and the eternal punishment.

12. The priest has the right and duty, according to the nature of the sins and the ability of the penitent, to impose salutary and appropriate works for satisfaction.

13. Extra-sacramental penitential works, such as the performance of voluntary penitential practices and the patient bearing of trials sent by God, possess satisfactory value.

14. The form of the Sacrament of Penance consists in the words of Absolution.

15. Absolution, in association with the acts of the penitent, effects the forgiveness of sins.

16. The principal effect of the Sacrament of Penance is the reconciliation of the sinner with God.

17. The Sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation to those who, after Baptism, fall into grievous sin.

18. The sole possessors of the Church's Power of Absolution are the bishops and priests.

19. Absolution given by deacons, clerics or lower rank, and laymen is not Sacramental Absolution.

20. The Sacrament of Penance can be received by any baptised person who, after Baptism, has committed a grievous or a venial sin.

21. The Church possesses the power to grant Indulgences.

22. The use of Indulgences is useful and salutary to the Faithful.

1. Holy Order is a true and proper Sacrament which was instituted by Jesus Christ.

2. The consecration of priests is a Sacrament.

3. Bishops are superior to priests.

4. The Sacrament of Order confers sanctifying grace on the recipient.

5. The Sacrament of Order imprints a character on the recipient.

6. The Sacrament of Order confers a permanent spiritual power on the recipient.

7. The ordinary dispenser of all grades of Order, both the sacramental and the non-sacramental, is the validly consecrated Bishop alone.

1. Marriage is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by God.

2. From the sacramental contract of marriage emerges the Bond of Marriage, which binds both marriage partners to a lifelong indivisible community of life.

3. The Sacrament of Matrimony bestows sanctifying grace on the contracting parties.

1. Extreme Unction or anointing of the sick is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ.

2. The remote matter of Extreme Unction is oil.

3. The form consists in the prayer of the priest for the sick person which accomplishes the anointing.

4. Extreme Unction gives the sick person sanctifying grace in order to arouse and strengthen him.

5. Extreme Unction effects the remission of grievous sins still remaining and of venial sins.

6. Extreme Unction sometimes effects the restoration of bodily health, if this be of spiritual advantage.

7. Only bishops and priests can validly administer Extreme Unction.

8. Extreme Unction can be received only by the Faithful who are seriously ill.

1. In the present order of salvation, death is a punishment for sin.

2. All human beings subject to original sin are subject to the law of death.

3. 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.

4. The bliss of Heaven lasts for all eternity.

5. The degree of perfection of the Beatific Vision granted to the just is proportioned to each one's merit.

6. The souls of those who die in the condition of personal grievous sin enter Hell.

7. The punishment of Hell lasts for all eternity.

8. The souls of the just which, in the moment of death, are burdened with venial sins or temporal punishment due to sins, enter purgatory.

9. At the end of the world Christ will come again in glory to pronounce judgement.

10. All the dead will rise again on the last day with their bodies.

11. The dead will rise again with the same bodies as they had on earth.

12. Christ, on His second coming, will judge all men.

Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic faith. For unless a person keeps this faith whole and entire, he will undoubtedly be lost forever. This is what the catholic faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is.

The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is boundless. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.

Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being. So there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one uncreated being and one boundless being. Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, the Holy Spirit is omnipotent.

Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

However, there are not three gods, but one God. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. However, there are not three lords, but one Lord. For as we are obliged by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person singly to be God and Lord, so too are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords.

The Father was not made, nor created, nor generated by anyone. The Son is not made, nor created, but begotten by the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is not made, nor created, nor generated, but proceeds from the Father and the Son. There is, then, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. In this Trinity, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less. The entire three Persons are coeternal and coequal with one another. So that in all things, as is has been said above, the Unity is to be worshiped in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.

He, therefore, who wishes to be saved, must believe thus about the Trinity. It is also necessary for eternal salvation that he believes steadfastly in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and man. As God, He was begotten of the substance of the Father before time; as man, He was born in time of the substance of His Mother. He is perfect God; and He is perfect man, with a rational soul and human flesh. He is equal to the Father in His divinity, but inferior to the Father in His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ. And He is one, not because His divinity was changed into flesh, but because His humanity was assumed unto God. He is one, not by a mingling of substances, but by unity of person. As a rational soul and flesh are one man: so God and man are one Christ. He died for our salvation, descended into Hell, and rose from the dead on the third day. He ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming, all men are to arise with their own bodies; and they are to give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good deeds will go into eternal life; those who have done evil will go into the everlasting fire.

This is the Catholic faith. Everyone must believe it, firmly and steadfastly; otherwise He cannot be saved. Amen.

I N. with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is contained in the Creed which the Holy Roman Church maketh use of. To wit:

I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I firmly admit to and embrace.

I also accept the Holy Scripture according to that sense which holy mother the Church hath held, and doth hold, and to whom it belongeth to judge the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all are necessary for everyone; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the accepted and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.

I embrace and accept each and everything which has been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.

I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that a conversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess that under either species alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.

I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.

I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.

I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.

I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching. I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church hath condemned, rejected, and anathematized.

This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life. And I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I N. do so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels of God.

I N. firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:19), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time. Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical’ misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely. Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili,especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God.