The Translators’ Introduction (1923)

It has been commonly asserted by non-Catholic writers that, prior to the religious rebellion of the sixteenth century, catechisms and catechetical instruction—in fact, all religious education of the people—had long been neglected, and that to Luther and the Reformers was due the revival of the practice of the ancient Church. From the days of the Apostles and during the first centuries very careful attention was given to Christian doctrine; but in the Middle Ages, we are told, the zealous practices of early times were relaxed, instruction was given up, and ignorance of the things of faith prevailed generally among the common people.

That the requirements for admission into the primitive Church were exacting and thorough, and that catechetics, or simple instructions in the fundamental teachings of Christianity were diligently imparted in those early times are facts too well known and universally admitted to require any special proof here. It is clear from the writings of the Fathers, from the ancient liturgies, and from the decrees of the first Councils that the catechumens before their Baptism were obliged to learn by heart the Our Father and the Apostles’ Creed, and had to be instructed in the meaning of these formulas.¹ In addition, special instruction was also given them regarding the Commandments and those Sacraments they were about to receive, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist.² It was to assist the labor of catechists that two famous books of instruction were composed in the fourth century, the Catechetical Oration of St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Augustine’s De Catechizandis Rudibus.³ And that instruction was regularly given to all the faithful on Sundays during the Eucharistic celebration or Mass we are assured by early authorities, such as Justin Martyr, Origen, Etheria, the Apostolic Constitutions, and St. Germain.⁴ At Jerusalem, indeed, in the first centuries we know that not one, but many sermons were preached after the reading of the Gospel at Mass.⁵ Not a few homilies of this early period have come down to us. Of these one of the oldest is the work known as the Second Epistle of Clement, written about 130 A.D., which was in reality an exhortation to lead a Christian life, and was used in the meetings of the faithful.⁶ Other similar, but more celebrated sermons are to be met with in the writings of all the greater Fathers. Among the early Popes we find such distinguished preachers as Leo the Great and Gregory the Great. In Milan St. Ambrose’s eloquence was renowned; at Hippo St. Augustine delivered short, colloquial instructions to his flock every Sunday and Feast Day; at Arles St. Caesarius was a zealous advocate of preaching and enjoined upon all his priests, both in the cities and in the country, to preach the Word to the people; at Antioch and Constantinople St. John Chrysostom became the most famous preacher of all time, surpassing his illustrious contemporaries, Gregory of Nazianzen and Basil, who were celebrated as sacred orators throughout all the East. It would take too long to enumerate here all the great teachers of Christian doctrine that flourished during the early centuries, and it is really not necessary, since, as said above, it is readily admitted that religious instruction of the people was not commonly neglected throughout the Patristic period.^{7 1} Cf. Didache; St. Cyril of Jer., Catecheses; Apost. Const., iii. 15, 16; Peregrinatio Ethereae, vii. 1-5; Pseudo-Diony.; St. Ambrose, De Mysteriis; Counc. of Agdé, can. xiii; Second Counc. of Braga, can. i, etc. ² On catechumens see Catholic Encycl. iii. p. 430; Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. pp. 1877 ff.; pp. 1968 ff.; Duchesne, Christian Worship, pp. 294 ff. ³ On this work of St. Aug. see Catholic Encycl. v. 77. ⁴ Justin Mar., Apol. i. 67; Origen, Migne P. G. xii. 1012; Pereg. Eth. p. 81; Apost. Const. ii. 57; St. Germ., Migne P. L. lxxii. ⁵ Pereg. l. c. ⁶ Tixeront, Handbook of Patrology, p. 21. ⁷ On catechetics in the early Church see Catholic Encycl. v. p. 76; vii. p. 443.

The whole question, therefore, centers about the Middle Ages, that is, from the beginning of the seventh to the sixteenth century. But a glance at this period will also show that there was no general neglect of proper instruction even during these centuries. This is evident in the first place from the many national and provincial Councils held in various countries commanding priests to instruct their people in the doctrines of faith, especially those contained in the Apostles’ Creed and the Pater Noster. Already in 529 the Council of Vaison had obliged the priests of Gaul to take boys into their household and teach them to read “the Psalms and the Holy Scriptures, and to instruct them in the law of God.” This same Council refers to a custom of this kind already existing in Italy. It was from these priests’ schools that the parochial schools of the Middle Ages and of modern times took their origin. Mention of such parish schools appears in the Acts of several Councils of England, France and Italy in the early Middle Ages. For instance, the Council of Cloveshoe in England, convened in 749, prescribed that the parish priest should always have in his house a school of learners, and that he should not demand for this instruction any recompense from the parents. Likewise Theodulf of Orleans in 797 decreed that gratuitous instruction should be given by the priests in every town and village of his diocese. A similar enactment is to be found in the Constitutions of Otto of Vercelli. The Council of Mayence in 813 decreed in its forty-fifth canon that parents should send their sons to the parish schools to learn in the vernacular the Our Father, the Creed, and all else that was needful for instruction in the Catholic faith. A Council held in Rome in 826 ordained that there should be three kinds of schools established throughout Christendom,—episcopal, parochial, in towns and villages, and others wherever there could be found place and opportunity. In the same century we learn that both boys and girls attended the schools attached to the parish churches in the diocese of Soissons.

Episcopal schools for the training of clerics and monastic centers for the education of the children of the neighborhood go back to the fourth or fifth century. In the sixth century we hear of convent schools for girls, as at Arles, and also of open schools conducted by nuns for the benefit of the entire neighborhood. Throughout the Middle Ages monastic schools flourished all over Europe. The children of the rich and poor alike frequented these schools and instruction was imparted gratis; nay, we even read that in these institutions the poor children were sometimes nourished at the expense of the monastery. Toward the close of the medieval period communities of clerics were founded for the express purpose of devoting their lives to the education of the young. Of these the best known is that of the Brothers of the Common Life, founded by Gerard Groot (1340-1384). Thomas a Kempis was a member of this community.

Besides the parochial and monastic schools there were still others established during the Middle Ages for the purpose of instructing children. Such were the Chantry, or endowed Schools, where the poor were instructed free of charge. There were also Guild, Hospital, and City Schools,—all engaged in the work of education under the direction of the Church.

In short, we may say with the best historians that throughout the Middle Ages schools for religious and secular education were very numerous and well attended wherever circumstances permitted.⁸ The spirit of the Church during all this period is clearly reflected in the words of the third Lateran Council of 1179 which says: “Since the Church of God, as a pious Mother, is bound to provide that opportunity for learning should not be withdrawn from the poor, who are without help from patrimonial riches, be it ordained that in every cathedral there should be a master to teach both clerics and poor scholars gratis.” In the period just before the Reformation countless elementary schools existed in all the principal countries of Europe, so much so that Martin Luther himself said that it was almost impossible for a child to go ignorant under the Papacy. Even Mathesius, one of the most bitter of the Reformers, admitted that “parents and school masters taught their children the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Our Father, as I in my childhood learnt them at school and often repeated them with the other children, as was the custom in the olden schools.”⁹ Nor was religious instruction in medieval times neglected in the home and in the church. From the first centuries great stress was laid on religious training in the family. In this connection we need only recall the names of such Christian mothers as Monica and Paula to understand how faithfully this duty was fulfilled. In the writings of the Fathers also baptismal sponsors are frequently reminded of the serious obligations that rested upon them of providing for the religious education of their god-children. And that these early customs were zealously transmitted down to the sixteenth century we are assured by conciliar decrees and similar documents which repeatedly recalled the duties of religious training incumbent on parents and god-parents. In Luther’s own day elementary religious training in the home was by no means overlooked. Biel in 1510 asks in a sermon that parents prepare their children for first Communion; and in 1533 Cochlaeus, speaking of customary home instruction in Germany, says that the children had “sucked in (their religion), as it were, with their mother’s milk, and this is still the case to-day among Catholics.” ⁸ On medieval schools see Cath. Encycl. xiii. p. 554; Digby, Mores Cath. i. p. 600. ⁹ Historien, Bl. 63.

As for the instruction given in the churches there can be no doubt that the ancient custom of preaching on the Sunday Gospels and Epistles was not given over during the Middle Ages. We may take the practice among the Anglo-Saxons as fairly typical of others. There “the parish priest was required to expound in English on Sundays the portion of Scripture proper to the Mass of the day, and to preach, or if he were unable to preach, to read at least from a book some lesson of instruction.”¹⁰ Collections of homilies made for purposes of preaching and sermon books were quite numerous even in the early Middle Ages, which goes to show that the ministry of the Word was by no means a dead letter.¹¹ And not only were the clergy obliged to instruct the people, but the latter were also seriously admonished to be present at sermons, as we learn from such popular manuals of religious instruction as the fifteenth century Dives et Pauper. ¹⁰ Lingard, Anglo-Saxon Church, c. iv. ¹¹ Cath. Encycl., vii. p. 447.

Doctrinal discourses on the Our Father and Creed, similar to those which the early Fathers had given to the catechumens, were also customary. Lenten sermons on the Catechism which were an old custom long before Luther, were no doubt a continuation of the instruction given to catechumens before Baptism in the first ages of the Church.¹² From the thirteenth century onward we meet with conciliary enactments which prescribe frequent exposition of Christian doctrine. Thus at the Synod held under Archbishop Peckham of Canterbury in 1281 it was decreed that every parish priest should instruct his people in the vernacular four times a year on the Creed, the Commandments, the Sacraments, etc. In 1466 a Synod of the province of York reiterated this law. The Councils of Béziers in 1246, of Albi in 1254, and of Lavour in 1368 went still further and required that doctrinal sermons should be given in parish churches every Sunday. The last named Synod even published a catechism to be used as text-book for instructions by the clergy of the dioceses of Languedoc and Gascony. The duty of giving similar instructions to the faithful we also find inculcated in the statutes of the Councils of Gran in Hungary in 1114, of Gnesen in Poland in 1248, and of Tréves in Germany in 1227. In Germany in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries priests were often urged to recite from the pulpit every Sunday the Our Father and the Creed, and sometimes also the Hail Mary and the Decalogue. They were further required diligently to instruct the people on these heads. In 1502 the Basle parish priest, Johann Sargant, published a work for the use of preachers in which these points are developed.¹³ It must also be borne in mind, in this connection, that the thirteenth century saw the rise of the great mendicant Orders which were expressly founded for the purpose of preaching. They very soon spread into every country of Europe, preaching in the churches, on the streets, in the lanes and byways, so that again it could be said, as in the days of the Apostles, “their voice was heard in all the earth.”^{14 12} Grisar, Luther, v. p. 491. ¹³ Grisar, l. c. ¹⁴ On medieval preaching and catechetics see Cath. Encycl. vi. p. 78; vii. p. 444; Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. p. 1895.

We see, then, that, contrary to the charge often made against the Middle Ages, the work of teaching religion and of preaching was very far from being neglected in those centuries. But what about the further claim that the catechism originated with Luther? that the little book of popular religious instruction, arranged in the form of question and answer, and comprising all the chief heads of Christian doctrine was unknown before his Shorter Catechism of 1528? Again a brief glance at the facts as they existed will give us a satisfying reply here.

From the ninth century on, there have come down to us numerous works of popular instruction composed in Latin and in the newly formed European tongues. Such, for example, were the Disputatio Puerorum per Interrogationes et Responsiones (9th cent.), which explained the principal points of Christian doctrine; Notker’s exposition in old German of the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed (9th cent.) ; Ottfried’s Catechism, also in old German, treating the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the Symbol of St. Athanasius, a catalogue of mortal sins, and the Gloria in excelsis (9th cent.) ; the manual of Dhuoda to his son, explaining Christian faith and morality (9th cent.) ; the explanation of the Our Father and the Creed by Bruno of Würzburg (11th cent.).

Beginning with the twelfth and thirteenth centuries catechisms and works of popular instruction were so numerous that we must here confine ourselves to a mention of only some of the most important. Such were: the Elucidarius of Honorius of Autun (12th cent.), arranged in the form of questions and answers, and afterwards translated into many modern languages ; the Boxhorniana paraphrase of the Creed in old German (12th cent.) ; the Septenarium of Hugh of St. Victor in question and answer form (12th cent.); Joscelyn of Soissons’ exposition of the Creed (13th cent.) ; St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanations of the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, the Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Sacraments (13th cent.) ; a treatise on Christian doctrine for the use of children published in Italian (13th cent.) ; the Catechism of Friar Lawrence, or Royal Catechism, embracing all the principal heads of Christian doctrine, written in the thirteenth century and translated into French in 1481. In the fourteenth century appeared Cardinal Thoresby’s Layfolk’s Catechism in Latin and English, and a Catechism based on the Septenarium which the Archbishop of Toledo addressed to his clergy.

Among the many catechisms and works of popular instruction, which appeared between 1400 and the date of Luther’s birth in 1483, may be mentioned: Gerson’s A B C of Simple Folk, The Ordinary of Christians, The Art of Dying by Matthew of Cracow, The Treasure of Mankind,—all in French; Montanye’s treatise on how to live and die well, written in Spanish ; The Christian’s Mirror of Brother Dederich, The Guide of the Soul, The Consolation of the Soul, The Table of a Christian Life—each in German. Just before Luther’s rebellion in 1517 appeared in German Lindauwe’s explanation of the Commandments; in Italy, Savonarola’s expositions of the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Decalogue; in France, The Art of Living Well and of Dying Well; in England, The Teaching of Wisdom, The Maniple of Pastors, The Art of Living Well, and The Mirror of a Christian. Two of the most widely known works for priests in the thirty years before Luther’s day were the Fundamentum Aeternae Felicitatis and the Discipulus de Eruditione Christi Fidelium Compendiosus. Both books treat the four main points of Christian doctrine, namely, the Creed, the Sacraments, the Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. The former is written in question and answer form; the latter contains questions and objections.¹⁵ Before Luther’s rebellion we know that there was also a widespread custom of printing portions of the catechism on separate tablets or sheets to be hung on the wall in order to facilitate the learning of religion. Until recently it had been falsely supposed that Luther was the originator of this form of catechetical instruction. Numerous prayerbooks and manuals on confession containing abundant matter regarding the Sacraments and all points of doctrine were another means of disseminating religious teaching before Luther’s time.¹⁶ From the foregoing enumeration, which is only a part of what might be given, it ought to be quite plain that before the outbreak of Protestantism in the sixteenth century, instead of there being a dearth of popular religious manuals and literature, there was rather, as Zezschwitz says, an “overabundance of material in the domain of catechetics.”^{17 15} Grisar, op. cit. v. p. 492. ¹⁶ Grisar, op. cit. v. pp. 492, 493. ¹⁷ On medieval catechisms see Cath. Encycl. v. pp. 78 ff.; Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. pp. 1898 ff.

If to the brief survey so far given of ecclesiastical legislation, preaching, schools, and literary production during medieval times we add but a casual consideration of the manifestations of faith which stamped those ages apart, we shall have a final and most convincing argument that popular religious instruction could by no means have been generally neglected in the centuries that preceded the rise of Protestantism. And this is all the more remarkable in view of the gigantic task that confronted the Church with the downfall of the ancient civilization, on the one hand, and of the more or less ceaseless troubles it had to encounter thereafter from the attacks of barbarous peoples and the hostility of civil rulers, on the other hand. In spite of the unparalleled difficulties, far from those ages being times of religious ignorance and neglect, there never was a period in which the things of the mind and the soul were more highly prized and more zealously cultivated. Then it was that, without the advantages of printing and of modern conveniences and means of transportation, the Scriptures and writings of the Fathers were preserved, transcribed and disseminated in thousands of copies by the patient labor of the monks; then were erected and established the many schools and colleges out of which grew the great universities and seats of learning of Europe; then were planned and constructed those magnificent churches, chapels and cathedrals, those masterpieces of religious art, which are at once a living testimony of the intelligent, ardent faith of the people, and the marvel and admiration of all succeeding ages; then were developed in the highest degree the arts of painting, sculpture, music, and poetry for the purpose of being used both to revere the mysteries of faith and to teach their meaning to the people; then it was that the Church sent forth her apostles and the members of her newly founded mendicant Orders to instruct the faithful and evangelize the pagans; then it was that, having found the races of Europe savage and barbarous, she made them civilized, having found them pagan slaves of idol worship, she turned them to the service of the true God and of the Crucified ; then it was that the nations were united in the one true faith of Christ, that religion was the dominant factor both in public and in private life, that faith yielded its highest fruits of piety and holiness in every rank of society, in king and subject, in scholar and peasant, in statesman and soldier, in cleric and layman; then, indeed, if we can judge by results, must the spirit of religion have been perceived and appreciated to a degree unequalled, since at that time appeared its fairest and most varied flowers, since faith was then so fruitful as to give its very name to those ages.^{18 18} Shahan, The Middle Ages, p. 307.

If now, however, we pause to ask how it was possible, in view of the picture we have just drawn of the centuries immediately preceding the revolt of Luther, that whole nations should have given up the faith of their forefathers, and this in a comparatively short time, the answer is to be found, not in one, but in a variety of causes. First, there had been the Great Schism of the West and a gradual relaxation of discipline which had weakened authority and opened the way to many scandals and unpunished abuses in the ranks of the clergy. “At the close of the Middle Ages and dawn of the new era the Papacy had been too eager in the pursuit of humanistic aims, had cultivated too exclusively merely human ideals of art and learning, and at the same time had become entangled in secular business and politics, and was altogether too worldly.”¹⁹ Moreover, in Germany at this time the Bishops were mostly younger sons of princely or noble houses who were quite unfitted for their spiritual work. And as for the lower clergy, secular and religious, while many were zealous to diffuse religious knowledge by catechetical teaching, sermons, instructive publications and educational work in the elementary and middle schools, too many others were quite neglectful of these sacred duties.²⁰ In truth, “at the time of Luther’s first appearance, in many parts of Germany there was no regular, systematic religious instruction of the young by the clergy or in the schools, but the children were left to pick up what they could in the home or from the public sermons. There were indeed regulations in force for the priests and the schools, but they were not acted upon.”²¹ Another cause which greatly contributed to the defection was that in many places the leaders of the movement against the Church were ecclesiastics who before had been acting as the people’s guides and whose influence, consequently, could not easily be ignored. Thirdly, and especially, the rebellion was fomented and fostered by the civil rulers in Germany, Scandinavia, England, and elsewhere, who, taking advantage of the disorder, saw in the rebellion a coveted opportunity of gaining absolute control over the people and of confiscating the immense wealth of the Church, and hence gave to the religious leaders a support without which the revolt everywhere would have failed utterly. ¹⁹ Grisar, op. cit. v. p. 427. ²⁰ Guggenberger, Gen. Hist. of Christ. Era, ii. p. 149. ²¹ Grisar, op. cit. vi. p. 433.

Uniting to the above influences the popular unrest and love of novelty which characterized the sixteenth century, and the discontented and evil elements that are present at all times in every society, we can easily understand how the apostasy could be so far-reaching in spite of the general diffusion of religious knowledge and the devoted zeal of a great part of the clergy and of the mass of the people.

Furthermore, there was the recent invention of printing which enabled the heretics to circulate broadcast their perverse teachings, thus confusing and deceiving the minds of the simple folk. Straightway the Reformers set about publishing catechisms of their own. About forty different works of this kind were produced by disciples of Luther between 1522 and 1529, and in 1530 appeared Luther’s own larger catechism, called the Deudsch Catechismus.²² Besides these, numerous other catechisms were published by the different sects, such as that of Bucer in 1534, that of Berne in 1552, the Catechism published by Calvin in 1536, that of the English Church contained in the Book of Common Prayer in 1549, and the Heidelberg Catechism of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1563, which spread into Switzerland, Austria and Holland. One of the most pernicious features of the multitude of catechisms which the sectaries circulated far and wide was that their errors were so veiled under a semblance of piety that the unsuspecting faithful were deceived with incredible facility.^{23 22} Grisar, op. cit. v. pp. 483 ff. ²³ On Protestant catechisms see Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. pp. 1908 ff.

Meanwhile the defenders of the faith were far from being idle. Nothing was left undone to stem the tide of error that was sweeping over Christendom. In particular the Sunday School and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine were organized,²⁴ and a great number of catechisms were at once published to counteract the baneful influences of those proceeding from heresy. In Germany alone we find twenty or more different writers of such manuals. One of the most famous of these, published at Vienna in 1555, was the Catechism of Peter Canisius, S. J., which was soon translated into a dozen different languages. Works of the same kind appeared in great numbers in Holland, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and wherever the civil power was not completely under the control of the heretics.^{25 24} See Cath. Encycl. iii. p. 711. ²⁵ See Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. pp. 1912 ff.

But good as were these individual and separate works, the Church at the Council of Trent, assembled December 13, 1545, seeing the need of a uniform and comprehensive manual which would supply parish priests with an official book of instruction for the faithful, ordered the preparation of the work which has ever since been variously known as the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the Catechism for Parish Priests, the Roman Catechism, or the Catechism of Pius V. It was some months, however, after the opening of the Council before mention was made of any kind of catechism. This was during the fourth session, on April 5, 1546. Eight days later the draft of a decree was read proposing that there be published in Latin and in the vernacular a catechism to be compiled by capable persons for children and uninstructed adults, “who are in need of milk rather than solid food.” The purpose of such a manual was to afford instruction for beginners in the primary duties of a Christian life and to prepare them for further and higher religious education. The idea met with general approval, but as the Council was occupied with matters more pressing, we hear nothing further about it until sixteen years later, in 1562. According to some the question of the Catechism was brought up by St. Charles Borromeo during the eighteenth session and a commission actually appointed on February 26, 1562. What is certain is that the Papal Legates, after a protracted discussion, had named a committee before the end of that year; for on January 3, 1563, they informed the procurators of Charles IX and of Ferdinand I of the existence of such a committee and assured them that work on the Catechism was already under way. The principal members of this committee, besides its president, Cardinal Seripandi, O. S. A., were Leonardo Marini, O. P., Archbishop of Lanciano, Egidio Foscarari, O. P., Bishop of Modena, Muzio Calini, Bishop of Zara, and Francesco Foreiro, O. P. There were many other collaborators, chief among whom were Michael Medina, a Franciscan, and Christopher Sanctotisio, O. S. A., who assisted with the fourth and ninth Articles of the Creed respectively; four French theologians to whom were as- signed the first four Commandments; the Dominicans, John de Luderna, Benedict Herba, Eliseus Capys, and the Franciscan, Alphonsus Contreras, to whom were given respectively the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth Commandments; a theologian of Granada was entrusted with the last two Commandments of the Decalogue. The following appear to have collaborated on the Sacraments: three Flemish theologians, on Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist; Nicholas Ormanetus, on the Sacrament of Penance; Peter Fernandez, O. P., on Matrimony; Cosmas Damiani, Abbot of the Augustinian Canons Regular, on Orders ; Arias Montanus, on Extreme Unction. All those who had part in the work of the Catechism were instructed to avoid in its composition the particular opinions of individuals and schools, and to express the doctrine of the universal Church, keeping especially in mind the decrees of the Council of Trent.

During the twenty-fourth session, the work on the Catechism was brought to the attention of the Council itself, at a meeting on September 11, 1563. After various discussions a new plan was adopted. Instead of a manual for children and uninstructed adults, it was decided to prepare a much more extensive and more thorough work to be used by parish priests in their instruction of the faithful. A final decree regarding such a catechism was passed in a general meeting of November 2d, of the same year, wherein it was enjoined on all Bishops to see that the Catechism should be faithfully translated into the vulgar tongue and expounded to the people by all parish priests.²⁶ As the Council was about to close, the Catechism committee, as it appears, were ordered to submit to the assembled Fathers the work they had so far accomplished. This was done at the general meetings between the 22d and the 25th of November, and as the work was not finished the Holy Father was requested to take charge of it and to see that the Catechism was brought to completion and published.²⁷ The manuscript was, therefore, carried to Rome, and the work was continued with little delay. Meanwhile Cardinal Seripandi died, and St. Charles Borromeo was appointed to succeed him as president of the Catechism com- mittee. On December 21, 1564, Bishop Foscarari also died. To complete the work the new president enlisted the services of several more theologians, such as Gabriel Paleotti and the Portuguese Statius. ²⁶ Sess. xxiv. De Reform. c. 7. ²⁷ Sess. xxv. c. 21.

In order that the literary style of the Catechism might be in keeping with the sublimity of its doctrine, St. Charles called to its service the greatest masters of the Latin tongue of that age. These were Paulus Manutius, Giulio Pogiani, Cornelius Amaltheus, Silvius Antonianus, and Pietro Galesini. When the work was finished a first revision of the style was undertaken. The polishing of the first two parts was done by Calini, who had already been engaged in the composition of the Catechism. The third part was attended to by Galesini, and the fourth by Pogiani. This revision seems to have been completed by the end of the year 1564. Early in the following year, by order of St. Charles, who desired to secure absolute uniformity in the style, a second literary revision of the entire work was made by Pogiani.

Meanwhile Pius IV died and was succeeded on January 17, 1566, by Pius V. One of the first acts of the new Pontiff was to appoint a number of expert theological revisors to examine every statement in the Catechism from the viewpoint of doctrine. Chief among these revisors were Cardinal Sirlet and the two Dominicans, Thomas Manriquez and Eustachius Locatelli. By July of that year the work on the Catechism was finished. But it was not until the close of the year that it appeared under the title, Catechismus ex decreto Concilii Tridentini ad Parochos, Pii V Pont. Max. jussu editus.^{28 28} On the history of the Roman Catechism see Dict. de Théol. ii. 2. pp. 1917 ff.; Cath. Encycl. v. p. 79; xiii. p. 120; V. Skibniewski, Gesch. des Rom. Katech.

The first editions of the Catechism were printed without headings of any kind, and with hardly any break in the text beyond an occasional paragraph. This arrangement, however, appeared unsatisfactory to Pius V who therefore ordered that in subsequent editions the book should be divided into parts, chapters, and paragraphs. The Questions that are found in most editions were originally drawn up by A. Le Fèvre of Munich, and first appeared in the Antwerp edition of 1587. Hence it is clear that these Question headings form no part of the original Catechism. The same can be said of the Praxis Catechismi, an adaptation of the text to the Sunday Gospels and Epistles, found at the end of the book in most editions, which we first meet with in the edition of Serafino Cruceio, O. S. A., in 1645. This idea, however, seems not to have originated with Cruceio, who tells us that he got it from a French edition published a few years before at Bordeaux.

The original manuscript of the Catechism is not extant. But of the innumerable Latin editions that have appeared, the earliest are: The Manutian (Rome, 1566), so called because it was printed by Paulus Manutius by command of Pope Pius V; that published by De Farris (Venice, 1567) ; the Aquensian (Cologne, 1567) ; that brought out by Kerver (Paris, 1568); a second Venetian edition in 1575; the Ingolstadt edition of 1577; and the Fabrician (Antwerp, 1587). Among later Latin editions may be mentioned the following issued at Rome: The edition of 1761, which contains the Encyclical of Clement XIII on the excellence and use of the Roman Catechism; the Propaganda editions of 1858, 1871, and 1907. As was observed in the Propaganda edition of 1858, the Manutian text was by far the best. Hence the editors of that edition, desiring to produce a critical text, used the first Manutian as their basis, diligently comparing it with the best among the other Latin editions.

From time to time there have appeared various works of theology and popular instruction grounded on the Catechism of Trent. Some of these have taken the form of commentaries, enlarging upon the text and doctrine contained in the Catechism; others, being intended for practical use, are synoptical in character. Among the larger works the best known are those of the Barnabite, John Bellarini, and of the Dominican, Natalis Alex- ander. Bellarini’s commentary is in two volumes, the first of which entitled, Doctrina Concilii Tridentini et Catechismi Romani, etc. (Brescia, 1603; Milan, 1615; Lyons, 1683), was intended for the instruction of the faithful. The part of this work treating the Decalogue was later published in French. The second volume, designed for the conversion of heretics, and bearing the title, Doctrina Catholica ex Sacro Concilio Tridentino et Catechismo Romano de Verbo Dei, de Regno Christi, de Ecclesia, de Romano Pontifice, de S. Evangelio (Milan, 1620), has passed through several editions.²⁹ The largest and most famous commentary ever written on the Catechism was Natalis Alexander’s Theologia Dogmatica et Moralis secundum Ordinem Catechismi Concilii Tridentini in 10 volumes, octavo (Paris, 1694). This admirable work passed through seventeen editions from the time of its first appearance down to 1783—the surest sign of its great usefulness and success. Abridgments of it were made by Roselli, O. P. (Rome, 1773, 1787, 1792, 1837; Venice, 1786), and by Basselier (Rome, 1705; Bassano, 1767).³⁰ Among shorter works on the Catechism the following are noteworthy. Partitiones Catechismi Catholici by G. Eder (Cologne, 1571), contained extracts from the Catechism divided into sections and subsections and intended as a school manual for the instruction of the young. This work was republished at Lyons, in 1579, under the title, Methodus Catechismi Catholici. A few years later A. Sauli, General of the Barnabites, published in Italian an abridgment of the Catechism designed to facilitate its use for the clergy (Pavia, 1581; Milan, 1699). At Paris in 1695 there appeared a small compendium of theology in 439 pages entitled, Catechismus ad Ordinandos juxta Doctrinam Catechismi Concilii Tridentini. Three years later a second edition of the same work was published. ²⁹ See Dict. de Théol. ii. 1. p. 559; Cath. Encycl. ii. p. 411. ³⁰ See Dict. de Théol. i. 1. pp. 769 ff.; Cath. Encycl. i. p. 296.

As said above, it was the desire of the Council of Trent that the Catechism should be translated into the vernacular of each country. Accordingly it has been done into all the principal European languages, and even into Arabic. We are told that by order of Pius V it was at once translated from the original into German, Polish, French, and Italian. This first Italian version was made by Alexis Figliucci, O. P., and appeared in 1566, contemporaneously with the first Latin text. Two other Italian translations, those of Andreoli and Brazzaco, were published about 1804. The chief French versions are that of Bordeaux (1567), Gillon’s (Paris, 1578), Coulon’s (Paris, 1670), De Fontigny’s (Paris, 1673), Simon’s (Lyons, 1683). Among the more recent French editions are those of Doney (Dijon, 1840), of De Gagey (Dijon, 1854), of De Hallez (Paris, 1862), and of Marbeau and Carpentier (Paris, 1905). The first German version was made by Paul Hoffaeus (Dillingen, 1568). Among the German translations of the nineteenth century the most notable are Rechenmacher’s (Passau, 1839), Smets’ (Bielefeld, 1844), and Buse’s (Bidefeld, 1859). A German-Latin edition was published at Ratisbon in 1886.³¹ In English the earliest known translation of the Catechism was made in 1675, but embraces only parts I and IV. It is a very rare work, being found neither in the British Museum nor in the Bodleian. The only extant copy of it that we know of is in possession of the English Dominican Fathers in London. Its title page reads as follows: A Large Summary of the Doctrines Contained in the Catechism Published by the Decree of the Council of Trent Which is Here Thus Summarily Translated into English. Accommodated to the Use of the Faithful and therefore Directed Unto Them. “If he hear not the Church, let him be to thee as a Heathen, or Publican.” Mat. 18. 17. Printed for A. L. in the Year MDCLXXV. ³¹ See Kirchenlexikon vii. p. 303; xi. p. 1054.

Twelve years later, during the reign of James II, there appeared in London a complete English version of the Catechism by John Bromley. Dodd in his Church History tells us that Bromley, who had been Anglican curate of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, entered the Catholic communion about 1685. After the fall of James II in 1688, Bromley opened a school for young gentlemen. He died at Madeley, in Shropshire, his native county, January 10, 1717. While the diction of this version is good, Father Waterworth, S. J., says that, as a translation, it is extremely inaccurate. The following is Bromley’s title page: The Catechism for the Curates Composed by the Decree of the Council of Trent and Published by Command of Pope Pius the Fifth. Faithfully translated into English. Permissu Superiorum London. Printed by Henry Hills, Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty for his Household and Chappel, for him and Matthew Turner. MDCLXXXVII. This work is still fairly common. Two copies of it are now in the library of Hawkesyard Priory, England.

Several English versions of the Catechism were published in Ireland at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The first of these, which appeared in 1816, was published by Dowling of Dublin. The name of the translator is not given. As this version was very unreliable, it was soon superseded by a new translation, published by Richard Coyne, Capel Street, Dublin, and by Keating and Brown, London, and printed for the translator by W. Folds & Son, Great Shand Street, in 1829. An American edition appeared in the same year. The author of this new translation was the Reverend Jeremy Donovan, Professor at the Royal College, Maynooth. Although the translator, in the first edition of this work, aimed at elegance of diction and fidelity to the original, it is generally admitted that, while his English was flowing and readable, it was singularly devoid of accuracy. It is hardly too much to say that its worth did not exceed that of a paraphrase, with not a few omissions of things contained in the original text. As a considerable revision, therefore, seemed necessary, a second edition with notes was issued at Rome by the Propaganda Press in two volumes in 1839. It is dedicated to Cardinal Fransonio and signed by the Very Reverend J. Donovan, D. D., Professor at Maynooth College, Domestic Prelate to His Holiness, Gregory XVI, Member of the Archaeological Society of Rome, Honourable Member of the Society of British Artists, etc. While more faithful to the original, this new edition was so slavish, stilted and inelegant as to be at times almost unintelligible, and at all times most uninviting, as totally bereft of that charm of style so characteristic of the original. This second edition seems to have been followed by a third, for the copies of Dr. Donovan’s work now published in Ireland show signs of still further revision, as being more accurate, but even less elegant than the edition of 1839.

The next attempt at an adequate English translation of this classic work was undertaken by the Anglican, Theodore Alois Buckley, B. A., of Christ’s Church, Oxford, who was already known as editor of translations of Homer, Æschylus, Sophocles, etc., and of the Decrees and Canons of the Council of Trent. His version of the Catechism appeared at London in 1852. He acknowledges his indebtedness to Donovan in many respects, but at the same time deplores the many manifest inaccuracies to be found in that translator’s work. Buckley certainly gave a better rendering of the Latin than did Donovan, but he adheres too closely to the idiom of the original for good English, and is not everywhere doctrinally correct. He also adds notes to indicate the main points of agreement, as well as of difference, between Catholic and Protestant teaching, occasionally attacking, sometimes praising the Catholic standpoint.

In 1911 the Very Reverend John Hagan, D. D., the present Rector of the Irish College in Rome, edited a Compendium of Catechetical Instruction in four volumes, containing a new translation of the Roman Catechism, together with a translation of the Catechism of Pius X and of Raineri’s Instructions. This large work is now unfortunately out of print. Dr. Hagan’s rendering of the Catechism, though not remarkable for its elegance, is in every way superior to Buckley’s, combining, as it does, the two prime requisites of a translation,—clearness in expression and faithfulness to the meaning of the original. It is regrettable, however, that all Patristic references and notes are wanting in this edition. In a few places also some slight inaccuracies are met with which are doubtless due to oversight, or to the failure of the printer to observe corrections. The purpose of Dr. Hagan’s work was to provide abundant matter, drawn from the best sources, for catechetical teaching. He therefore first gives a chapter of the Roman Catechism as the basis of an instruction, and then complements it with the corresponding sections of the Catechism of Pius X and of Raineri’s Instructions. The order of the Roman Catechism is followed throughout.

But with a view to make the Catechism more readily available for parochial preaching, thereby fulfilling the main purpose for which it was written, the present translators prepared in 1920-1921 A Parochial Course of Doctrinal Instructions for All Sundays and Holydays of the Year Based on the Teachings of the Catechism of the Council of Trent and Harmonized with the Gospels and Epistles of the Sundays and Feasts. In that four-volume work the order suggested in the Preface to the Catechism is followed; that is, a dogmatic or moral subject, drawn from the Gospel or Epistle of the day, is accompanied by the appropriate passage of the Roman Catechism in which that subject is explained and developed. The sections from the Catechism are all supplemented by sermons, both in outline and in developed form, and by a copious list of references to a great variety of classic and modern sermons, to theologians, Scripturists, liturgists, works of devotion, and the like, all bearing on the subject of the day. The text of the Catechism used in the first volume of that Course is a revision of Dr. Donovan’s translation (Christian Press Association, New York, 1905). In the three subsequent volumes, however, the editors found it advisable to make a new translation based on the Latin edition published by Roger and Chernoviz (Paris, 1893).

Since the publication of the above-mentioned Parochial Course there has been a call for a translation of the Catechism in separate form accompanied by notes. In response to this demand we have undertaken to give an entirely new English version of the work, from the original, using as our basis the Manutian text as reflected in the Maredsous edition of 1902, the fourth Roman edition of 1907 and the Turin edition of 1914. We have also had before us in the execution of the task our previous work in the Parochial Course, along with the translations of Professor Buckley and Doctor Hagan. Since the Catechism is an official work composed with the utmost attention to precision of statement and elegance of expression, the purpose in the present version has been to reproduce the sense of the original as exactly as possible in clear, dignified, modern English. Whether this aim has been realized, it remains for others to determine.

The system of headings employed in this translation is entirely new. As said above, divisions and headings formed no part of the first copies of the Catechism. Moreover, those which were later introduced, being arbitrary, and often heedless of continuity of thought as well as of leading topics and order, are acknowledged to have been to a great extent anything but a help to an intelligent understanding of the meaning of the text. They simply confused and concealed the truly marvelous arrangement of the original, which it has been our effort to bring out and emphasize, both in the placing and wording of titles and in the different styles of type employed.

Another drawback of previous English translations lay in the footnotes and references, which often promiscuously grouped together what was native to the text with matter that was merely the work of editors. In addition these editorial notes are now mostly unpractical and useless for purposes of reference, as pointing to the Decretals, the Fathers, and other works which very few readers would have an opportunity or desire to consult. Therefore it has seemed advisable to us first to separate the footnotes that belong to the original from the explanations and references which we have given, indicating the former by Arabic numerals and the latter by letters of the alphabet; and secondly to substitute, for those less useful citations, comments and clear indications of pertinent passages in St. Thomas, St. Alphonsus, the Code of Canon Law, etc., works which the great majority of priests and students can reasonably be supposed to possess. Should anyone desire further Patristic or Scripture references on any particular subject treated in the Catechism, these can easily be had by consulting text-books in theology or special works.

Again, since it is the wish of the Church, expressed in the Preface to the Catechism, that pastors in expounding the Gospels and Epistles to the people should draw their matter from the Catechism, we have given in the forepart of this work an adaptation of its contents to the Gospels and Epistles of all the Sundays and chief Feasts. This plan is identical with that which is followed and developed in the Parochial Course above mentioned, and in our more recent work entitled, The Gospels and Epistles of the Sundays and Feasts with Outlines for Sermons. As it has already received a hearty welcome in those works, it is hoped that its inclusion here will materially contribute to the practical usefulness of the admirable Catechism of Trent.

Finally, in the end of this volume will be found several Appendices containing important doctrinal decisions given by the Church since the close of the Council of Trent.

The Roman Catechism is unlike any other summary of Christian doctrine, not only because it is intended for the use of priests in their preaching, but also because it enjoys a unique authority among manuals. In the first place, as already explained, it was issued by the express command of the Ecumenical Council of Trent, which also ordered that it be translated into the vernacular of different nations to be used as a standard source for preaching. Moreover it subsequently received the unqualified approval of many Sovereign Pontiffs. Not to speak of Pius IV who did so much to bring the work to completion, and of St. Pius V under whom it was finished, published and repeatedly commended, Gregory XIII, as Possevino testifies, so highly esteemed it that he desired even books of Canon Law to be written in accordance with its contents. In his Bull of June 14, 1761, Clement XIII said that the Catechism contains a clear explanation of all that is necessary for salvation and useful for the faithful, that it was composed with great care and industry and has been highly praised by all, that by it in former times the faith was strengthened, and that no other catechism can be compared with it. He concluded then, that the Roman Pontiffs offered this work to pastors as a norm of Catholic teaching and discipline so that there might be uniformity and harmony in the instructions of all. Nor have the Sovereign Pontiffs in our own days been less laudatory of the Catechism. Pope Leo XIII, in an Encyclical Letter of September 8, 1899, to the Bishops and clergy of France, recommended two books which all seminarians should possess and constantly read and study, namely, the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas and “that golden book,” the Catechismus ad Parochos. Regarding the latter work he wrote: “This work is remarkable at once for the richness and exactness of its doctrine, and for the elegance of its style; it is a precious summary of all theology, both dogmatic and moral. He who understands it well, will have always at his service those aids by which a priest is enabled to preach with fruit, to acquit himself worthily of the important ministry of the confessional and of the direction of souls, and will be in a position to refute the objections of unbelievers.”

Likewise Pius X in his Encyclical Acerbo nimis of April 15, 1905, declared that adults, no less than children, need religious instruction, especially in these days. And hence he prescribed that pastors and all who have care of souls should give catechetical instruction to the faithful in simple language, and in a way suited to the capacity of their hearers, and that for this purpose they should use the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Still more recently, on February 14, 1921, speaking in the name of Benedict XV, Cardinal Gasparri, Papal Secretary of State, thus wrote to the Archbishop of New York relative to the latter’s Program for A Parochial Course of Doctrinal Instructions, based on the Catechism: “It is superfluous to add that the value of the work is enhanced by the fact that it has been planned and executed in perfect harmony with the admirable Catechism of the Council of Trent.”

Besides the Supreme Pontiffs who have extolled and recommended the Catechism, so many Councils have enjoined its use that it would be impossible here to enumerate them all. Within a few years after its first appearance great numbers of provincial and diocesan synods had already made its use obligatory. Of these the Preface to the Paris edition of 1893 mentions eighteen held before the year 1595. In five different Councils convened at Milan St. Charles Borromeo ordered that the Catechism should be studied in seminaries, discussed in the conferences of the clergy, and explained by pastors to their people on occasion of the administration of the Sacraments. In short, synods repeatedly prescribed that the clergy should make such frequent use of the Catechism as not only to be thoroughly familiar with its contents, but almost have it by heart.

In addition to Popes, and Councils, many Cardinals, Bishops and other ecclesiastics, distinguished for their learning and sanctity, vied with one another in eulogizing the Catechism of Trent. Among other things they have said that not since the days of the Apostles has there been produced in a single volume so complete and practical a summary of Christian doctrine as this Catechism, and that, after the Sacred Scriptures, there is no work that can be read with greater safety and profit.

In particular, Cardinal Valerius, the friend of St. Charles Borromeo, wrote of the Catechism: “This work contains all that is needful for the instruction of the faithful; and it is written with such order, clearness and majesty that through it we seem to hear holy Mother the Church herself, taught by the Holy Ghost, speaking to us. . . . It was composed by order of the Fathers of Trent under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and was published by the authority of the Vicar of Christ.”³² Salmanticenses, the great Carmelite commentators on St. Thomas, paid the following high tribute to the Catechism: “The authority of this Catechism has always been of the greatest in the Church, because it was composed by the command of the Council of Trent, because its authors were men of highest learning, and because it was approved only after the severest scrutiny by Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII, and has been recommended in nearly all the Councils that have been held since the Council of Trent.”³³ Antonio Possevino, an illustrious Jesuit, and the preceptor of St. Francis de Sales, said: “The Catechism of the Council of Trent was inspired by the Holy Ghost.”³⁴ In his immortal Apologia Cardinal Newman writes: “The Catechism of the Council of Trent was drawn up for the express purpose of providing preachers with subjects for their sermons ; and, as my whole work has been a defense of myself, I may here say that I rarely preach a sermon but I go to this beautiful and complete Catechism to get both my matter and my doctrine.”³⁵ “Its merits,” says Dr. Donovan, “have been recognized by the universal Church. The first rank which has been awarded the Imitation among spiritual books, has been unanimously given to the Roman Catechism as a compendium of Catholic theology. It was the result of the aggregate labors of the most distinguished of the Fathers of Trent, . . . and is therefore stamped with the impress of superior worth.”³⁶ Doctor John Hagan, the present Rector of the Irish College in Rome, writes thus: “The Roman Catechism is a work of exceptional authority. At the very least it has the same authority as a dogmatic Encyclical,—it is an authoritative exposition of Catholic doctrine given forth, and guaranteed to be orthodox by the Catholic Church and her supreme head on earth. The compilation of it was the work of various individuals ; but the result of their combined labors was accepted by the Church as a precious abridgment of dogmatic and moral theology. Official documents have occasionally been issued by Popes to explain certain points of Catholic teaching to individuals, or to local Christian communities; whereas the Roman Catechism comprises practically the whole body of Christian doctrine, and is addressed to the whole Church. Its teaching is not infallible; but it holds a place between approved catechisms and what is de fide.”³⁷ We are enabled to realize from the foregoing testimonies how invaluable is the treasure we possess in the Tridentine Catechism. It is a Vade Mecum for every priest and ecclesiastical student. In it the latter will find a recapitulation of all the more important and necessary doctrines he has learned throughout his theological course; while to the priest it is not only a review of his former studies, but an ever-present and reliable guide in his work as pastor, preacher, counselor, and spiritual director of souls. Moreover, to the educated layman, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, who desires to study an authoritative statement of Catholic doctrine, no better book could be recommended than this official manual; for in its pages will be found the whole substance of Catholic doctrine and practice, arranged in order, expounded with perspicuity, and sustained by argument at once convincing and persuasive. ³² Ad Acol. Veron., lib. i. ³³ Cursus, ix. p. 684. ³⁴ Lib. vii. Bibliot., cap. 12. ³⁵ Ch. v. p. 280. ³⁶ Translator’s Pref. p. 10. ³⁷ A Compendium of Catech. Instruction, i. pp. li. lii.

Finally, it can be said without fear of exaggeration that there is no single-volume work which so combines solidity of doctrine and practical usefulness with unction of treatment as does this truly marvelous Catechism. From beginning to end it not only reflects the light of faith, but it also radiates, to an unwonted degree, the warmth of devotion and piety. In its exposition of the Creed and the Sacraments, while dealing with the profoundest mysteries, it is full of thoughts and reflections the most fervent and inspiring. The part on the Decalogue, which might well be called a treatise on ascetical theology, teaches us in words burning with zeal both what we are to avoid and what we are to do to keep the Commandments of God. In the fourth, and last part of this beautiful work we have what is doubtless the most sublime and heavenly exposition of the doctrine of prayer ever written.

The Roman Catechism is, therefore, a handbook of dogmatic and moral theology, a confessor’s guide, a book of exposition for the preacher, and a choice directory of the spiritual life for pastor and flock alike. With a view, consequently, to make it more readily available for these high purposes among English-speaking peoples this new translation has been prepared and is herewith respectfully submitted to its readers.

JOHN A. McHUGH, O. P.

CHARLES J. CALLAN, O. P.