Essential Documents for Catholics


*Essential Documents for Catholics*	Email: meripper@carr.org

New American Bible + Douay-Rheims Bible + Catechism + Vatican II - Documents
Baltimore Catechism #4 + Canon Law (1983) + Summa Theologica + Table of Contents

Other Resources

Church
Documents

Catholic
Documents by
Subject

This is a link to various documents located on other sites on the Web. This page is on the St. John web site in order to provide quick and easy access to these documents without the hassle of having to search for them yourself.

New American Bible

New American Bible - This page provides an alphabetical listing of the 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. They are then listed in the order in which they appear in the Bible below the main menu. This document is located at the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops home page.

Douay-Rheims Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible - The Holy Bible text on this web site has been converted from the 1899 edition of the John Murphy Company, Baltimore, Maryland. Although "Challoner Revision" may be the most accurate title for this version of the Holy Bible (see below), it was called, and continues to be called, "The Douay-Rheims Version".

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Catechism of the Catholic Church - This page provides a link to a searchable Catechism. The Catechism is broken into four main sections: "The Profession of Faith" (The Creed), "The Celebration of the Christian Mystery" (The Sacraments), "Life in Christ", and "Christian Prayer". You can either type in the words of the topic you are looking for or scan the "Contents". This document is located at the Knights of Columbus - Supreme Council home page.

Code of Canon Law (1983)

Code of Canon Law - This page contains the 1983 Code of Canon Law in a searchable format. It also includes an outline by major topic.

Conciliar Documents of Vatican II

The Second Vatican Council consisted of Four Sessions. The Council opened on October 11, 1962 under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII. The Council was closed on December 8th, 1965 by Pope Paul VI. The Council issued Four Constitutions, Nine Decrees, and Three Declarations. Below is a listing of those documents. To view any document simply click on the document name.

Latin Title English Translation Date Issued
Sacrosanctum Concilium Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 12/04/63 Inter Mirifica Decree on the Means of Social Communication 12/04/63 Lumen Gentium Dogmatic Constitution of the Church 11/21/64 Unitatis Redintergratio Decree on Ecumenism 11/21/64 Orientalium Ecclesiarum Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite 11/21/64 Nostra Aetate Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions 10/26/65 Christus Dominus Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church 10/28/65 Perfectae Caritatis Decree on Renewal of Religious Life 10/28/65		Optatam Totius Decree on Priestly Training 10/28/65 Gravissimum Educationis Declaration of Christian Education 10/28/65 Dei Verbum Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation 11/18/65 Apostolicam Actuositatem Decree on the Apostalate of the Laity 11/18/65 Gaudium et Spes Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World 12/07/65 Presbyterorum Ordinis Decree on Ministry and Life of Priests 12/07/65 Ad Gentes Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church 12/07/65 Dignitatis Humanae Declaration on Religious Freedom 12/07/65

Summa Theologica

Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas. This site contains links to the entire work. The site is organized by primarily by part and then section. This document is located at the New Advent Catholic Website home page.

© St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Site * Westminster, MD 21158 * Page last updated 07/31/01