CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
Paragraphs 1801–1900
- 1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.
- 1802 The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience…
- 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any…
- 1804 Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our…
- 1805 Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence,…
- 1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of…
- 1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called…
- 1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to…
- 1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the…
- 1810 Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by…
- 1811 It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's gift of salvation offers us the grace necessary to persevere in…
- 1812 The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature: for the…
- 1813 The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and…
- 1814 Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church…
- 1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love,…
- 1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it:…
- 1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's…
- 1818 The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that…
- 1819 Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham , who was blessed…
- 1820 Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes . The beatitudes raise our hope toward…
- 1821 We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us…
- 1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
- 1823 Jesus makes charity the new commandment . By loving his own "to the end," he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives. By loving…
- 1824 Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my…
- 1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies , to make ourselves…
- 1826 "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not…
- 1827 The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; it is the form…
- 1828 The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands…
- 1829 The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters…
- 1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in…
- 1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in…
- 1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church…
- 1833 Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.
- 1834 The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in…
- 1835 Prudence disposes the practical reason to discern, in every circumstance, our true good and to choose the right means for achieving it.
- 1836 Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give God and neighbor their due.
- 1837 Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
- 1838 Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods.
- 1839 The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace purifies and elevates them.
- 1840 The theological virtues dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have God for their origin, their motive,…
- 1841 There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. They inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.
- 1842 By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief.
- 1843 By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it.
- 1844 By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds…
- 1845 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon Christians are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of…
- 1846 The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners. The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for…
- 1847 "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us." To receive his mercy, we must admit our faults. "If we say we have…
- 1848 As St. Paul affirms, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." But to do its work grace must uncover sin so as to convert our…
- 1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse…
- 1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight." Sin sets itself against…
- 1851 It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many…
- 1852 There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the…
- 1853 Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect;…
- 1854 Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity. The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in Scripture, became…
- 1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and…
- 1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion…
- 1857 For a sin to be mortal , three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed…
- 1858 Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit…
- 1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent . It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to…
- 1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the…
- 1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying…
- 1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys…
- 1863 Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the…
- 1864 "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." There are…
- 1865 Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud…
- 1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has…
- 1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven" : the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of…
- 1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them : - by participating…
- 1869 Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to…
- 1870 "God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all" ( Rom 11:32).
- 1871 Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust 22: PL 42, 418). It is an offense against God.…
- 1872 Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man's nature and injures human solidarity.
- 1873 The root of all sins lies in man's heart. The kinds and the gravity of sins are determined principally by their objects.
- 1874 To choose deliberately - that is, both knowing it and willing it - something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of…
- 1875 Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us.
- 1876 The repetition of sins - even venial ones - engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.
- 1877 The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son. This vocation…
- 1878 All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity…
- 1879 The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the…
- 1880 A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an assembly that…
- 1881 Each community is defined by its purpose and consequently obeys specific rules; but "the human person . . . is and ought to be the…
- 1882 Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote…
- 1883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the…
- 1884 God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing,…
- 1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the…
- 1886 Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of…
- 1887 The inversion of means and ends, which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a means for attaining it, or in viewing…
- 1888 It is necessary, then, to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the human person and to the permanent need for his inner…
- 1889 Without the help of grace, men would not know how "to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the…
- 1890 There is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves.
- 1891 The human person needs life in society in order to develop in accordance with his nature. Certain societies, such as the family and the…
- 1892 "The human person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of every social organization" ( GS 25 § 1).
- 1893 Widespread participation in voluntary associations and institutions is to be encouraged.
- 1894 In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and…
- 1895 Society ought to promote the exercise of virtue, not obstruct it. It should be animated by a just hierarchy of values.
- 1896 Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity…
- 1897 "Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its…
- 1898 Every human community needs an authority to govern it. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity…
- 1899 The authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no…
- 1900 The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and,…