Other Teachings

Various parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are relevant to these documents..	The story of Church letters	Background statements written and copyrighted by Marty Barrack.
Document	Description	Background
Humanum Genus Vatican Library	Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, on Freemasonry, April 20, 1884	Pope Leo XIII has in this encyclical set down Catholic teaching on Freemasonry. Pope Clement in 1738 wrote the first Church condemnation of Freemasonry, and the most Church statement was written by Cardina Ratzinger in his Declaration on Masonic Associations, November 26, 1983. In brief, Freemasonry asserts that it does not matter what a person’s religion is. The Catholic Church asserts that she is the Church personally instituted by God’s Messiah to lead souls to heaven, that she is the only repository of the entire deposit of faith given to us by the Messiah, and therefore that it matters very much what a person’s religion is. These two positions are irreconcilable. Other objections to Freemasonry.
Inter Mirifica Vatican Library	Decree on the Media of Social Communications, Vatican II, December 4, 1963	The 1960s were a time of tremendous doctrinal confusion within the Church, as many laymen, and even some clergy, began to doubt the doctrines that had been so clearly taught for two thousand years. The same decade was a time of tremendous moral confusion for the secular community. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, in his Life is Worth Living series, had already showed us how to use the media to teach the Catholic faith through television. The Council fathers, through Inter Mirifica, provide clear guidance on the use of the media of social communication, such as television and newspapers to teach Catholic truth and moral clarity.
Perfectae Caritatis Vatican Library	Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, Vatican II, October 28, 1965	The Council fathers sensed the winds of change blowing through the 1960s, and set down norms for the adaptation and renewal of religious life in the emerging environment of radical autonomy which is the polar opposite of a life in community with Christ and with His human brothers and sisters. Perfectae Caritatis is filled with sound guidance for religious orders, but far too many religious communities did not pay heed, and today are paying the consequences in lack of vocations and resources. As always, God has called into being new orders filled especially with joyful young women who find that living by Perfectae Caritatis brings them the blessings of vocations and rich spiritual life.
The Dignity of Older People and their Mission in the Church and in the World Vatican Library	Pontifical Council for the Laity, October 1, 1998	The “baby boom,” millions of babies born after husbands came home in many countries from World War II, is now aging. In more recent years, with the widespread availability of contraceptives, fewer babies are being conceived. Of these, one in three of these scarce children is being killed in its mother’s womb. Finally, medical science has dramatically reduced the rate of premature death. With the convergence of all these trends, the average age in many parts of the world is at an all-time high. The Pontifical Council for the Laity emphasizes the meaning and value of old age, the perspective on aging from Scripture in which we can sense the constant turning of the generations, the sense that older people’s problems become in their time the problems of all, and the place of older people in the Church. The Council also gives guidance for the pastoral care of older people.
The Gift of Authority Vatican Library	Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity May 12, 1999	For four centuries the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church developed their structures of authority separately. Anglicans have not recognized the papal authority that is central in Catholic teaching. This statement from the co-chairmen of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) documents the continuing Anglican-Catholic dialogue in an effort to restore full communion between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification Vatican Library	Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, October 31, 1999	Justification is the process by which a sinner reconciles with God. The traditional explanation is that the Catholic Church teaches justification by faith and works, while Lutherans, with other Protestant denominations, teach justification by faith alone. See nn. 25-27. This declaration suggests that there is some common ground on which Catholic and Lutheran doctrine converge.
Official Common Statement by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church Vatican Library	Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, October 31, 1999	The Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) agree in a brief statement that the teaching of the Lutheran churches as described in this declaration does not fall under the condemnations from the Council of Trent. They also agree that the condemnations in the Lutheran Confessions do not apply to the teaching of the Catholic Church as described in this declaration. Note that the LWF does not represent all Lutheran Churches. In particular, the Lutheran Missouri Synod has disassociated itself from this official common statement, believing that the LWF abandoned longstanding Lutheran principles on justification by faith alone.
Annex to the Official Common Statement Vatican Library	Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, October 31, 1999	This annex clarifies some of the terms used in the official common statement. The term “by grace alone” used in these statements does not directly address the hard question: is a person saved who confesses faith in Jesus but does not express it in action? However, it is useful in ecumenical contexts in which Christians of different denominations need to work together toward common objectives.
Note on the Expression “Sister Churches” Vatican Library	Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 30, 2000	This note sent by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to all presidents of bishops’ conferences directs that the Catholic Church is the mother of all the particular churches, and that sister churches exist within that context as particular churches among themselves. The Catholic Church has a special unicity (see also Dominus Iesus) embracing all of Christendom and therefore can never be the sister of any Christian community. We therefore avoid saying things like “our two churches” when referring to, say the Catholic Church and the totality of the Orthodox Churches. Finally, the term sister churches can refer only to ecclesial communities that remain in the line of apostolic succession and have a valid episcopate and a valid Eucharist.
Instruction on Prayers for Healing Vatican Library	Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, November 23, 2000	There has been a proliferation of prayer meetings, at times combined with liturgical celebrations, at which someone claims a charism of healing. It is a reflection of our fallen condition that we experience suffering, that we know it has redemptive value, and that nevertheless we pray to be relieved of it. This Instruction on Prayers for Healing addresses doctrinal aspects of healing including its meaning and value in the economy of salvation, the desire for healing and prayer to obtain it, the charism of healing in the New Testament, prayers for healing in the Church’s tradition, and the charism of healing in the present day. It also includes several disciplinary norms to clarify what is and is not permissible.
Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life Vatican Library	A Christian reflection on the New Age, Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, February 3, 2003	This is a provisional report on the complex phenomenon of “New Age” which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture. Consequently, the Vatican set up a Working Group on New Religious Movements, composed of staff members of different dicasteries of the Holy See, primarily the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue, but also the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Holy Mother Church is concerned because the advent of modern communications technology, especially the Internet, has enabled false teaching to spread around the world at alarming speed. Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life engages the New Age perspective and how it stands opposed to the Christian perspective.
The Rapid Development Vatican Library	Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II to Those Responsible for Communications, January 24, 2005	More than 40 years after Inter Mirifica, Pope John Paul II reviews the rapid development of media for social communication since that time in formation of personality and conscience, interpretation and structuring of affective relationships, the coming together of the educative and formative phases, the elaboration and diffusion of cultural phenomena, and the development of social, political and economic life.