A summary of Catholic Belief

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CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY PARADISE. FRANCISCAN MONASTERY ABBOTSTOWN, PA. A Summary of Catholic Belief All Catholics believe: 1. That there is one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; that God, by His Word only, and out of nothing, created heaven and earth and all things; that angels and men are the chief creatures of God; that some of the angels sinned and were punished; that Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, disobeyed the command of God, and were punished by the loss of justice and incoence, and by sickness and death; that this deprivation of justice is original sin, and that all men are born with this defect or sin; that through the merits of her divine Son, and because she was to be His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved free from this original sin, which privilege is called her Immaculate Conception. 2. Catholics believe that God, the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, by the power of the Holy Ghost, assumed human nature of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is called the God-man, Jesus Christ; that for this reason the Blessed Virgin Mary, although a creature, is called the Mother of God, and is deserving of a very special, but not divine, honor—divine honor being paid to God alone. 3. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ, by His suffering and death, redeemed men and obtained for them grace, or supernatural health, whereby tacy may be saved; that the chief channels of grace are the seven sacraments, all of which were instituted by Christ, viz.: Baptism, in which original sin, and actual sins committed before it is received, are forgiven; Confirmation, which makes the baptized strong and perfect Christians; Holy Eucharist, which is the sacrament of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine; Penance, in which sins are forgiven which are committed after Baptism; Extreme Unction, which is for the health and comfort of those in danger of death by sickness; Holy Orders, by which bishops, priests and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties; Matrimony, which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage, and gives them grace to live happily together. 4. Catholics likewise believe that Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, instituted a Church or society, and that to certain ones, i. e., the priesthood, in this Church, He intrusted the administration of the sacraments and the teaching of His doctrine divinely revealed; that the divinely appointed visible head of the Church, the Pope of Rome, is by the aid of the Holy Ghost, and must be, infallible, i. e., he cannot err, when officially teaching the whole Church a doctrine regarding faith or morals. Thus their belief does not imply that the Pope cannot sin, or make a mistake in other matters, as some non-Catholics have been led to suppose. 5. Catholics also believe that it is the will of God that all should belong to…