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Dogma

Greek dogma, "that which seems good; a decree"

Definition

A truth revealed by God that the Church proposes, in a definitive way, as requiring the assent of faith from all Catholics.

Not every Church teaching is a dogma, and not every pious opinion is a teaching. Catholic.id labels this carefully. Dogmas are truths "contained in divine Revelation or… having a necessary connection with them" proposed in a form obliging the faith of Christians (CCC 88).

Examples include the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the Real Presence, the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Dogmas are "lights along the path of faith" (CCC 89), not restrictions on it.

See also

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