What do Catholics believe? A short summary
The short answer
Catholics believe in one God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — who created all things; that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man, died for our sins and rose from the dead; that the Holy Spirit guides the Church he founded; and that through the sacraments, prayer and love we share God's life now and hope for eternal life with him.
The faith in one breath
The shortest complete summary of Catholic belief is the Creed, recited at every Sunday Mass. Its outline is simple:
- God the Father — one God, Creator of heaven and earth.
- God the Son — Jesus Christ, true God and true man, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, risen, and coming again.
- God the Holy Spirit — the Lord and giver of life.
- The Church — one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
- Forgiveness and eternal life — Baptism, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.
Four pillars of Catholic life
The Catechism is organized around four questions (CCC 13):
- What do we believe? — the Creed.
- How do we celebrate it? — the seven sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
- How do we live it? — the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and love of God and neighbour.
- How do we pray? — above all, the Our Father.
Where Catholics find God's revelation
In Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, faithfully interpreted by the Church's teaching office (the Magisterium).
Distinctively Catholic beliefs
Alongside what all Christians share, Catholics hold: the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the seven sacraments, the authority of the Pope and bishops as successors of the apostles, the honour given to Mary and the saints, and purgatory as a final purification before heaven.
The heart of it all
"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). Every Catholic doctrine ultimately explains that love — and how to respond to it.