Catholic Faith Foundations. David Werning
Catholic
Faith
Foundations
Back to the Basics
David Werning
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat
Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
December 11, 2017
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Quotations from papal and other Vatican-generated documents available on vatican.va are copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2018 by David Werning.
Published 2018.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
200 Noll Plaza
Huntington, IN 46750
1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-68192-223-2
(Inventory No. T1928)
eISBN: 978-1-68192-224-9
LCCN: 2017963140
Cover art: Shutterstock
Cover and Interior design: Lindsey Riesen
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
The Four Marks of the Catholic Church
The Trinity: Central Mystery of Our Faith
Foreword
As editor of Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, I see up close what topics resonate with our Catholic readers. This resonance is measured in responses to articles and other content via online comment, a letter to the editor, high social media engagement, or a request to share content with a faith community, such as reprinting an article in a parish bulletin.
Without fail, OSV Newsweekly consistently receives an overwhelming response when we print content that focuses on the basics of the Faith. So many are thirsting to learn more about the Church’s teachings, traditions, and 2,000-year history. Sometimes it’s because they are seeking clarity about a specific teaching that they know something about but would like to better understand. Sometimes it’s because they want to share a primer on a specific piece of doctrine with a loved one. Sometimes it’s because others have asked them: “Why do Catholics …?” and they feel their own response was unsatisfactory. They begin searching for an answer.
The