Papal Encyclicals

Pope Benedict XVI signing the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate"

Papal letters to the Universal Church or, in many cases, especially before Vatican II, to the Bishops in communion with the Holy See. Worthy of special attention besides Rerum Novarum (see previous post) are Quadragesimo Anno, Mater et Magistra, Pacem in Terris, Populorum Progressio, Laborum Exercens, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Centesimus Annus, Caritas in Veritate, Fides et Ratio, and Spe Salvi. As of this post, the Vatican has online the encyclicals of Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul IIBenedict XVI, and Francis. ISBN recommendation: 0-87650-259-1

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Third Typical Edition)

Priest celebrating, in persona Christi, the Eucharist

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Third Typical Edition) provides specific detail about each element of the Order of Mass celebrated in accordance with the Roman MissalThird Edition (implemented 27 November 2011). Image links to Vatican translation.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: Truth and Tolerance, Christian Belief and World Religions

Jesus on the Cross attended by His Mother and St. John

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” By maintaining the truth of Christ’s claim does the Catholic Church exhibit intolerance and religious arrogance? Cardinal Ratzinger responds to public scorn of the document Dominus Iesus and reflects on the Christian claim to Truth, the tolerance of Love, and the maintenance of peace. First published in 2004. ISBN recommendation: 1-58617-035-X.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Dominus Iesus

Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega. Sant'Alfonso di Liguori, Rome.

Jesus proclaims: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Cardinal Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, asserts the truth of Christ’s statement in this conservative declaration, published 16 June 2000, “on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church”. Image links to Vatican translation.