The ''Enchiridion'' (full title: ''Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum'') is a

compendium A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

of all the basic texts on

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

and

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

since the

Apostolic Age Christianity in the 1st century covers the formative history of Christianity from the start of the ministry of Jesus (–29 AD) to the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles () and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age. Early Christianity ...

. It has been in use since 1854, and has been regularly updated since. It is sometimes referred to as Denzinger, after its first editor,

Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger (10 October 1819 – 19 June 1883) was a leading German Catholic theologian and author of the '' Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum'' (Handbook of Creeds and Definitions) commonly referred to simply as " ...

Name

The name ''Enchiridion'' (from Greek ''cheir,'' "hand") means "handbook." Originally published as "Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum", it is today published as "Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum" (meaning “Handbook of creeds, definitions, and declarations on matters of faith and morals.”) The Enchiridion is sometimes referred to as Denzinger, after its first editor,

. It is commonly abbreviated 'D' or 'Dz' in early editions and 'DS' in editions edited by Adolf Schönmetzer due to a revision in numbering. 'DS' sometimes continues to be used as a general reference to even later editions. See notes in "Most Recent Edition" below.

Description

By including all basic texts of Catholic teachings, the Enchiridion serves as a compendium of faith through the centuries. It is also a research instrument for theologians, historians, and individuals with an interest in the study of Christianity. The latest updates extend to the teachings of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

; it can thus be used for research on contemporary issues, such as the social teachings of the Church,

subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

or the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

Most Recent Edition

Denzinger, Heinrich riginal author revised, enlarged, and, in collaboration with Helmut Hoping, edited by Peter Hünermann from the original bilingual edition; and edited by Robert Fastiggi and Anne Englund Nash for the English edition.‎ ''Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals''. 43rd ed.‎ San Francisco : Ignatius Press, 2012. arginal numbers correspond to ''The Catechism of the Catholic Church'' and all post 1963 editions. See the concordance on p. 1389 for corresponding numbers for reference to pre 1963 editions.

Structure

The Enchiridion is chronologically ordered, starting with the '' Symbolum Apostolicum''. It includes the teachings of

popes The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and

ecumenical council An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...

s since. It does not repeat all the full texts, but only those central parts which are relevant to dogmatic or moral theology. All texts in Denzinger-Schönmetzer are listed in Latin. Since the 37th edition of Denzinger-Hünermann (1991), the original language (mostly Latin) is put in the left-hand column with a corresponding vernacular translation in the right-hand column. In addition to the 2012 English edition of Denzinger-Hünermann, there are also editions in French, Italian, Spanish, and other languages (as well as the original German). In addition to the texts, the Enchiridion supplies certain indices: * ''Index scripturisticus'', on the uses of scripture in various dogmas * ''Index systematicus'' of dogmatic and moral Church teachings * ''Index alphabeticus'' of names and subjects

Editions

* * * * *

Sources

* Denzinger, Heinrich, and Peter Hünermann. Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum. Freiburg, Basel, Rome & Vienna: Herder, 2009. * Denzinger, Heinrich, and Peter Hünermann. Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals 43rd ed. San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2012.
Heinrich Denzinger, ''The Sources of Catholic Dogma''
The following CD-Rom includes all documents up to 1950. * ''Welcome to the Catholic Church''. Gervais: Harmony Media, n.d. (''Welcome'' reproduces this print version: Denzinger, Henry. ''The Sources of Catholic Dogma''. Trans. Roy J. Deferrari. St. Louis and London: Herder, 1957. This in turn is translated from: Denzinger, Heinrich, ed. ''Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum''. Rev. Karl Rahner. 30th ed. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1954.) The following CD-Rom includes all documents up to 1995. * ''CD-Rom for Windows and Macintosh in Latin, Greek and German'': Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum : Griechisch/Lateinisch - Deutsch = Kompendium der Glaubensbekenntnisse und kirchlichen Lehrentscheidungen omputerdatei/ Heinrich Denzinger. Verb., erw., ins Deutsche übertragen und unter Mitarb. von Helmut Hoping hrsg. von

Peter Hünermann Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. - Freiburg .a.: Herder, 1997. - CD-ROM for Windows and Macintosh—

677 __NOTOC__ Year 677 ( DCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 677 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

References

External links

The online sources are based on various earlier editions. The latest editions are not available online.
Latin text
– documents to 1957
French translation
– documents to 1959

– documents to 1957
English translation
– documents to 1950 and old numbering only {{Authority control 1854 books 1854 in Christianity

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...