Many may wonder what exactly the Roman Catholic Church believes. There are numerous works that address this question, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I encourage any who are curious about Catholicism to read. But how do we nail down exactly what the Church believes? What are the doctrines that are the most essential to the Catholic faith. What does it mean to be Catholic?

The renowned work The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Dr. Ludwig Ott attempts to answer this question. He lists and explains the various defined dogmatum of the Catholic faith and relates them to the degree of theological certainty within Catholic Theology. The highest level of theological certainty is that of “de fide” (literally: of the faith). “Dogmatum de fide” are those teachings of the Catholic Church that are considered to be divinely revealed. As such, they are the most closely held beliefs of the Church.

Distilled from the work of Dr. Ludwig Ott, I provide below the Dogmatum of the Catholic Church held to the theological certainty of “de fide”, so that the reader may understand exactly what the Church believes. This is not an attempt to proselytize, but rather to provide information to enhance the reader’s understanding of Catholic doctrine.