Jesus Christ: God and Man
Catholics believe Jesus is fully God and fully Man. He is named as “the Christ”. He is the King of the Universe, the Word of God, and the long awaited Messiah of the People of Israel. He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, was crucified, truly died, and rose again bodily, all for our sins. He returned to heaven where He continues to intercede for us before God the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Jesus was a great teacher, and His teachings are the very teachings of God.

God: The Trinity
Catholics believe the formula found in the Nicene Creed, and therefore believe the ONE God who exists as THREE Persons. Essentially Catholics believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God, one in substance and will, but distinct in some way, but not divided. This mystery of faith does exceed human comprehension, but we are able to develop a relationship with the Triune God through prayer and worship.

The Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Catholics believe that the Catholic Church is the visible institution that Jesus established to continue his work in all generations. There are other Christian churches and denominations that have been founded historically. Many of these contain some of the elements of the Church.

The Church is ONE, because it is unified by Jesus across regions and time periods. The Church is HOLY on account of the presence of Jesus in the Church and in the Ritual Sacraments it provides. The Church is CATHOLIC because it professes the fulness of the faith that has been handed down to us from Jesus. Finally, the Church is APOSTOLIC because its teaching and authority come from the apostles themselves.

Authority: Scripture and Tradition
Catholic believe in two sources of authority for the Church’s Teachings: Scripture and Tradition. Ultimately, Jesus is our authority, but this authority has been passed from Jesus to His Apostles and to their successors. Catholics believe that the Bible is the product of the Tradition of the Early Church. Catholic hold the Bible in high regard as the inspired Word of God, and while it cannot teach contrary to the Bible’s Teachings, its teachings also need to be interpreted by the Tradition passed down from the Apostles to their successors, the Bishops of the Church.

Within the Church, the teaching authority of the Bishop of Rome (known as the Pope), the successor of the Apostle Peter, is considered to have primacy. However, the Church more usually teaches by collegial decisions of the Bishops of the World united with the Pope. The Church defines that some teachings are infallible truth which can be held with certainty because teachings on Faith and Morals are protected from Error by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Creation
Catholics believe that creation is essentially good, and that God uses creation for His purposes, but that it has been marred by Original Sin, the result of the sin of the first humans. The Creation stories have historically been interpreted in three different ways: literal, allegorical, or in the light of the science of the day. The creation of the universe by God from nothing (ex nihilo) is a mystery which is not incompatible with these three different interpretations. Catholics recognise that the purpose of the book of Genesis is not primarily to give us a historical account of creation, but to answer the deeper question of “How did Sin come into the World”.

Sin
Sin is the deliberate, freely chosen, transgression of God’s law. There are two types of sin: mortal sin and venial sin. Sin that expels all charity from us is mortal, while sin that merely weakens charity is venial. For a sin to be mortal, the offense must be serious (have grave matter), and the act done freely, with deliberation. After committing a mortal sin, one must receive the sacrament of reconciliation before receiving communion.

Sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Original Sin is the privation of grace, inherited by all humans from Adam and Eve. Because of Jesus’ atoning death on the cross, we have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven, and this is not possible apart from God's grace.

Salvation and Grace
Catholics believe we are saved only by God's grace working in us. Thus we are justified, transformed from the state of unrighteousness into a state of holiness and the sonship of God, on account of Jesus. Justification is the merciful and freely given act of God which takes away our sins and makes us just and holy in our whole being. This justification is given to us in the sacrament of baptism. Justification is the beginning of our free response to God, that is our faith in Jesus and our cooperation with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus Catholics believe in salvation by grace alone, solely on account of the work of Jesus.

Worship and Rituals
The sacraments are divinely instituted signs that give the grace that they signify. In other words, sacraments are rituals and events through which God gives us grace. Catholics and Orthodox accept seven sacraments: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick.

Morality
The Catholic Church draws its moral Teachings from the message of Jesus. Morality boils down to love: loving God and loving our neighbors. If we truly love God (who himself is love) and neighbour, then our behaviour toward ourselves and others will reflect this commitment. The Catholic Church teaches that we are to strive for holiness and perfection, since Jesus told us to be perfect as the Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). However, this is only accomplished with the help of God's grace. Catholics believe that we are called to turn from evil, and towards the good. This means turning away from actions and thoughts that are contrary to God's will. Most sins can be traced to the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Envy, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth). Turning toward the good means developing virtue, that is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. The core virtues are divided into the Theological Virtues, which are the foundation of Christian moral activity (faith, hope, and love), and the Cardinal Virtues, virtues around which all others are grouped (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude).

The Virgin Mary
Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, thus she is called theotokos (God-Bearer) and "mother of God." Catholics believe that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, and we believe that Mary remained a Virgin her entire life. We believe that Mary was conceived without original sin in order to be a sinless bearer of God incarnate: Jesus Christ. This is known as the immaculate conception. This sinlessness was accomplished only on account of God's grace, and not on Mary's merits. We believe that after Mary completed the course of her earthly life, she was assumed into heaven, similar to the way the great saint Elijah was. Mary is the Mother of us and the mother of the Church, and just as Jesus is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve, who obeyed God where Eve disobeyed.

Saints