Editing Roman Catechism (section)

==Content and authority==
The Council intended the projected Catechism to be the Church's official manual of popular instruction. The seventh canon, "De Reformatione", of Sess. XXIV, runs: 
<blockquote>That the faithful may approach the Sacraments with greater reverence and devotion, the Holy Synod charges all the bishops about to administer them to explain their operation and use in a way adapted to the understanding of the people; to see, moreover, that their parish priests observe the same rule piously and prudently, making use for their explanations, where necessary and convenient, of the vernacular tongue; and conforming to the form to be prescribed by the Holy Synod in its instructions (catechesis) for the several Sacraments: the bishops shall have these instructions carefully translated into the vulgar tongue and explained by all parish priests to their flocks . . .</blockquote>

Although primarily written for the parish priests, the Catechism was also intended to give a fixed and stable scheme of instruction to the Catholic laity, especially with regard to the means of grace. To attain this object the work closely follows the dogmatic definitions of the Council. It is divided in four parts:<ref name=catholic/>

* I. The [[Apostles' Creed]];
* II. The [[Sacrament]]s;
* III. The [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue]];
* IV. Prayer, especially The [[Lord's Prayer]].

It deals with the [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|papal primacy]], a point which was not defined at Trent; on the other hand, it is silent on the doctrine of [[indulgence]]s, which is set forth in the "Decretum de indulgentiis", Sess. XXV.<ref name=catholic/> It states the common doctrine about servitude, allowed in some cases (prisoners of war, self-selling in extreme necessity, civil punishment):
"To enslave a freeman, or appropriate the slave of another is called man-stealing"<ref>
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015038914233;view=plaintext;seq=506;skin=mobile, p. 442. </ref>

The bishops urged in every way the use of the new Catechism; they enjoined its frequent reading, so that all its contents would be committed to memory; they exhorted the priests to discuss parts of it at their meetings, and insisted upon its being used for instructing the people.<ref name=catholic/>

To some editions of the Roman Catechism was prefixed a "Praxis Catechismi", i.e. a division of its contents into sermons for every Sunday of the year adapted to the Gospel of the day.<ref name=catholic/>

The Catechism does not have the authority of conciliary definitions or other primary symbols of faith; for, although decreed by the Council, it was only published a year after the members had dispersed, and it consequently lacks a formal conciliary approbation. During the heated controversies {{lang|la|de auxiliis gratiae}} between the [[Thomism|Thomists]] and [[Molinism|Molinists]], the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] refused to accept the authority of the Catechism as decisive. Yet it possesses high authority as an exposition of Catholic doctrine. It was composed by order of a council, issued and approved by the pope; its use has been prescribed by numerous synods throughout the whole Catholic Church; [[Pope Leo XIII]], in a letter to the French bishops of 8 September 1899, recommended the study of the Roman Catechism to all seminarians, and [[Pope Pius X]] signified his desire that preachers should expound it to their congregations.<ref name=catholic/>