On The Deposit of Faith

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the Deposit of Faith as, “The heritage of faith contained in SacredScripture and Tradition, handed on in the Church from the time of the Apostles, from which the Magisterium draws all that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed. (84;cf. 1202) (CCC Glossary, p. 874)

To understand the above definition of the Deposit of Faith, we could break down and analyze its important elements. First, the word Tradition refers to “.. the living transmission of the message of the Gospel in the Church”. ( CCC Glossary, p. 901) Beginning from the very first succession of discipleship from each of the Apostles to the next disciples they ‘laid hands on’, and then on and on to the next disciples also ‘laid hands on’ by the apostles’ successors, the ‘deposit of faith’ got transmitted/transferred in all its authenticity because of this direct mode of handing on of the message of the Gospel from the Apostles on and on through the subsequent ‘ordained’ disciples -- (Bishops, in present day term). Tradition, thus, was formed with this unbroken passing on of this deposit as these ordained ‘bishops’, in succession, all dispensed or proclaimed & taught with full authority the handed on Gospel teachings.

Next, essentially paired with Tradition to contain the full body of teachings is what is called Sacred Scriptures. It is described in the Catechism as the Gospel, which was passed on in writing “by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing”. (CCC # 76, P. 25) Sacred Scripture, also referred to as the Bible, is, thus, similarly defined, “.. the books which contain the truth of God’s revelation and were composed by human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit.” (CCC Glossary, p. 868) The Scriptures are the sacred writings expressing the same Gospel message embodied in the Tradition except these teachings are recorded permanently in writing; but they are called “Sacred Scripture” because it was the Holy Spirit himself that was the source of inspiration & enlightenment in writing of the Gospel Message by the ‘evangelists’ and all the other Scriptures authors, both of the New Testament and the Old Testament books. However, only the books which are approved by the Church as canonical books of the Gospel fall under the title of Sacred Scriptures.

Then, the phrase “.. handed on in the Church from the time of the Apostles”, which is already touched upon above in explaining about Tradition, signifies precisely that part of Tradition, which is properly called “Apostolic Tradition”, (CCC, I, # 75, p. 24) whereby is meant that only the select men called and taught directly by our Lord, namely the Apostles, whom He chiefly commissioned to spread His Gospel to all people of the world through all generations, did formally receive this deposit of faith from the Lord Jesus Christ, and did initially proclaim and teach the very same Gospel spoken and entrusted to them by the Lord.

Moving on to another integral part of the definition of faith, we try to understand the word Magisterium. It is “.. the living teaching office of the Church, whose task.. is to give.. authentic interpretation of the word of God, whether in its written form (Sacred Scripture), or in the form of Tradition; it insures the Church’s fidelity to the teaching of the Apostles in matters of faith and morals. (85, 890, 2033) ( CCC Glossary, p. 887) The Catechism identifies the Magisterium in the person of “ .. the Pope and .. the Bishops in communion with him.” ( CCC, # 100, p. 30) To answer our last question: “What the purpose is originally, and even today of the Deposit of Faith?”, we quote here Pope John Paul II’s commencing sentence to his Apostolic Constitution, Fidei Depositum, “Guarding the Deposit of Faith is the Mission which the Lord entrusted to His Church, and which she fulfills in every age.” (CCC, p. 1) This element of the Deposit of the Faith spells out for us the “Authority” whereby any and all the teachings contained in this Church heritage are ascertained and proposed authentically because it is with the Holy Spirit’s safeguarding that they are definitive and free- from-error teachings of the Church in faith and morals when interpreted by the Pope in collegiality with all the Bishops of the Church. The Magisterium is formally called “.. the living teaching office of the Church”. (CCC Glossary, p 887) The Magisterium’s interpreting under the power of the Holy Spirit insures this teaching office’s“..authentic interpretation of the Word of God.” (CCC 85, p. 27)

Msgr. Kevane gave Pope Benedict’s own answer to the questions: “What exactly is this deposit? Where can it be found officially stated and formulated?” Thus, the Pope says, “.. in communion … with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.” (GCC,jcr, Evangelization, Catechesis, and Catechism, p. 57) From the above the Pope explains how per the believers’ encounter of Jesus, in so far as he is related to the two other Persons of the Trinitarian Godhead, they, likewise, through the Spirit in Christ, get to participate in the life of the Triune God. This sharing in the life of the Triune God properly consists in believers’ keeping of the word of Christ, or in their ‘abiding faith’ in Christ, which is exactly the way Jesus, or the Triune God will make a dwelling place in them, as is written in John’s Gospel.

This is, also, how could be defined the manner of the believers’ “relating to Jesus”. Because, as stated by the Pope,“.. in his capacity as the Son of the Father, and who was sent by this Father… Jesus is entirely ‘Son’ and is never enclosed in his own world. He is, with every fiber of his existence, relation to the Father”. (GCC, jcr, Evangelization, Catechesis, and Catechism, p. 43) He is always in obedience to God the Father. And so this is, also, man’s essential call and destiny in order for all believing men and women to become sharers in the life of God. Already united, thus, with God as they journey in life, then, Msgr. Kevane said, ..they became able to celebrate his death in charity, to proclaim his resurrection with living faith, and to look forward with firm hope to his Second Coming in glory as Judge of the living and the dead”.

All our Pontiffs during these contemporary times have been altogether “pre-occupied” with this safeguarding of the Deposit of Faith by their emphasizing for a truly re-invigorated “catechesis” for and by the Church. Most notably per his phrase, “aggiornamento pastorale” Pope Pius XII “calls for an adaptation of pastoral ministry to the modern sciences, to the mentality and problems of modern man, but above all to the living Magisterium, all, as he says explicitly, at the service of ‘the deposit of faith’”. (TCFT Intro p. xIviii) Pope John XXIII echoed this same exhortation of Pope Pius XII as he “.. connects (catechism) directly with the concern of the Church for the deposit of faith, like he says it being the constant preoccupation of the Church.” He said, “.. catechesis… must embrace the whole: faith, morality, and sacramental liturgy in order to give solid nourishment to the people so that from intellectual conviction each person passes to the practical living of the teaching”. (TCFT Intro p. Iiv-Iv) Then later, Pope Paul VI’s Creed of our People, together with Pope John Paul II’s Catechesi Tradendae “.. make it clear that the Deposit of Faith is the very substance and content of catechesis.” (TCFT Intro. p. Iii) Clearly, it is saying here that the deposit of faith essentially goes hand in hand with catechesis. To quote here the words of our current Vicar of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI: “We can not receive his (Jesus’) word as a theory in the same way that we learn, say, mathematical formulas or philosophical opinions. We can learn it only in accepting a share of Christ’s destiny.” (GCC, jcr, On the Meaning of Faith, p. 30) In effect, Pope Benedict must be stipulating here that which is integral to the deposit of faith or the body of doctrines, namely an actual active response of belief. Thus, the words of Jesus are truly most meaningful because Jesus himself is the Living Word. Likewise, the body of doctrines, thus of faith, is also only alive in the entire people of God, Christ’s Mystical Body, which responds alive to this only Son from the Father… “ Moreover, Pope Benedict continued to say that to catechize “.. is to reveal in the Person of Christ the the whole of God’s eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person GCC, jcr p. 57) This, again, precisely characterizes what is the Deposit of Faith. To be embraced in divine fellowship with the very Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we, through catechesis, are to always seek guidance, instructions, haven, and refuge from the core heritage found only in the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition. Being immersed and soaked in them bring us into the fuller encountering or experiencing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Way, Truth, and Life. For as Pope Benedict can tell us as our final word here, “In catechesis, ‘Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God … is taught --- everything else is taught with reference to him – and it is Christ alone who teaches – anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ’s spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips … Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me’. John 7:16 (GCC,jcr, Evangelization, Catechesis, and Catechism, pp. 57-58) For, fundamentally, fidelity to the Church’s Deposit of Faith is primordially fidelity to the Teacher, that is Jesus Christ, and fidelity to his kind of deeds, and to “..all that I, (Jesus), have commanded..” , namely, to all his teachings. Msgr. Kevane credited, thus, Charles Journet’s characterization of the authentic manner of the Apostles’ proclaiming of the word, and therefore of the deposit of faith with the following words of Mr. Journet: “.. the Apostles enjoyed the privilege of a miraculous assistance which enabled them to give it an ORAL OR WRITTEN EXPRESSION (his emphasis) so faithful that God himself must be said to speak by their mouths.” (TCFT Intro. p. xvii) The point here being God was faithfully spoken in behalf of by the Apostles.

Submitted to: Dean Ray Helgeson By: Renato C. Valdellon, January 27, 2011