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Creed of Pope Pius IV

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a summary of the doctrines of the Roman Church as contained in the canons and decrees of the Council of Trent. It was issued in the form of a bull in December, 1564, by pope Pius IV, and usually bears his name. All bishops, ecclesiastics, and teachers in the Romish Church, as well as all converts from Protestantism, publicly profess assent to it. The original may be found in Richter, Canones et decreta Concil. Trident. p. 574, in Cramp, Text-book of Popery, p. 542; and in Elliott, Delin. of Romanism, ch. 1. We subjoin an English version. It will be seen that the former part is the Nicene Creed, slightly altered.

I, A. B., believe and profess with a firm faith all and every one of the things which are contained in the symbol of faith which is used in the holy Roman Church; namely, I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end; and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Lifegiver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified, who spake by the holy prophets; and one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; and I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I most firmly admit and embrace apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other constitutions and observances of the same Church. I also admit the sacred Scriptures according to the sense which the holy mother Church has held and does hold, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; nor will I ever take or interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers. I profess, also, that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the salvation of mankind, though all are not necessary for every one — namely, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, and that they confer grace; and of these, baptism, confirmation, and order cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I do also receive and admit the ceremonies of the Catholic Church, received and approved in the solemn administration of all the above-said sacraments. I receive and embrace all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning sin and justification. I profess likewise that in the mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I confess, also, that under either kind alone, whole and entire, Christ and a true sacrament is received. I constantly told that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honored and invocated, that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and of the mother of God ever Virgin, and also of the other saints, are to be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to be given to them. I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. I acknowledge the holy catholic and apostolic Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of St. Peter, price of the apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ. I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declare by the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and like. wise I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and:all heresies whatsoever condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church. This true catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly holy, I, A. B., promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold, and profess the same whole and entire, with God, assistance, to the end of my life; and to procure, as far as lies in my power, that the same shall be held, taught, and preached by all who are under me, or are entrusted to my care, by virtue of my office. So help me God, and these holy Gospels of God. Amen.

This creed is also known under the name of the Professio Fidei Tridentina, or Forma Professionis fidei Catholicae. See Cramp, Text-book of Popery; p. 436; Buckley, History of Council of Trent, p. 519; Elliott, Delineation of Romanism, bk. 1, ch. 1; Streitwolf und Klener, Lib. Symb. ecclesiae Cath. (Gtt. 1846, t. 2).