Abstract: After two chapters on the rise and history of Catholic Christianity, the authors explain systematically how the beliefs and practices of Catholicism came to be what they are. A chapter on revelation, tradition, and scripture introduces six chapters, which set out Catholic doctrines in the order in which they developed: the Trinity and the Incarnation; sin, the life of grace, and the promise of glory; the seven sacraments; the nature of the Church and its mission; and Catholic moral life and teaching. The book ends by drawing together major characteristics of Catholic Christianity and setting out some central challenges, that the Catholic Church now faces. The central aim of the book is to present, with ecumenical sensitivity, the world’s oldest and largest institution, the Roman Catholic Church.

Keywords: Catholic beliefs, Catholic Church, Catholic history, Catholic practices, Ecumenism, John Paul II, Second, Vatican Council