Sources & method.

Only Church-approved sources

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church, cited by paragraph and linked to the official text on vatican.va.
• Scripture in the World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain, plain modern English), quoted word for word. Every page uses this one translation for its quotations. Verse numbers are modern (Hebrew numbering for the Psalms); where the Douay-Rheims (Challoner revision) numbers a verse differently, we add its number in brackets, like “Psalm 141:2 [Douay 140:2].” The Douay-Rheims text itself appears only in the Bible reader, where it is labeled. We quote other translations only with the publishers’ permission.
• Documents of popes and councils, summarized briefly and linked to vatican.va.

No original theology

We restate what the Church teaches in plain words. We do not offer our own opinions on doctrine. Every teaching sentence carries a citation you can check. If a claim can’t be traced to an approved source, it doesn’t go on the site.

How each page is checked

• Every Catechism number is checked against the official vatican.va text, and every short Catechism quotation must match it exactly.
• Every Bible quotation is drawn directly from the hosted Bible text, so it can’t be misquoted.
• Every teaching paragraph must carry at least one citation, or the page fails the build.
• Pages are checked for spelling, accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA) and speed before they are published.

Honest about our limits

Every teaching sentence is checked against the sources above, and every claim carries its citation so you can check it yourself. Spot a mistake? Tell us. We fix it and record the change on the corrections page.

The liturgical calendar is computed from the General Roman Calendar using the open-source romcal library, with national calendars as an option. If a date looks wrong for your country, please tell us.

What the labels mean

Case pages and question pages carry a small label so you know what kind of claim you are reading:

• Church teaching: taught by the Catechism or a council.
• Scripture: what the Bible itself says.
• Theological interpretation: how faithful theologians explain it, not a definition of faith.
• History: what the historical record shows.
• Disputed question: Christians disagree here. We give the Catholic answer and state the other side fairly.

Corrections

If you find an error, report it. We aim to acknowledge reports within 24 hours, take down a disputed teaching sentence within 24 hours while we check it, and publish fixes within 72 hours, with a public note of what changed.

Copyright notices

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Accessibility

We want this site to work for everyone who comes looking, including people who use a screen reader, a keyboard, a switch, large text or a small phone. We aim for the WCAG 2.2 AA standard, and we test for it every time the site is built.

• Every artwork and photograph has a written description. Purely decorative images are hidden from screen readers.
• Everything works with a keyboard, and the focused item always shows a clear outline. Escape closes menus.
• Text is at least 14 pixels, and body text is 17 to 18 pixels, with strong contrast. Tap targets are at least 44 pixels.
• Nothing moves on its own. If your device asks for reduced motion, page effects and map flights are switched off.
• Videos load from YouTube only when you press play, and every film links to its page on YouTube, where you can turn on captions when the channel provides them.

We are not perfect yet. If something doesn’t work for you, please tell us at [email protected] or through Report an error, and say what device and tools you use. We will fix it.