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Questions / The Mass and the Eucharist

Do I have to believe all of it?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Jimmy Akin on Pints with Aquinas

Video: Do You Have to BELIEVE in Every Doctrine to Become Catholic? w/ Jimmy Akin, Matt Fradd, published Jan 13, 2022. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Whoever says “I believe” says “I pledge myself to what we believe.” It’s more like a vow than a checklist. CCC 185

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

“Whoever says ‘I believe’ says ‘I pledge myself to what we believe.’” CCC 185

Faith needs a common language, binding on all and uniting all in the same confession. CCC 185

Our words

Becoming Catholic is like getting married: you say yes to the whole person, then spend your life getting to know them. Bring your questions. Struggling with something isn’t the same as rejecting it.

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Sources on this page

How we know · 1 Catechism paragraph
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 185 (official text on vatican.va).

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