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Why We Swear This Oath

In a world of competing voices, counterfeit teachings, and personal reinterpretations of Catholic doctrine, families deserve to know with absolute certainty that their children are receiving authentic Roman Catholic formation—not watered-down theology, not contemporary reinterpretations, not personal opinions dressed up as Church teaching.

That's why all employees of CatechismClass.com take a solemn oath of fidelity to the Magisterium. We don't just promise to be faithful. We swear it before God.

What This Means for Our Courses

Your courses are built on actual, dogmatic Catholic teaching. Every lesson is grounded in Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the teachings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and the authentic Magisterium. We offer Catholic teaching as the Church preserves it and teaches it.

Your certificates are widely recognized by parishes worldwide. Because our courses meet the highest standards of Catholic fidelity, dioceses and parishes confidently accept CatechismClass.com completion certificates for sacramental preparation, religious education requirements, and catechist training.

Your family can trust the content. You don't have to worry about hidden agendas, interpretations, or contemporary reinterpretations of doctrine. Our courses teach the Faith as the Church teaches it—faithfully, completely, and without compromise.

What We Guarantee

Our Oath: The Oath Against Modernism (1910)

On September 1, 1910, Pope St. Pius X issued the Oath Against Modernism in his motu proprio "Sacrorum Antistitum." This oath was required of all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in seminaries. It defended authentic Catholic doctrine against the errors of modernism—which claimed that dogma evolves, that faith is subjective feeling rather than assent to revealed truth, and that the Church's teaching could contradict historical scholarship.

In keeping with the solemn teachings of the Church and those traditions revered by our forefathers and upheld by our Bishops, priests, and Holy Father, all employees and contractors of CatechismClass.com swear to this oath and live lives in accord with the teachings of the Church.

Here is the full text of the oath we swear:

I ___________________________________ firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:20), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated.

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion.

I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality—that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful.

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact—one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history—the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles.

I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God.

— Pope St. Pius X, "Sacrorum Antistitum," September 1, 1910

Why This Oath Matters Today

In 1910, Pope St. Pius X faced the crisis of modernism—the claim that Catholic doctrine could evolve, that faith is merely feeling, that historical criticism trumps revealed truth. He issued this oath to defend immutable truth against those who would reinterpret it.

One hundred years later, we face similar challenges. That's why we swear this oath. Not because it's nostalgic or traditional, but because immutable truth still needs defending today. Your children deserve to learn the Faith as the Church preserves it—not as contemporary culture wishes it to be.

Learn More About Our Mission

To understand more about CatechismClass.com's commitment to authentic Catholic education, we invite you to explore our About Us page, which shares our founding mission, values, and ongoing commitment to serving Catholic families.

Then, when you're ready, explore our course offerings with the confidence that every lesson, every activity, and every word has been crafted with fidelity to the authentic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.