Nearly a century after the First Vatican Council, the Second Vatican Council, commonly known as Vatican II, was held between 1962–1965. This assembly, invoked by Pope John XXIII, met to discuss matters of faith and Church discipline. Over 2000 Patriarchs, Cardinals, residing Bishops, Abbots, male heads of religious orders, and other nominated persons participated each autumn in the four year event. From this assembly four Constitutions, three Declarations, and nine Decrees were produced. This Logos edition is the English translation published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana

The Roman Missal is a collection of prayers, chants, and rubrics for celebrating the Latin Rite Catholic Mass. The Latin Rite Missals of the Catholic Church (3 vols.) includes the 1962 Missale Romanum, in addition to the Latin and English versions of the current Roman Missal, Third Edition, approved by Pope John Paul II.

The Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, along with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Vatican II Documents, are some of the foundational works of the contemporary Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is a society governed by law, and since the earliest Christian centuries the “canons” have born an authority second only to the Scripture itself. Over the centuries these canons, the decrees of church councils, papal judgments, or the sayings of important saints, grew into a body of law which gave the Church its visible structure. Starting in the High Middle Ages, these canons were periodically collected, reconciled with each other, and promulgated by the papacy as codified law. This body of law continued to grow, becoming unwieldy and, as the Church entered the twentieth century, increasingly anachronistic.

Pope Francis offers this apostolic exhortation as a proclamation to the Church on the gospel. Written in his characteristic straightforward style, The Joy of the Gospel offers teaching on what the gospel truly means, and exhorts the Church to begin a new chapter in evangelization.

Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on capital and labor, was written in response to the social changes brought about by industrialization. Against the claims of socialism, it reaffirms the right to hold property, but emphasizes the limits to that right, rejecting the idea that moral considerations have no place in the free market. Its discussion of the rights and duties of labor and capital toward each other and the particular responsibility of society toward the poor laid the foundation ...

The Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is responsible for upholding the Church’s traditions, teachings, and disciplines concerning the Sacraments—especially as they are performed through the Mass and the liturgy of the Church. These documents, authored by the same Congregation, uphold the Second Vatican Council’s teachings and explain how to intregrate them into the Church’s liturgies. With these essential writings, discover how the Catholic Church brings Vatican II to the Mass and honors the Sacraments with instructions for every diocese around the globe. Learn exactly how Sancrosanctum Concilium works out in the Church today.

The comprehensive exposition of Catholic doctrine! Here are the essential elements of our faith presented in the most understandable manner, enabling everyone to read and know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays.

For nearly 500 years, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has defended the Catholic Church from internal heresy—whether by false teaching or malpractice of faith. It is the oldest of the Curia’s nine congregations, and is made up of cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers. According to Pope Paul VI’s 1965 Motu Proprio Integrae Servandae, “All questions which regard the doctrine on faith and morals or which touch upon the faith are within the competence of the Congregation . . .

The Nova Vulgata is the official Latin version of the Bible for the Catholic Church. It has its origins in the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which put forth the mandate for a revision of the Latin Psalter in order to bring it in line with modern text-critical research.

For nearly two thousand years, popes have communicated to the world primarily through their letters. In the pre-modern world, the papal chancery turned out tens of thousands of letters a year. On occasion, a letter dealt with broad concerns and was intended to circulate through the churches of a given region. Such letters became known as encyclicals. In the modern period, papal encyclicals have become the primary medium through which the papacy exercises its teaching office. Through them, the popes address theological topics of especially timely concern, applying Christian doctrine to the immediate circumstances of the day.

Mystici Corporis Christi is Pius XII’s encyclical on the nature of the Church. Drawing on St. Paul’s writings on the Church as the Body of Christ, Pope Pius describes the Church as a visible, living organism, animated by the Holy Spirit and with Christ as her invisible head. This important encyclical laid the groundwork for the doctrine of the Church articulated at the Second Vatican Council.

Verbum Domini, issued by Pope Benedict XVI, is an apostolic exhortation discussing the Catholic approach to the Bible. Exploring both theological foundations concerning the Word of God and practical applications that allow our Scripture study to affect our mission as the Church, Verbum Domini is a beautiful discussion of the necessity of Scripture in our daily lives.

The Verbum 5 Legacy Libraries reintroduce the classic libraries of Verbum 5. This library is offered without features and datasets, making it the perfect standalone collection of resources to help grow your library with study Bible notes, Bible dictionaries, devotionals, and a few key commentaries. The Verbum 5 Starter Legacy Library provides essential resources for anyone just getting started with serious Bible study.

The Minor Writings of Pope Benedict XVI collection (19 vols.) contains the official pontifical writings, speeches, homilies, and letters of Pope Benedict XVI. These volumes, compiled and built by Logos Bible Software, contain the Holy Father’s teachings from 2005 to 2013 and are not available in this chronological digitized format anywhere else. Each Sunday homily, apostolic and public letter, and homily before and after the Angelus has been assembled in these volumes.

Pope Francis’ second encyclical, Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home, calls all Christians to a greater responsibility in stewardship of the planet. Criticizing the rampant consumerism and irresponsible development of the modern age, Francis says, “This encyclical is aimed at everyone. Let us pray that everyone can receive its message and grow in responsibility toward the common home that God has entrusted to us.” From climate change to poverty, technology to biodiversity, Pope Francis calls attention to the “grave responsibilities” we face and encourages “an honest and open debate so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good.”

Though it has gone by different names over the centuries, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has long been one of the most influential and important offices within the Vatican. Entrusted with explaining and defending Catholic teaching, the CDF regularly releases documents that authoritatively and clearly explain Catholic teaching in light of various questions, objections, or false theology. Joseph Ratzinger served as the head of the CDF for more than 20 years before he was named Pope Benedict XVI. This collection gathers together many of the most recent texts of the CDF. Always with the aim of speaking the truth in charity, the CDF lucidly presents the Catholic position on a number of today’s most pressing issues within the church—including pastoral care for homosexual persons, Communion for the divorced and remarried, and many other moral, theological, sacramental, and pastoral issues.

The Apostolic Constitutions and Exhortations of John Paul II and Benedict XVI (51 vols.) contains the most important writings of the two pontiffs, next to their encyclical letters. The papal office holds the highest teaching authority in the Catholic Church, and the popes realize this office through a number of channels and through the promulgation of a variety of documents. The most famous of these are the papal encyclical letters, which express the pope’s mind normally on matters of faith and morals. Apostolic exhortations often concern similar topics but do not define doctrine and are normally directed at encouraging certain groups within the Church to certain activities. In recent decades apostolic exhortations have most often been issued at the conclusion of synods of bishops and have served as the popes’ summations and interpretations of those synods’ conclusions. Apostolic constitutions, however, are more juridical in nature. They are formal papal decrees and carry the highes...

Quadragesimo Anno was written by Pope Pius XI in 1931 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum. It expands on the teaching of Rerum Novarum and addresses contemporary developments, criticizing again both socialism and an individualism that denies that property rights must be ordered to the common good.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a unique, unprecedented document in the history of the Church, serves as a tool to inspire and guide the faithful, who are faced with moral and pastoral challenges daily. It is divided into five sections: an introduction, three parts, and a conclusion entitled “For a Civilization of Love.” The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is a must-have resource for leaders of social ministry at the diocesan and parish level as well as those in religious education, schools, and youth and young adult ministry.

Lumen Fidei is the first encyclical of Pope Francis after being elected to the papacy in 2013. Lumen Fidei covers the virtue of faith, and follows the encyclicals written by Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, on the virtues of hope and charity. Francis claims, “There is an urgent need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence.” Lumen Fidei is divided into four chapters that discuss the history of faith in the Church from the time of Abraham, the relationship of faith and reason, the role of the Church in sharing faith and building up society, and concludes with a presentation of Mary as a model of faith.

The Pontifical Biblical Commission has defended the authority and interpretation of the Holy Bible for over 100 years, convening to study, analyze, and discuss the interpretation of Scripture in the modern world, or to evaluate a potentially controversial interpretation or pronouncement on Scripture. These three volumes express unique research into the study of Scripture and its interpretation and meaning for us in the twenty-first century.

This volume traces the history of liturgy from its origins in the second century to the present-day Church. Written by one of the foremost liturgical scholars, Father Keith Pecklers, this exceptional book is a geography of Christianity, analyzed period by period. It is an anthropological history of the Church that involves relationships with architecture, art, literature, culture, pastoral and ecclesiastical government—as well as with its connections with the civil power and the organization of ...

Pope John Paul II promulgated Redemptoris Mater (The Mother of the Redeemer) in 1987. The encyclical is a complex exploration of Mariology. The first section, “Mary in the Mystery of Christ,” explains Mary’s role in the divine plan of salvation. The second section, “The Mother of God at the Center of the Pilgrim Church,” discusses Mary’s continuing role as the perfect “mirror” of faith. The pope explains that Mary’s journey of faith becomes one with that of the Church at Pentecost.

The Latin edition provides the authoritative source language text of the Liturgy of the Hours. Similar to the English, the resource itself contains all the non-Biblical text for the liturgy and allows you to view the Biblical text in any translation in your library, including the Nova Vulgata. The Liturgy of the Hours, together with the Mass, constitutes the official public prayer life of the Catholic Church. A canonical obligation for Catholic clergy and the basis of prayer for monastic and religious life, the Liturgy of the Hours also incorporates a wide participation of laity across the world. It’s also known as the Divine Office and informally referred to as the breviary, although many other modern breviaries exist in other traditions as well.

Pope John Paul II once referred to the Social Doctrine of the Church as a “valid instrument of evangelization.” In the same Encyclical, Centesimus Annus, he continued: “In effect, to teach and to spread her social doctrine pertains to the Church’s evangelizing mission and is an essential part of the Christian message.” With this in mind, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has written sermon helps for every Sunday and Solemnity of the Liturgical Year. These texts, based on Scripture readings and expanded with the Church’s own social doctrine teachings, provide guidance for the homilist in making the connection between Scripture and the world today. While not intended to be stand-alone messages, these texts provide social teachings that any Christian—from leadership to laity—can learn from and apply.

Pope St. Pius X, the first pope since Pius V to be canonized into sainthood, was known as the pastoral pope. He took up the cause of the poor and promoted personal holiness and a lifestyle reflecting Christian values. St. Pius X was the only pope in the twentieth century with a long pastoral background at the parish level, and such were the concerns of the Catholic Church under his guidance. He reformed canon law and church administration, and adhered to traditional theology and doctrine.

Mit Brennender Sorge condemns the errors of Nazism and the Germany’s violations of its 1933 concordat with Holy See. The encyclical condemns the neo-paganism, pantheism and idolatry of race and state of the German regime as incompatible with Christian belief. It was smuggled into Germany and read from the pulpits of all German Catholic churches on Palm Sunday, 1937.

Pope Pius XII’s 1943 encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu discusses developments in biblical studies and calls for a renewal of the study of the Sacred Scriptures. By encouraging the use of the original languages for study and translation and describing the proper place of historical-critical methods in Catholic exegesis, it opened a new era in Catholic biblical scholarship.

The Verbum 6 Legacy Libraries reintroduce the classic libraries of Verbum 6. This library is offered without features and datasets, making it the perfect standalone collection of resources to help grow your library with study Bible notes, Bible dictionaries, devotionals, and a few key commentaries. The Verbum 6 Starter Legacy Library provides essential resources for anyone just getting started with serious Bible study.

Containing essential publications from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, this collection spans 20 years’ worth of important texts regarding the family, marriage, sexuality, and globalization. Discover what the Catholic Church teaches about marriage, sexuality, civil unions, and human rights in the context of the family.