R.C.I.A. Resource List
Books, Videos and Websites
General References:
These are sources for theology and RCIA in general. Sections on specific sources provide
more in-depth commentary and excursus on what is already provided in these general magisterial
and Doctrinal and Dogmatic sources.
Magisterial:
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Catechism of the Catholic Church (This can also be found online here:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM)
Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (This can also be found
online here:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compe
ndium-ccc_en.html)
U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults (This also has a “Catechists Companion”
and “Study Guide” that are also available)
YouCat (Youth Catechism)
Compendium on the Social Doctrine of the Church (This can also be found
online here:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_p
c_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html)
Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II: Volume 1: The Conciliar and Post
Conciliar Documents (new rev. ed.). Northport, NY: Costello Publishing, 1996.
Schroeder, H.J., trans. Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Rockford, Ill.:
Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1978.
Doctrinal & Dogmatic Sources:
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Denzinger, Henry. The Sources of Catholic Dogma. Translated by Roy J.
Deferrari. Fitzwilliam, NH: Loreto Publications, 2007.
Milavec, Aaron, trans. The Didache: Text, Translation, Analysis and
Commentary. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 2003.
Neuner, J & Dupuis, J. The Christian Faith: In the Doctrinal Documents of the
Catholic Church. Edited by Jacques Dupuis. New York: Alba House, 2001.
Ott, Ludwig. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Edited by James Canon Bastible.
Translated by Patrick Lynch. Rockford, Ill.: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc.,
1974.
Willis, John R., ed. The Teachings of the Church Fathers. San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2002.
Non-Doctrinal Sources:
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Barron, Robert. “Catholicism Series”: http://www.catholicismseries.com/
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
Page 1
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Morgan, Barbara A.; Keimig, William J. eds. RCIA Catechist’s Manual. Clinton,
Maryland: The Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM). 2005.
------------------------------------------------------. RCIA Leadership Manual. Clinton,
Maryland: The Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM). 2006.
Trigilio, John; Brighenti, Kenneth. Catholicism for Dummies:
http://www.catholicismseries.com/
RCIA General Sources:
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ACM: http://acmrcia.org/
USCCB: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/rite-ofchristian-initiation-of-adults/
http://www.rcia.co.nr/
Symbolon: http://www.symbolonrcia.org/
Specific Topic Sources
All the above sources contain general treatments on all the specific topics listed below.
Underlined sections are general, non-underlined fall under the larger underlined section
which therefore would also contain valuable information on all subsequent sub-sections.
On God: Trinitology
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St. Athanasius. “Quicumque”, in The Christian Faith: In the Doctrinal
Documents of the Catholic Church. Edited by Jacques Dupuis. New York: Alba
House, 2001.
St. Augustine. On Christian Doctrine. Translated by Rev. Professor J. F. Shaw.
Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2009.
St. Francis de Sales. Treatise on the Love of God. Translated by Rev. Henry
Benedict Mackey, Rockford, Ill.: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1997.
St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Adversus Haereses. Translated by Alexander Roberts and
William Rambaut. New Advent. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm.
(Accessed February 10, 2011).
Tangorra, Philip-Michael F. The Holy Spirit and the Church. Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/5446206/The_Holy_Spirit_and_the_Church
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, (specifically the First Part (Prima
Pars)) http://www.newadvent.org/summa/
On Jesus: Christology
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St. Athanasius. Four Discourses Against the Arians, in The Teachings of the
Church Fathers. Edited by Willis S.J., John R. San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
2002.
Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth: Volumes I-III. Translated by Adrian J.
Walker. New York/London/Toronto/Sydney/Auckland: Doubleday, 2005, 2007,
2012.
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
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Guardini, Romano. The Lord. Translated by Elinor Castendyk Briefs.
Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1982.
Ladaria, Luis F. Jesus Christ Salvation of All. Edited by Rafael Luciani.
Translated by Maria Cristina Herrera and Maria Isabel Reyna. Revised by Miguel
Arias, Doris Strieter and Thomas Strieter. Bogota, Colombia: Convivium Press,
2008.
de Lubac, Henri. Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man.
Translated by Lancelot C. Sheppard & Sister Elizabeth Englund, OCD. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988.
Pope John Paul II. Redemptor Hominis. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 1979.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life. Translated by Michael
Waldstein, Translation Editor by Aidain Nichols. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic
University Press, 1988.
----------------------. Introduction to Christianity. Translated by J. R. Foster. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004.
Sheen, Fulton J. The Life of Christ. New York City: Image/Doubleday, 1958.
Tangorra, Philip-Michael F. Jesus Christ: Priest, Prophet and King. Homiletic
and Pastoral Review: http://www.hprweb.com/2013/10/jesus-christ-priestprophet-and-king/
Tertullian. On the Resurrection of the Flesh. Translated by Peter Holmes. New
Advent. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0316.htm.
St. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/index.html. (Specifically the III part, questions
1-59)
On the Church (Ecclesiology)
• Dulles S.J., Avery. Models of the Church [expanded ed.]. New
York/London/Toronto/Sydney/Auckland: Image Books/Doubleday, 2002.
• Haffner, Paul. Mystery of the Church. Leominster: Gracewing, 2007.
• Ratzinger, Joseph. Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion.
Translated by Henry Taylor. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005.
• Serratelli, Arthur J. Evangelization: Grace and Vocation. Clifton: The Episcopal
Teaching Series, 2008.
• Sullivan, Francis A. The Church We Believe In: One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic. New York/Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1988.
------------------------. Salvation Outside the Church?: Tracing the History of the
Catholic Response. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1992.
• Tangorra, Philip-Michael F. Whether There Is the Necessity for All Humanity to
Have the Implicit Desire (Votum) for the Eucharist for Salvation: According to
the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Sacred Liturgy. tesina, Pontificia
Universitas Studiorum a Sancto Thoma Aquinatis in Urbe Angelicum, 2011.
Available at Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/5446167/Whether_There_Is_the_Necessity_for_All_H
umanity_to_Have_the_Implicit_Desire_Votum_for_the_Eucharist_for_Salvation
_in_the_Thought_of_St._Thomas_Aquinas_and_the_Sacred_Liturgy
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
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Tillard, J.-M. R. Church of Churches: The Ecclesiology of Communion.
Translated by R.C. DePeaus. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1992.
On the Sacraments (Sacramentology) (in general)
• Auer, Johann. A General Doctrine of the Sacraments and the Mystery of the
Eucharist. Translated by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis. Translation edited by Hugh M.
Riley. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995.
• Haffner, Paul. The Sacramental Mystery. Leominster: Gracewing, 1999.
• Schillebeeckx O.P., Edward. Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God.
Lanham, Maryland: Sheed & Ward Book, and Rowan & Littlefield Publishers,
Inc., 1963.
• Selman, Francis. The Sacraments and the Mystery of Christ. Oxford: Family
Publications, 2009.
• St. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. New Advent :
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/index.html. (Specifically the III part, questions
60-65).
Baptism, Confirmation & the Eucharist
• Pope Benedict XVI. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Sacramentum
Caritatis”. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007.
• Pope John Paul II. Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 2005.
----------------------------. Mane Nobiscum Domine. Città del Vaticano: Libreria
Editrice Vaticana, 2004.
• Moloney, Raymond. Problems in Theology: The Eucharist. Eugene, Oregon:
Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.
• O’Connor, James T. The Hidden Manna: A Theology of the Eucharist. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988.
• Ratzinger, Joseph. Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy. trans.
Graham Harrison. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986.
----------------------. God is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life. Edited by
Stephan Otto Horn and Vinzenz Pfnür. Translated by Henry Taylor. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003.
• Schaff, Philip, ed. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church: Saint Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writings Vol. V.
Edinburgh/Grand Rapids, Michigan: T&T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1987.
---------------------. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church: Saint Augustin: Against the Donatists, Vol. IV. Translated by
J. King and C. Hartranft. Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co.,
1987.
• St. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/index.html. (Specifically the III part,
questions: 66-72 and 73-83).
• Nash, Thomas J. Worthy is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004.
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
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Ecclesiological & Sacramental Mystagogy
• von Balthasar, Hans Urs. The Cosmic Liturgy: The Universe According to
Maximus the Confessor. Translated by Brian E. Daley, S.J. San Francisco:
Communio/Ignatius Press, 2003.
• Crean, Thomas. The Mass and the Saints. San Francisco and Oxford: Ignatius
Press and Family Publications, 2009.
• Deferrari, Roy J., trans. Saint Ambrose: Theological and Dogmatic Works.
Washinton, D.C.: The Catholic Univerity of America Press, 1963.
• Guéranger, Prosper. On the Holy Mass. Saint Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough:
Saint Michael’s Abbey Press, 2006.
• Jungmann, J.A. The Eucharistic Prayer. Translated by Robert L. Batley. London:
Challoner Books, 1966.
• Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. Cambridge:
James Clarke & Co., Ltd., 2005.
• Louth, Andrew. Denys the Areopagite. New York/London: Continuum, 1989.
• Luibheid, Colm and Rorem, Paul, trans. Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works.
New York, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1987.
• McCauley, Leo P. & Stephenson, Anthony A, trans. The Works of Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press,
1970.
• Stravinskas, Peter. The Bible and the Mass. Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania:
Newman House Press, 2000.
On Mary (Mariology)
• Haffner, Paul. The Mystery of Mary. Leominster: Gracewing, 2004.
• Miravalle, Mark, ed. Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians and
Consecrated Persons. Goleta, CA: Seat of Wisdom Books/Queenship Publishing,
2007.
• Sheen, Fulton J. The World’s First Love. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010.
Divine Revelation/Sacred Scripture & Tradition
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St. Augustine. On Christian Doctrine. Translated by Rev. Professor J. F. Shaw.
Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2009.
Pope Benedict XVI. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini”. Città
del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2010.
Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel and the Epistles of John: A Concise
Commentary. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1988.
Brown, Raymond E.; Fitzmeyer, Joseph A; Murphy, Roland E. The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson, 1989.
Dulles, Avery. Models of Revelation. New York City: Doubleday, 1992.
Pontifical Biblical Commission. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church:
https://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCINTER.HTM
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
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Morality & Christian Living
• Attard, Mark. Compromise in Morality. Roma: Pontificia Universita Gregoriana,
1976.
• Bohr, David. Catholic Moral Tradition: Revised. Huntington, Indiana: Our
Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 1999.
• Pope John Paul II. Veritatis Spledor. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 1993.
• Pontifical Biblical Commisssion. The Bible and Morality: Biblical Roots of
Christian Morality:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/pcb_documents/rc_con_
cfaith_doc_20080511_bibbia-e-morale_en.html
• St. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/index.html. (Specifically the I-II and II-II, in
their entirety).
• Wright, Allan F. Jesus in the House: Gospel Reflections on Christ’s Presence in
the Home. Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2007.
Prepared by: Fr. Phil Tangorra
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