Can You Answer These 50 Simple Questions About the Catholic Faith?
If you can't, you're not alone — and there's a 120-year-old book that can helpAll Things Roman Catholic
Jul 17, 2026
"How many there are, alas, not only among the young, but among adults and those advanced in years, who know nothing of the chief mysteries of faith."
— Pope St. Pius X, Acerbo, 1905 (On Teaching Christian Doctrine)
Before reading any further, take the quiz.
No tricks. No theology degree required. These are the basics — the kind of questions a Catholic should be able to answer after a few years in the pew. Give an honest answer. If you don’t know, join the many others who don’t, and consider this easy (and free) solution to at least learning the basics of the Catholic Faith.
Here we go…
The Creed — what Catholics believe
Who made you?
Why did God make you?
What is the Trinity?
Are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit three separate gods?
What does it mean that Jesus is both fully God and fully man?
What is the Incarnation?
Why did Jesus have to die?
What happened on the third day after Jesus died?
Where is Jesus now?
What is the Holy Spirit’s role in your life?
Scripture and Revelation — where the faith comes from
What is Sacred Tradition, and why does it matter?
How many books are in the Catholic Bible?
What does it mean that Scripture is “inspired”?
Who has the authority to interpret Scripture authentically?
What is the difference between the Old and New Covenants?
The Church — what it is and why it matters
Who founded the Catholic Church?
What are the four marks of the Church?
What does “apostolic” mean when we say the Church is apostolic?
What is the Magisterium?
What does “infallible” mean — and what is not covered by it?
The Sacraments — The seven doors of grace
How many Sacraments are there, and can you name them all?
What happens at Baptism — spiritually speaking?
What is the difference between Baptism and Confirmation?
What is transubstantiation?
Is Jesus really present in the Eucharist — body, blood, soul, and divinity?
What is required to receive Holy Communion worthily?
What is a mortal sin?
What is the difference between mortal and venial sin?
Why do Catholics confess sins to a priest instead of directly to God?
What happens in the Sacrament of Confession — spiritually?
What is Anointing of the Sick for?
What is Holy Orders?
Is marriage a Sacrament — and what makes it indissoluble?
Prayer and moral life — how Catholics live
What are the Ten Commandments — can you name them in order?
What are the two Great Commandments Jesus gave?
What are the Beatitudes?
What are the seven deadly sins?
What are the corporal works of mercy?
What is the Our Father asking for in “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?
What is the purpose of fasting?
Last things — where we’re all headed
What happens immediately after death?
What is Purgatory, and is it in the Bible?
What is the difference between Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell?
Can a person in Hell be saved eventually?
What is the Final Judgment?
What does “resurrection of the body” mean at the end of time?
Mary and the saints — the family of God
What are the four Marian dogmas?
What does “Immaculate Conception” mean — and what does it not mean?
Why do Catholics pray with the saints instead of to God alone?
What is the Communion of Saints?
How did you do?
Be honest with yourself. If you didn’t do as well as you have hoped, feel no shame, (hopefully), only hunger.
If you breezed through all 50, that’s a genuine gift. Go teach someone else.
If you stumbled — if some answers were blurry, half-remembered, or completely blank — welcome to the majority of Catholics in America right now. I just checked the latest stats from Pew. 69% of self-identified Catholics reject or are ignorant of the most central doctrine in all of Catholic worship.
The book that can fill the gap
There is a small, often overlooked catechism that was written specifically for people like you.
Not for seminarians. Not for theologians. The Catechism of the Council of Trent was directed to all priests. The recently released Catechism of the Catholic Church was directed to all bishops. The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X is that pope’s partial realization of a simple, plain, brief, popular catechism for uniform use throughout the whole world. In other words, it is directed to the layman.
Throughout his priestly life, spent in country parishes and provincial curias, Giuseppe Sarto saw the teaching of the Catechism as his first and principal duty. Having been elected Pope, it was natural that he should impose this priority upon the whole Church.
As an authentic Pastor, he had understood that the situation in that period made necessary a catechism to which every member of the faithful might refer, independently of the place in which he lived and of his position.
Sound familiar? In a country where Catholics live in every corner — from south Texas to rural Maine — the need for a portable, clear, dependable summary of the faith has never been more urgent.
Why this Catechism works
The Pius X Catechism doesn’t intimidate. It doesn’t overwhelm. Because of its simple, clear, precise language and effective explanations, this “Pius X Catechism,” as it was called, was a reliable guide to many in learning the truths of the faith.
The limitations that were noticed straight away did not prevent this Catechism from becoming an anchor for several generations of Christians. It had equally obvious merits: precise concepts, clear doctrine, a didactic ease, both for the priest who had to use it and for the faithful who were to benefit from it.
An anchor
In a cultural moment when Catholics are being pulled in every direction — by politics, by relativism, by a media environment that does not love them — an anchor is not optional. It is survival.
What’s next?
The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X is freely available online through EWTN. It can be:
What we mean today by the word “evangelization,” Pius X described more simply and didactically as “instruction” on “divine things,” prescribing it for priests as their first and most important task. It may be said that the compilation of the Catechism was the crowning point of Pius X’s mission of governance.
Go back to the quiz. Find the questions where the answer was unclear. Look them up. Don’t stop until the answer is yours — not borrowed, not vague, but known.
That is how a Catholic becomes unshakeable.
Instaurare Omnia in Christo — Ephesians 1:10,
"To renew all things in Christ" — Papal motto of Pope Pius X
It was a program, and the Catechism was its most practical instrument.
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