Church Documents: On the Web

Treatise from late first century or early 2nd century

First line: "Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the Twelve Apostles"

Oldest surviving written catechism;

Sections:

•Christian ethics

•Rituals such as baptism and Eucharist

•Church organization

Church Fathers: Some considered it as part of the New Testament; others rejected it as non-canonical.

For Church Documents and other ecclesiastical news/info
www.zenit.org

GENERAL

• The Holy See (The Vatican)
• EWTN Searchable Library
• Church Document Library
• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 
  see Church Documents link on left

TOPICS

• Google Search Use Google to find church documents by subject/topic
• Example: "church documents" abortion
• Catholic Social Teaching /Office for Social Justice
• Topical Guide to documents and related items
• Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

• Medieval Handbooks of Penance [UCSD Only]
  "The documents translated in this book were employed in administering a religious discipline to our forefathers during their transition from paganism to Christianity and from barbarism to civilization."
• Monastic Matrix*
  Excellent site dedicated to the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600CE. Includes a separate section of primary sources, which can be browsed by title/author/community/region/century. Search function also available.
• Nag Hamadi Library
  Collection of 13 ancient codices containing over 50 texts discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. The texts provide insight into early Christianity in general and Gnosticism in particular.
• Papal Documents
  Letters, speeches and other writings from Pope Leo XIII (1878) through Pope Benedict XVI (current).
• Primary Source Material in Religion and Politics
  Extensive list of primary source documents on issues relating to the interaction of religion and politics, categorized by era from ancient times to the present.
• Vatican Archive
  Presents texts of the Bible (New American), Catechism of the Catholic Church, Code of Canon Law, II Vatican Council, and documents of the Jubilee 2000. Most texts are presented in multiple languages.
  

• Use Google to find church documents by subject/topic
  Eaxmple: "church documents" abortion

For the experienced searcher only!

Documenta Catholica Omnia

This intimidating and difficult site provides the full text of many very hard to find church documents, like a full set of council documents known as Mansi

Convocate is a database which connects international human rights documents to Catholic Social Teaching.