Bible Dictionaries
Profession of Faith of Pius IV

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

Famous profession of faith, drawn up after the Council of Trent by Pope Pius IV, whose public recital has since always been required of aspirants before their promotion to ecclesiastical offices. It embraces

• the Creed as recited at Mass
• a profession of belief in and acceptance of Apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions and constitutions, as well as in the Church's interpretation of Sacred Scripture
• an assertion of belief in the seven sacraments with their proper efficacy as taught by the Catholic Church
• an act of assent to the Church's teaching regarding original sin as declared in the Council of Trent
• an act of faith in the true propitiatory and sacrificial character of the Mass, and in the Blessed Eucharist with all the meaning that the Catholic term "transubstantiation" signifies
• an assertion of the acceptance of the doctrine on purgatory, indulgences, and the efficacy of prayers for the dead, on the Veneration of the saints and their relics, their images together with those of Christ and the Blessed Virgin
• an acknowledgment of the Catholicity and the Apostolicity of the Roman Church
• a promise of obedience to the Roman Pontiff as Vicar of Christ

The profession ends with a summary acceptance of all that the Church teaches and the council had defined as well as the rejection of all doctrines and practises not in conformity with the Church.