The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the "Old Catholic Encyclopedia" today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give "authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine".

History

The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11, 1905 under the supervision of five editors:

• Charles G. Herbermann, Professor of Latin and Librarian of the College of the City of New York
• Edward A. Pace, Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, at Washington D.C.
• Condé B. Pallen, Editor
• Rev. Thomas J. Shahan, Professor of Church History at the Catholic University.
• Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J., Editor of The Messenger

The editors had their first editorial

The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of the Catholic University of America and a New Catholic Encyclopedia, was first published in 1967, and then in 2002.

In 1993, Kevin Knight, a 26-year-old resident of Denver, Colorado, was inspired during the visit of Pope John Paul II to that city for World Youth Day, and launched a project of putting the 1913 edition

Intent

The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Catholic Church, omitting facts and information which have no relation to the Church and explaining matters from the point of view of the official Catholic doctrine. It records the accomplishments of Catholics in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits including artists, educators, poets, scientists. While limited in scope from other general encyclopedias, it was quite different from previous efforts for a comprehensive Catholic encyclopedia which studied only internal Church affairs.

On issues that divide the Catholic from other Churches and Protestant ecclesial communities, the text consistently presents matters from the Catholic point of view. But since the encyclopedia was undertaken in 1913, some of its entries are not up to date, either with respect to the secular domain or to the Catholic ecclesiastical world. In particular, it predates the Second Vatican Council, which introduced significant changes in Catholic practice.

Derived works

Due to its public domain status, content from the 1913 edition can be incorporated into any work (as long as that person does not try to pass off articles or information from the encyclopedia as their own). While it does present information from a Catholic perspective, it often offers in-depth and accurate portrayals of historical and philosophical ideas, persons and events. Text from the Catholic Encyclopedia appears, sometimes in an edited form, in online reference works such as .

See also

• Catholic Encyclopedia topics on (part of missing encyclopedic articles project)
• Information on using Catholic Encyclopedia text on

Enciclopedia Católica האנציקלופדיה הקתולית Catholic Encyclopedia カトリック百科事典 天主教百科全書