Dogma
A dogma is a teaching the Catholic Church holds to be divinely revealed and has formally and definitively proposed for belief, such as the Trinity or the Immaculate Conception.
Not Just Any Teaching
Not every Church teaching is a dogma — dogmas represent the highest level of certainty, formally defined and binding on all Catholics as essential to the faith.
How Dogmas Are Defined
Dogmas are typically defined by an ecumenical council or by the Pope speaking ex cathedra ("from the chair"), the rare exercise of papal infallibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a dogma ever change?
The Church teaches that dogmas cannot be reversed, though understanding of how they're expressed can develop and deepen over time.
What's the difference between dogma and doctrine?
All dogmas are doctrines, but not all doctrines are dogmas — doctrine is the broader term for Church teaching generally, while dogma refers specifically to what's been formally and infallibly defined.