The Apostles’ Creed in Latin

The creed of the Rosary, in the Church’s own language.

The Apostles’ Creed in Latin, prayed on the crucifix at the start of the Rosary and at baptisms for sixteen centuries. It is the shorter of the two creeds and the older in form.

The Prayer

Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipotentem,
Creatorem caeli et terrae.

Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam,
sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam. Amen.

In English

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried;
He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.

About This Creed

One historical name is embedded in it: Pontius Pilate. The creed fixes the Incarnation to a date, a province and a magistrate, because Christianity makes a claim about something that happened rather than something that is always true.