The Catholic Portal: What It Is and How to Use It: Welcome!

Detail of a painting of St. Jerome, by Carravagio. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

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Below is the link to the full CRRA website, as well as the links to other ongoing initiatives of CRRA. 

If you have comments or suggestions that will help make this guide more useful, please email them to Ted Bergfelt, Chair, CRRA Subject Guides Subcommittee, using the following link: Send Email

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 Introducing the Catholic Portal

The Catholic Research Resources Portal, or "Catholic Portal," provides global, freely available access to rare, unique and/or uncommon materials on Catholics and Catholicism in libraries, seminaries, special collections and archives. Formats of materials found in the Portal include manuscripts, books, ephemera, photographs, and artifacts of interest. Portal records identify the owning institutions for non-digital resources and, where the resources exist in a digital format, link directly to the digital resource. The Portal is a core component of the mission of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA).

The CRRA has identified twelve primary collecting themes of particular interest and importance on significant aspects of the Catholic tradition. See below for a complete list of the collecting themes, including brief descriptions of them. These themes are intended to encourage contribution of relevant institutional resources, but are not intended to be prescriptive.

Portal development plans include building a robust digital humanities environment enabling scholars to search across texts, repurpose materials, and facilitate scholarly communication and collaboration. 

For more about the history of the Portal, see History of CRRA

Portal Content and Scope

Portal content emphasizes rare, unique, and uncommon Catholic scholarly resources. The content and scope are more fully described in the Collection Policy Statement.

The CRRA has identified twelve primary collecting themes of particular interest and importance:

1. Catholic education: Relates to all levels of education (elementary school through university) administered by a Catholic organization. It may also include religious instruction, pre-school, and after-school care if it is sponsored by a Catholic institution.
2. Catholic intellectual life: Concerns the Catholic intellectual tradition, specifically scholarship in all academic disciplines which is informed by both faith and reason.
3. Catholic literary figures: Includes works by and about Catholic authors in all eras.
4. Catholic liturgy and devotion: Refers to works by and about Catholic worship, prayer, and devotional practices.
5. Catholic missions: Involves Catholic missionary activities in all countries and eras with a special emphasis on the Americas.
6. Catholic social action: Relates to action by Catholic organizations and individuals based upon Catholic teachings on social justice. Issues include the alleviation of poverty, recognition of human dignity, and working for the common good.
7. Catholicism and citizenship: Pertains broadly to the relationship between religion and national or ethnic identity.
8. Diocesan collections, including papers of bishops: Encompasses records, documents, and publications, as well as individual parish histories and records.
9. Men's religious orders: Includes papers, publications, and archival material by and about Catholic religious institutes, orders, or communities of men.
10. Peace building: Relates to Catholic individuals and organizations involved in conflict prevention and reconciliation to build a sustainable peace.
11. Vatican II: Addresses collections of archival material generated by Vatican II, as well as its impact and legacy in the form of scholarly works, historical accounts, and critical works.
12. Women's religious orders: Includes papers, publications, and archival material by and about Catholic religious institutes, orders, or communities of women.

Use the tabs at the top of the screen to move through the parts of this research guide.