The Letter to Titus

Titus. Benedict XVI gathers what we know. He had a Latin name but was Greek by birth (Gal 2:3). Paul took him to Jerusalem, where he was not compelled to be circumcised, and so he became a living sign of the Gentiles' welcome into the Church (Gal 2:1 to 5). He was sent to the troubled Church at Corinth and restored peace between it and Paul (2 Cor 7:6 to 7, 13), and he returned to organise the collection for Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:6, 23). He is later found in Crete (1:5), is called to Nicopolis in Epirus, in today's Greece (3:12), and goes to Dalmatia, on today's Adriatic coast (2 Tim 4:10).

Crete. This large Greek island lies south of the Aegean Sea. Cretans were among those who heard Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:11), and Paul's ship sheltered there on the way to Rome (Acts 27:7 to 13). Acts does not tell of Paul founding Churches on the island. The letter implies a young work with much still to do (1:5).

The trouble. There are "idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision" (1:10), who pay attention to "Jewish myths" (1:14) and upset whole families, teaching for gain (1:11). Paul, himself a Jew, is warning against certain Christian teachers and their speculations, and not against the Jewish people. The Church firmly rejects any such reading (Nostra Aetate 4).

"Cretans are always liars" (1:12). Paul quotes a line from "their very own prophet". St Clement of Alexandria and others attribute it to the old Cretan poet Epimenides. It is a sharp proverb of that time, used to warn of certain teachers. It is no judgment on any people. Paul sent Titus to care for the Church there, and the same letter says that God's grace brings salvation to all (2:11).

The Church's tradition. The letter opens with Paul's name, and the Church has always received it as Scripture. One of the oldest New Testament papyri, Papyrus 32 in Manchester, assigned to about the year 200, holds parts of this letter. St Irenaeus and Tertullian treat it as Paul's. In 1913 the Pontifical Biblical Commission answered in favour of Paul's authorship.

A scholarly note. Traditionally by Paul; some scholars think that a later disciple wrote it. Benedict XVI reports that most exegetes today think that the Pastoral Letters come from the "Pauline school". This does not touch the letter's inspiration (Dei Verbum 11), nor the faithfulness of what the Church has received (Dei Verbum 18 to 19).

Titus afterwards. Eusebius counts him as bishop of Crete (Church History 3.4), and the Catholic Encyclopedia reports an early tradition that he died there in old age. Benedict XVI adds that nothing more is known about his later movements or his death. A relic honoured as his head was taken to Venice when Crete fell in 1669, and it was returned to Heraklion in 1966. It is kept today in the church of Saint Titus there.

• Grace teaches us how to live. God's grace has appeared "bringing salvation to all", and it trains us to renounce impiety and to live upright lives (2:11 to 12; Catechism 1809). Grace is more than a gift to be received. It is a teacher.
• Saved by mercy. God saved us "not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy" (3:5). The first grace cannot be earned (Catechism 2010). And Paul at once says that believers must "devote themselves to good works" (3:8; see also 2:14), and Benedict XVI closes his catechesis on Titus with this verse. Faith and good works stand together in the teaching of the Council of Trent and the Catechism (1987 to 2029).
• Baptism. "The water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (3:5). The Catechism takes from this one of the names of the sacrament (1215). The Spirit is poured out richly so that we might be justified and become heirs in hope (3:6 to 7; Catechism 1817).
• The blessed hope. We wait for the coming of the Lord (2:13). The Catechism uses this at the Last Judgment (1041) and at the Eucharist (1404): the liturgy echoes this verse when it speaks of "the blessed hope".
• Christ's own people. He gave himself to redeem us and to purify a people of his own (2:14; Catechism 802).
• Leaders of good character. Titus is to appoint elders in every town (1:5), and the Catechism cites this for Holy Orders (1590). The words "elder" and "bishop" stand close together here (1:5 to 7), and they had not yet separated fully. "Married only once" (1:6) describes the standard of that time. For today's discipline, see Catechism 1579 to 1580.
• Sound teaching. The word "sound", meaning healthy, recurs (1:9, 13; 2:1, 2, 8). True doctrine heals and makes whole, and false teaching makes people sick.
• Purity of heart. "To the pure all things are pure" (1:15). A clean heart sees the world rightly.
• Self-mastery at every age. Chapter 2 asks for self-control from old and young alike. The Catechism cites it (2342): self-mastery is a work for all stages of life.
• Good citizens, gentle neighbours. Be subject to rulers, speak evil of no one, and show courtesy to everyone (3:1 to 2). We have no cause for pride, for we too were once lost (3:3).
• Older women as teachers. They are to "teach what is good" (2:3), and to encourage the younger women (2:4). That is a real teaching role in the home and in the community.

Wives "submissive to their husbands" (2:5). The same phrase appears in other New Testament letters, and John Paul II lists this verse among them (Mulieris Dignitatem 24, note). He says that the words belong to the customs of the age and are to be understood in a new way: the Gospel's innovation is the mutual subjection of husband and wife out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21). This teaching rules out any domination of one spouse by the other. Man and woman have equal personal dignity (Catechism 369, 2334), and nothing here gives anyone licence for harshness or abuse. Paul's concern is that "the word of God may not be discredited" (2:5) in a watching world.

Slaves (2:9 to 10). They are told to be submissive and honest, so that they "may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior". Slavery was legal and everywhere. The letter speaks to baptised slaves about how to live where they stood, and, strikingly, it treats them as people able to adorn the doctrine of God. It does not teach that slavery is good. The Church today teaches plainly that to enslave people or to buy and sell them is a sin against human dignity (Catechism 2414; Gaudium et Spes 27; Veritatis Splendor 80). John Paul II notes how many generations it took for this to be carried out (Mulieris Dignitatem 24). The verse that follows at once says that God's grace brings salvation "to all" (2:11), with no exception of rank.

• Our great God and Saviour. The English of the NRSV at 2:13 gives "our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ", one of the clearest places where the New Testament calls Christ God. Other translations, such as the POC, may read two names here. The Church's faith in the divinity of Christ does not rest on one verse; she confesses it from the whole of Scripture (Catechism 449, 464).
• God's kindness made visible. The title "Saviour" passes in this letter from God to Christ and back (1:3, 4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6). When he appeared, God's goodness and loving kindness appeared in him (3:4).
• The one who gave himself. He redeems and makes a people his own (2:14), in words that echo the covenant.
• The giver of the Spirit. The Father pours out the Spirit "through Jesus Christ our Savior" (3:6). In these few lines the Father, the Son and the Spirit all act for our salvation.
• The one who will come. His first appearing in grace (2:11) and his last appearing in glory (2:13) frame the Christian life.

The Catechism uses this letter for Baptism (1215), hope (1817), Holy Orders (1590), temperance (1809), the people of God (802) and the blessed hope (1041, 1404).

The Fathers, in substance. St John Chrysostom preached six homilies on this letter. On the Cretan proverb, early writers recognised a line taken from a pagan poet.

Benedict XVI speaks of Titus in his audience of 13 December 2006. He says that Paul relied on trustworthy co-workers, that they show how to serve the Gospel generously, and that Titus 3:8 calls us to be rich in good works.

In the liturgy.

• Syro-Malankara. In the lectionary we examined, Titus 2:11 to 3:9 belongs to Denho, the Baptism of our Lord, at the Holy Qurbono. Mar Titus has Titus 2:1 to 5 with Mk 6:30 to 44.
• Syro-Malabar. In the 2025 to 2026 calendar we examined, Titus 2:11 to 3:2 falls on the Fourth Tuesday of the Annunciation, Titus 2:1 to 10 on the Third Monday of Kaitha, and Titus 3:1 to 7 on the Seventh Tuesday of the Apostles, at the Holy Qurbana.
• Latin. Titus 2:11 to 14 is read at the Mass at Midnight on Christmas, and Titus 3:4 to 7 at the Mass at Dawn. On weekdays the letter is read in Week 32 of Year II. Titus 1:1 to 5 is one of the choices on 26 January, the memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus.

The whole letter takes about ten minutes. Read it once as a whole, and then:

• Day 1: chapter 1. Pray for your bishop and your parish leaders.
• Day 2: chapter 2. Find your own age and state of life in 2:2 to 10, then read 2:11 to 14 as the reason.
• Day 3: chapter 3. Read 3:3 to 7 as your own story of Baptism. Find out the date of your Baptism, if you do not know it.