Glossary

C

CALUMNY: A false statement which harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them (2477).

CANON LAW: The rules (canons or laws) which provide the norms for good order in the visible society of the Church. Those canon laws that apply universally are contained in the Codes of Canon Law. The most recent Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1983 for the Latin (Western) Church and in 1991 for the Eastern Church (The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches).

CANON OF THE MASS: The central part of the Mass, also known as the Eucharistic Prayer or “anaphora,” which contains the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration (1352).

CANON OF SCRIPTURE: The Church’s complete list of sacred books of the Bible (120).

CANONIZATION: The solemn declaration by the Pope that a deceased member of the faithful may be proposed as a model and intercessor to the Christian faithful and venerated as a saint on the basis of the fact that the person lived a life of heroic virtue or remained faithful to God through martyrdom (828; cf. 957).

CAPITAL SINS: Sins which engender other sins and vices. They are traditionally numbered as seven: pride, covetousness, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth (1866).

CARDINAL VIRTUES: Four pivotal human virtues (from the Latin cardo, “pivot”): prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in accordance with reason and faith (1805, 1834).

CATECHESIS: An education of children, young people, and adults in the faith of the Church through the teaching of Christian doctrine in an organic and systematic way to make them disciples of Jesus Christ. Those who perform the ministry of catechesis in the Church are called “catechists” (5, 426-427).

CATECHISM: A popular summary or compendium of Catholic doctrine about faith and morals and designed for use in catechists (11).

CATECHUMEN: A person who is preparing for Baptism. The catechumenate is the formation of these catechumens in preparation for their Christian Initiation, and aims at bringing their conversion and their faith to maturity within the ecclesial community (1248). The candidates are anointed with oil of catechumens by which they are strengthened in their conversion from sin and renunciation of Satan (1237).

CATHEDRAL: The official church of the bishop of a diocese. The Greek word cathedra means chair or throne; the bishop’s “chair” symbolizes his teaching and governing authority, and is located in the principal church or “cathedral” of the local diocese of which he is the chief pastor (cf. 1572).

CATHOLIC: One of the four marks or notes of the Church, taken from the Nicene Creed. The Church is catholic or universal both because she possesses the fullness of Christ’s presence and the means of salvation, and because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race (750, 830).

CATHOLIC CHURCH: The Church established by Christ on the foundation of the Apostles, possessing the fullness of the means of salvation which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession (830).

CELIBACY: The state or condition of those who have chosen to remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom of heaven in order to give themselves entirely to God and to the service of his people. In the Latin Church, celibacy is obligatory for bishops and priests. In some Eastern Churches, celibacy is a prerequisite for the ordination only of bishops; priests may not marry after they have been ordained (1579, 1580).

CHARACTER, SACRAMENTAL: An indelible spiritual mark which is the permanent effect of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, by which a person is given a new permanent configuration to Christ and a specific standing in the Church; the reception of these sacraments is never repeated (1272, 1304, 1582).

CHARISM: A specific gift or grace of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefits the Church, given in order to help a person live out the Christian life, or to serve the common good in building up the Church (799, 951).

CHARITY: The theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God (1822).

CHASTITY: The moral virtue which, under the cardinal virtue of temperance, provides for the successful integration of sexuality within the person leading to the inner unity of the bodily and spiritual being (2337). Chastity is called one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (1832).

CHOIR: A group of persons trained to lead in the singing at liturgical celebrations (1143).

CHRISM: Perfumed oil, consecrated by the bishop, which signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit. Chrism is used for consecration in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders (1241, 1289, 1291, 1294).

CHRISMATION: The name used in the Eastern Churches for the Sacrament of Confirmation, from the “chrism” or “myron” used in the anointing (1289).

CHRIST: From the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means “anointed.” It became the name proper to Jesus because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission of priest, prophet, and King, signified by his anointing as Messiah, “Christ” (436). See Jesus Christ; Messiah; Anointing.

CHRISTIAN: A name derived from that of Christ himself. The name refers to all those who have been anointed through the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism; hence, the followers of Christ, the members of the Christian Church. According to Acts 11:26 “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” (1289).

CHRISTMAS: The feast of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus (1171).

CHURCH: The name given the “convocation” or “assembly” of the People God has called together from “the ends of the earth.” In Christian usage, the word “Church” has three inseparable meanings: the People that God gathers in the whole world; the particular or local church (diocese); and the liturgical (above all Eucharistic) assembly. The Church draws her life from the Word and the Body of Christ, and so herself becomes Christ’s Body (752). In the Creed, the sole Church of Christ is professed to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic (811).

CIRCUMCISION: The rite prescribed in Judaism and other cultures which involves cutting off the foreskin of a male. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and his people Israel and prefigured the rite of Christian initiation in Baptism. Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth in accord with Jewish law (527).

COLLEGIALITY: The principle that all the bishops of the Church with the Pope at their head form a single “college,” which succeeds in every generation the “college” of the Twelve Apostles, with Peter at their head, which Christ instituted as the foundation of the Church. This college of bishops together with, but never without, the Pope has supreme and full authority over the universal Church (861, 880, 883).

COMMANDMENT: A norm of moral and/or religious action; above all, the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. Jesus summarized all the commandments in the twofold command of love of God and love of neighbor (2052).

COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH: See Precepts of the Church.

COMMUNION: Holy Communion, the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist (1382). More generally, our fellowship and union with Jesus and other baptized Christians in the Church, which has its source and summit in the celebration of the Eucharist. In this sense, Church as communion is the deepest vocation of the Church (959).

COMMUNION OF SAINTS: The unity in Christ of all the redeemed, those on earth and those who have died. The communion of saints is professed in the Apostles’ Creed, where it has also been interpreted to refer to unity in the “holy things” (communio sanctorum), especially the unity of faith and charity achieved through participation in the Eucharist (948, 957, 960, 1474).

CONCUPISCENCE: Human appetites or desires which remain disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism, and which produce an inclination to sin (1264, 1426, 2515).

CONFESSION: An essential element of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, which consists in telling one’s sins to the priestly minister. By extension, the word confession is used to refer to the Sacrament of Penance itself (1455).

CONFIRMATION: One of the ensemble of the Sacraments of Initiation into the Church, together with Baptism and Eucharist. Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism by a special outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which seal or “confirm” the baptized in union with Christ and equip them for active participation in the worship and apostolic life of the Church (1285).

CONSCIENCE: The interior voice of a human being, within whose heart the inner law of God is inscribed. Moral conscience is a judgment of practical reason about the moral quality of a human action. It moves a person at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil (1777-1778). An examination of conscience is recommended as a preparation for the reception of the Sacrament of Penance (1454).

CONSECRATED LIFE: A permanent state of life recognized by the Church, entered freely in response to the call of Christ to perfection, and characterized by the profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience (914). See Vow.

CONSECRATED VIRGINS: Women who have decided with the Church’s approval to cling only to the Lord and to live in a state of virginity “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” and are consecrated in that state by a solemn rite (922-924).

CONSECRATION: The dedication of a thing or person to divine service by a prayer or blessing. The consecration at Mass is that part of the Eucharistic Prayer during which the Lord’s words of institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper are recited by the priestly minister, making Christ’s Body and Blood—his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all—sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine (1352, 1353).

CONTEMPLATION: A form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God’s greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration; to look on Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and love (2628, 2715).

CONTRACEPTION, ARTIFICIAL: The use of mechanical, chemical, or medical procedures to prevent conception from taking place as a result of sexual intercourse; contraception offends against the openness to procreation required of marriage and also the inner truth of conjugal love (2370).

CONTRITION: Sorrow of the soul and hatred for the sin committed, together with a resolution not to sin again. Contrition is the most important act of the penitent, and is necessary for the reception of the Sacrament of Penance (1451).

CONVERSION: A radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin and evil, and toward God. This change of heart or conversion is a central element of Christ’s preaching, of the Church’s ministry of evangelization, and of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (1427, 1431, 1423; cf. 821).

COUNCIL, ECUMENICAL: A gathering of all the bishops of the world, in the exercise of their collegial authority over the universal Church. An ecumenical council is usually called by the successor of St. Peter, the Pope, or at least confirmed or accepted by him (884).

COUNSEL: See Evangelical Counsels; Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

COVENANT: A solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being involving mutual commitments or guarantees. The Bible refers to God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses as leader of the chosen people, Israel. In the Old Testament or Covenant, God revealed his law through Moses and prepared his people for salvation through the prophets. In the New Testament or Covenant, Christ established a new and eternal covenant through his own sacrificial death and Resurrection. The Christian economy is the new and definitive Covenant which will never pass away, and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (56, 62, 66). See Old Testament; New Testament.

COVETOUSNESS: A disordered inclination or desire for pleasure or possessions. One of the capital sins, it is proscribed by the ninth and tenth commandments (2514, 2534).

CREATION: The act by which the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself. Creation also refers to the created universe or totality of what exists, as often expressed by the formula “the heavens and the earth” (290).

CREED: A brief, normative summary statement or profession of Christian faith, e.g., the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed. The word “Creed” comes from the Latin Credo, meaning “I believe,” with which the Creed begins. Creeds are also called Symbols of Faith (187).

CROSS: The instrument of execution on which Christ died; a symbol of the unique sacrifice of Christ as sole mediator between God and man. Jesus invited his disciples to take up their cross and follow him, in order to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. Catholics begin their prayers and actions with the Sign of the Cross “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” A devotional cross with the figure of Jesus suspended on it is called a “crucifix” (616, 618, 2166).