Glossary of the Catholic Church

This is a glossary of terms used within the Catholic Church. Some terms used in everyday English have a different meaning in the context of the Catholic faith, including brother, confession, confirmation, exemption, faithful, father, ordinary, religious, sister, venerable, and vow.

See also: Glossary of Christianity and Index of Catholic Church articles
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    A
    • Abbess — the female head of a community of nuns (abbey)
    • Abbot — the male head of a community of monks (monastery)
    • Acolyte
    • Actual grace
    • Ad limina visits — visit by diocesan bishop to the Holy See, usually every five years
    • Alexandrian Rite
    • Altar
    • Altar server
    • Altarage — the revenue reserved for the chaplain (altarist or altar-thane) in contradistinction to the income of the parish priest, it came to signify the fees received by a priest from the laity when discharging any function for them
    • Ambo
    • Ambry
    • Amovibility
    • Annulment – see: Declaration of Nullity (below)
    • Apostolic administrator
    • Apostolic Chancery — a former office of the Roman Curia
    • Apostolic life, Society of — see: Society of apostolic life (below)
    • Apostolic nuncio — see: Nuncio (below)
    • Apostolic prefect
    • Apostolic succession
    • Apostolic vicar
    • Apse
    • Archbishop — the bishop of an archdiocese, with limited jurisdiction over his suffragan sees; a titular and largely honorary designation granted to certain bishops, often Nuncios and other members of the Holy See diplomatic corps
    • Archpriest (Latin Church) — see: Vicar Forane (below)
    • 'Auxiliary bishop

    B

    C

    D

    E

    F
    • Faithful — the collective members of the church incorporated into it through sacramental baptism.[2][3]
    • Fall of Man — the willful transition of the first humans from a state of original holiness, in communion with God, to a state of guilt and perennial disobedience
    • Family wage
    • Father (cleric) — a traditional title of priests
    • Father, God the — a name for the First Person of the Blessed Trinity
    • Five Ways — see: Quinque Viæ (below)
    • Font, Baptismal — see: Baptismal font (above)
    • Font, Holy water — see: Holy water font (below)
    • Friar
    • Full communion

    G

    H

    I
    • Immaculate Conception — the dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin (not to be confused with the Incarnation of Christ)
    • Incardination — see also: excardination (above)
    • Incarnation — The Word of God taking on a human nature and becoming true man, Jesus Christ (not to be confused with the Immaculate Conception of Mary)
    • Institute of consecrated life
    • Institute, Religious — see: Religious institute (below)
    • Institute, Secular — see: Secular institute (below)

    J

    L

    M

    N

    O
    • Officialis — see: Judicial vicar (above)
    • Order, Religious — see: Religious order (below)
    • Ordinariate, Military — see: Military ordinariate (above)
    • Ordinariate, Personal — see: Personal ordinariate (below)
    • Ordinary — see: Local ordinary (above)

    P

    Q
    • Quinque Viæ — Aquinas' famous philosophical proofs for the existence of God found in his Summa Theologiæ

    R
    • Ratum sed non consummatum
    • Reader
    • Reconciliation – see: Sacrament of Penance (below)
    • Rector (cathedral or seminary)
    • Regular clergy
    • Religious
    • Religious brother – see: Brother (above)
    • Religious congregation – see: Congregation, Religious (above)
    • Religious institute (Catholic)
    • Religious order
    • Religious priest – see: Regular clergy (above)
    • Rite to Being - The rite of being left alone to pray to Jesus Christ
    • Religious sister – see: Sister (below)
    • Right of Option - a way of obtaining a benefice or a title, by the choice of the new titulary
    • Roman Catholic - The Roman rite of the Catholic Church.
    • Roman Curia — "the complex of dicasteries and institutes that help the Roman Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral function for the good and service of the whole Church and of the particular Churches"[5]
    • Roman Missal

    S

    T

    V
    • Vacant see — see: Sede vacante (above)
    • Venerable
    • Vatican (disambiguation)
    • Vicar apostolic — see: Apostolic vicar (above)
    • Vicar forane — also known as "dean" or, in the Latin Church, "archpriest"[6]
    • Vicar general
    • Vicar, judicial — see: Judicial vicar (above)
    • Vicar of Christ
    • Vow — see: Simple vow (above) or Solemn vow (above)

    U
    • Universal Church - Title that refers to the Catholic Church. From Greek 'katholikos 'universal' from kata 'in respect of' + holos 'whole'.

    W
    • Wage, Family — see: Family wage (above)
    • War, just — see: Just war (above)
    • Ways, Five — see: Quinque Viæ(above)
    • West Syriac Rite

    See also

    References
    1. Consuetudinarium Provinciae Marylandiensis-Neo Eboracensis Societatis Jesu
    2. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 871.
    3. CIC 1983, c. 204.
    4. Cunningham, Lawrence S.; John J. Reich (2010). Culture & Values. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-56925-1.
    5. John Paul II, Pastor Bonus Article 1
    6. Canon 553 §1, 1983 Code of Canon Law

    Works cited
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