Glossary

Terms starting with C — browse A–Z or jump to the blog.

Terms — C

46 terms

Glossary
Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel are Adam and Eve's sons — whose story of the first murder reveals the social consequences of the Fall, with Abel as a type of the innocent Christ whose blood cries out to God.
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Calumny

Calumny is the sin of harming the reputation of another by making false statements about them.
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Calvinism

Calvinism is the Protestant theology of John Calvin — emphasizing God's absolute sovereignty, unconditional election, and predestination — which the Catholic Church affirms in part and rejects in part.
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Canon Law

Canon Law is the body of laws and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority for the government of the Church.
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Canon Law

The body of laws and regulations made by the Church for its governance and the salvation of souls.
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Canon of the Mass

The Canon of the Mass is the ancient and central Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Rite.
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Canonization

Canonization is the solemn act by which the Pope definitively declares that a deceased person is a saint and is in heaven with God.
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Canonization

Canonization is the Pope's solemn declaration that a person is definitively in Heaven — proposed as a model of holiness and intercessor for the universal Church.
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Capital Punishment

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a criminal by the state as a form of punishment.
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Catechesis

Catechesis is the systematic education of the faithful in the doctrine and life of the Catholic Church — aimed not merely at information but at forming disciples of Jesus Christ.
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Catechumen

A catechumen is a person preparing for Baptism — undergoing the formal process of instruction, formation, and discernment in the faith before receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.
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Cathedral

A cathedral is the principal church of a diocese, containing the 'cathedra' or chair of the bishop.
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Celibacy

Celibacy is the state of remaining unmarried for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Character

Sacramental character is an indelible spiritual mark imprinted on the soul by certain sacraments, signifying a permanent configuration to Christ.
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Charism

Special graces given by the Holy Spirit to individuals for the building up of the Church.
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Charism

Charisms are special graces of the Holy Spirit given to individuals for the building up of the Church and the good of the world.
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Charity (Love)

Charity is the theological virtue of love — loving God above all things for his own sake, and neighbor as oneself for love of God — the greatest of all virtues and the form of all the rest.
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Chastity

Chastity is the successful integration of sexuality within the person — the virtue by which sexuality is ordered toward its proper ends of love and life, in a manner proper to one's state of life.
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Choir

The choir is a group of singers who lead the liturgical assembly in musical prayer.
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Chrism

Chrism is the holy oil, consecrated by the bishop, used in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.
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Chrism

The holy oil consecrated by the bishop for use in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.
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Chrismation

Chrismation is the Eastern name for the Sacrament of Confirmation, emphasizing the anointing with holy oil.
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Circumcision

Circumcision is a significant concept in Catholic theology or moral teaching.
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Collegiality

Collegiality is the principle that the bishops of the Church, in union with the Pope, act together as a single body for the governance of the Church.
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Concupiscence

Concupiscence is the disordered human desire that remains even after Baptism and inclines a person toward sin.
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Concupiscence

Concupiscence is the disordered inclination toward sin that remains in every human being after the Fall — a consequence of Original Sin that persists even after Baptism, overcome through grace and virtue.
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Confession / Reconciliation

Confession, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is the means by which the faithful obtain God's mercy for the pardon of sins.
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Confirmation

Confirmation is the sacrament that completes baptismal grace by the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
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Confirmation

Confirmation completes Baptism through a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit — sealing the baptized in union with Christ and equipping them for Christian witness.
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Conscience

Conscience is the interior judgment of practical reason about the moral quality of an action — the voice within that moves a person to do good and avoid evil.
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Conscience

Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed.
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Consecrated Life

Consecrated life is a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, in which the faithful follow Christ more closely through the evangelical counsels.
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Consecrated Virgins

Consecrated virgins are women who are solemnly consecrated to God by the bishop to live in a state of virginity for the sake of the Kingdom.
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Consecration

Consecration is the act by which the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass.
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Contemplation

Contemplation is the highest form of Christian prayer — a wordless, loving gaze fixed on God — not an achievement of technique but a gift of grace in which the heart rests silently in the presence of God.
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Contraception (Humanae Vitae)

Contraception is any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, proposes to render procreation impossible.
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Contrition

Contrition is genuine sorrow for sin, with a firm resolve not to sin again — the most essential act of the penitent and a requirement for the valid reception of Reconciliation.
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Conversion

Conversion is the radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin and toward God — both the initial turning to faith and the ongoing daily process of repentance and renewal.
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Cosmological Argument

A proof for God's existence based on the existence of the universe.
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Council

An ecumenical council is a solemn assembly of the bishops of the world, in union with the Pope, to define doctrine or regulate Church life.
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Council of Nicaea

The first ecumenical council defining Christ's divinity.
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Council of Trent

The council responding to the Protestant Reformation.
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Covenant

Covenant is the solemn, binding agreement between God and his people — progressing through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and fulfilled in the New and eternal Covenant in Christ.
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Covetousness

Covetousness is a significant concept in Catholic theology or moral teaching.
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Creation

Creation is God's free act of bringing all things into existence from nothing — out of love, to share his goodness and invite creatures into his own divine life.
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Creation

Creation is the act by which God brought all things into existence out of nothing at the beginning of time.