Term
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Definition
| In the wider sense, the process by which the whole Church continues, and is faithful to, the word, the witness, and the service of the Apostles. In the stricter sense, the legitimation of the bishops’ office and authority by their valid derivation from the Apostles |
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Term
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Definition
| The dogma defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from sin from the very first moment of her existence. This is not to be confused with the virginal conception (the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary without the cooperation of a human father) |
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Term
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Definition
| The official public worship of the Church: the Eucharist, the other six sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) |
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| Baptism of Desire/Baptism of Blood |
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Definition
| The process by which individuals are said to merit eternal life because of their good will, even though, through no fault of their own, they have not been baptized with water. Originally applied to catechumens in the early church. /The martyrdom of an unbaptized person |
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Term
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Definition
| The reign, or rule of God. It is transforming presence of God in the heart, in groups, in the world at large, renewing and reconciling all things. It is both a process and the reality toward which the process is moving. Thus it is “already” and “not yet” |
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Term
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Definition
| The spiritual union of the whole community of believers in Christ, living and dead. Those on earth are called the Church Militant. Those in purgatory are the Church Suffering. Those in heaven are the Church Triumphant. |
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Term
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Definition
| The teaching authority of the Church, which belongs to some by reason of office (pope and bishops). Others contribute to the teaching mission by scholarly competence i.e. theologians |
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Term
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Definition
| literally “immunity from error” the charism by which the Church is protected from fundamental error in formulating a specific teaching regarding a matter of faith or morals. It can be exercised by the pope and by and ecumenical council |
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Term
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Definition
| literally, “food for the journey;” the last sacrament, the final reception of Communion before death |
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Term
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Definition
| the partial of full remission of the temporal punishments still due to sins which have already been forgiven. |
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Term
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Definition
| the sacramental presence of Christ in the Eucharist |
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Term
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Definition
| the theological study of the Church |
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Definition
| the universal moral law given by God for all creatures, and knowable by reason alone |
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Term
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| “Of Human Life”; encyclical by Pope John Paul XI, promulgated July 25, 1968; prohibits all forms of artificial contraception |
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Term
| ex opere operato/ex opere operantis |
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Definition
| “from the work of the worker”; Thomas Aquinas refers to the sign of the sacrament as serving to dispose one more perfectly for receiving sacramental graces; It refers to the idea that the sacraments work from the mere fact of having been administered, rather than from the status of the performer—that is, they actually confer grace when the sacramental sign is validly effected, not as the result of the good standing of the celebrant, or activity on the part of the recipient, but by the power and promise of God. |
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