Anathema
Excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church pronounced upon heretics or gross sinners. The consequence is eternal damnation unless the one anathematized repents and returns to the Church. The Council of Trent pronounced the anathema more than 100 times upon those who accepted the beliefs of the Reformers; Vatican II reconfirmed those anathemas and added one of its own; and thus Roman Catholicism damns to eternal hell all evangelical Christians today. The only remedy is repentance of evangelical doctrines (heresies to Rome), entrance into the Roman Catholic Church, and submission to her decrees. Thus all “dialogue” or cooperation between Catholics and evangelicals must, by very definition in Catholicism, lead to the evangelicals ultimately joining the Roman Catholic Church—for their own salvation, of course.
Bull, papal
The common name by which important decrees of the popes in past centuries were called, though no longer used today. In Latin the word bulla signifies a seal, and the papal bulls were known for the wax or lead seal attached to each, of which many examples have been preserved.
Code of Canon Law
The codification in 1983 into one large volume (more than 1000 pages) of the canons and decrees of the Second Vatican Council, which itself incorporates those from past councils as well as the pronouncements of popes. The Code also contains detailed commentary explaining the proper implementation of the 1752 canons of law to which Catholics are subject in obedience to their Church. The last previous codification was done in 1917.
Concordat
A treaty or agreement defining relationships and duties between the Vatican and secular governments. This is only possible because Vatican City, unlike any other city on earth, is recognized as a state on a par with secular nations and thus able to enter into politico-religious agreements and exchange ambassadors with them.
Decretal
A papal letter issued in response to a question facing the Church that requires an official position. Many such decretals, collected and attributed to individual popes and relied upon in the past, are today recognized as “false decretals.” Nevertheless, many of the beliefs and practices first established by reliance upon such forgeries were never extricated from the body of Catholic tradition and remain an integral part of it today.
Encyclical
A letter written by a pope expressing the official view of the Church on a certain matter of importance.
Eucharist
A special form of bread (tiny wafer or host) and ordinary wine which is believed to be the literal Body and Blood of Jesus Christ by having been consecrated by a priest and thus having been “transubstantiated” through a special formula and power which Catholic priests alone possess. The offering of this miraculously constituted “Christ” upon Catholic altars is the principal part of the ceremony or ritual known as the “Sacrifice” of the Mass and is believed to be efficacious in the remission of sins.
Indulgence
The “remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions [decided by the Church hierarchy] acquires through the intervention of the Church, which, as minister of the redemption, authoritatively dispenses. . . .” So says the “Apostolic Constitution on the Revision of Indulgences” decreed by Pope Paul VI on January 1, 1967, and included as one of the post-conciliar documents of Vatican II.
The doctrine of indulgences arises from Catholicism’s strange and unbiblical insistence that Christ’s sufferings for our sins upon the cross at the hands of man and God could only obtain forgiveness of guilt but still left the “forgiven repentant sinner” under the obligation of suffering for his own sins either in this life or most likely in the “purifying flames of purgatory.” An indulgence presumes, through the power given to the Church, to reduce the time or intensity of the suffering in purgatory by some unknown length or amount. (See Appendix B for further details.)
Interdict
A penalty imposed by the popes upon a city or even an entire country prohibiting the practice of the Roman Catholic religion. Thus the sacraments which bring salvation could not be practiced and the entire populace would be without the means of forgiveness of sins and entrance into heaven. It is a mortal sin not to attend Mass at least once a week, and that would be impossible under an interdict. Thus any person dying during an interdict would be under mortal sin and without the means of forgiveness through confession and the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick or last rites and doomed to hell. No wonder kings and emperors trembled when threatened with such a penalty by popes, a penalty which gave popes a power against which no mortal could fight and which made Catholic Rome that “city which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).
Liberation Theology
A movement within the Roman Catholic Church originating in Latin America which puts the main emphasis upon social justice. Thus to be theologically orthodox one must oppose verbally and by actions any oppression of the poor and lower classes by both Church and state. In fact, the proof of one’s salvation is in such opposition to oppression rather than in acceptance of the gospel and affirmation of the doctrines of the faith.
Mass
The offering upon Catholic altars of the alleged Body and Blood of Christ (in an “unbloody manner”) there created through the professed miracle of “transubstantiation.” This “sacrifice” is declared to be efficacious for the forgiveness of sins and shortening one’s suffering in purgatory. Its deadly error is that it downgrades the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross to a partial payment for sin with the continuance of that sacrifice endless times upon Catholic altars essential to at last bring about full pardon of sin and entrance into heaven. What Christ’s death upon the cross (which the Bible says was done only once for all time and was all-sufficient) could not do, by Catholic doctrine, the Mass can eventually accomplish if it is repeated enough times. The Church, however, has failed to define (in fact, doesn’t know) how many such “sacrifices” of the Mass it will take to get a given individual out of purgatory and into heaven. Therefore, the faithful Catholic hopes that after his death a sufficient number of Masses will be paid for by relatives and continue to be said in his name.
Purgatory
That place of “purging” where the Catholic believes those who die without having made sufficient restitution (“expiation”) for their sins (even though Christ suffered for them) must spend some time of suffering in order to be made clean enough to enter heaven. The flames of purgatory are said to differ from the flames of hell in that the goal of purgatory is to cleanse the soul for heaven, whereas the flames of hell only torment for eternity.
Scapular
For those in religious orders it consists of two strips of cloth (one in front, one in back) joined across the shoulders and worn as an outer garment. For the laity it consists generally of two small pieces of cloth joined by strings and worn about the neck under the clothing. There are some 18 varieties of blessed scapulars approved by the Church. The wearing of the scapular, along with meeting certain other conditions, confers protection and privileges, even, in some cases, reducing or entirely eliminating one’s time in purgatory.
See: Apostolic, Holy, First
The “Holy See” or “See of Peter,” etc., is a designation for Rome and more specifically Vatican City as the residence of the pope and headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church with its many offices. In fact, it indicates that the pope is the leader of the one true Church, which is the depository of the true faith of Christ committed to Peter and to be carried by his successors to the world.
Te Deum
An ancient Latin hymn, Te Deum Laudamus, sung at the conclusion of the Office of Readings on Sundays and special occasions. It is especially used for thanksgiving to God for unusual blessings—and was so used (sung) in Catholic cathedrals for the birthdays of Hitler, his escape from plots upon his death, Nazi victories in the field, the coming into power of Ante Pavelic as head of the Croatian Ustashi government, etc.