Catholicism

See also christ; christianity; mary; pope; religion; saints; theology.

Americanism

Heckerism.

Anglo-Catholicism

the praetiees in the Anglican communion that hold that Catholicism is inherent in a church whose episcopate is able to traee its line of descent from the apostles and whose faith Catholics agree to be revealed truth. —AngloCatholic, n., adj.

anticlericalism

an opposition to the influence and activities of the clergy in public affairs. —anticlericalist, n.

breviary

a book containing the prayers, lessons, etc., needed by a priest for the reading of his daily office.

Cahenslyism

a 19th-century plan of the German parliamentarian Cahensly, successfully opposed by American interests, to have the pope divide the foreign-born population of the U.S. into ethnic groups and to appoint bishops and priests of the same ethnic and linguistic background as each group.

catechumenism

the condition of a person who is receiving basic instruction in the doctrines of Christianity in preparation for the sacrament of confirmation. Also catechumenate. —catechumen, n. —catechumenal, catechumenical, adj.

celibacy

the state of being single or unmarried, especially in the case of one bound by vows not to marry. —celibate, n., adj.

chrism

1. a sacramental oil.

2. a sacramental anointing; unction.

3. Eastern Christianity. the rite of confirmation.

clericalism

1. an undue influence of the hierarchy and clergy in public affairs and government.

2. the principles and interests of the clergy.

3. the system, spirit, or methods of the priesthood; sacerdotalism. Cf. laicism. —clericalist, n.

Curialism

1. the philosophy and methods of the ultramontane party in the Roman Church.

2. the methods and processes of the Curia Romana, the bureaucracy of congregations and offices which assist the pope in the government of the Roman Church.

decretist

1. a canon lawyer versed in papal decrees on points in ecclesiastical law.

2. a person versed in the decretals. Also decretalist.

dulia

the devotion, veneration, or respect accorded saints.

ecclesiarchy

the control of government by clerics. Also called hierocracy. —ecclesiarch. n.

encyclical, encyclic

a letter from the Pope to the Roman Catholic clergy on matters of doctrine or other concerns of the Church, of ten meant to be read from the pulpit.

extrascripturalism

the view that the faith and practice of the Church are based in both tradition and the Scriptures. See also bible.

Gallicanism

the body of doctrines, chiefly associated with French dioceses, advocating the restriction of papal authority, especially in administrative matters. Cf. ultramontanism. —Gallican, n., adj.

Heckerism

the teaching of a 19th-century Paulist priest, Isaac T. Hecker, who regarded Catholicism as the religion best suited to promoting human aspirations after liberty and truth and to the character and institutions of the American people. Also called Americanism.

hierocracy

ecclesiarchy.

Hildebrandism

the views of Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII (1073-85), especially those underlying his drastic reforms within the Roman Church and his assertion of papal supremacy. Usually called ultramontanism. —Hildebrandic, Hildebrandine, adj.

imprimatur

permission, particularly that given by the Roman Catholic Church, to publish or print; hence, any sanction or approval. (Latin: ‘let it be printed.’)

infallibilism

1. the belief in or adherence to the dogma of papal infallibility.

2. the dogma itself.

Jesuitism

1. the doctrines, practices, etc., of the Jesuit order of priests.

2. Disparaging, lower case. casuistry or equivocation. Also Jesuitry. —Jesuitic, Jesuitical, adj.

laicism

1. the nonclerical, or secular, control of political and social institutions in a society.

2. lay participation in church matters. Cf. clericalism. —laity, n.

Liguorist, Liguorian

a believer in the theological doctrines of St. Alfonso Maria da Liguori (1696-1787), founder of the Redemptorist Order.

Marianism

Rare. a religious cult based on the veneration of the Virgin Mary.

Mariolatry

the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary. —Mariolater, n. —Mariolatrous, adj.

Maronism

an Arabic-speaking Uniat sect in Lebanon, under the authority of the papacy since the 12th century but maintaining its Syriac liturgy, married clergy, and practice of communion in both bread and wine. —Maronite, n., adj.

marranism, marranoism

the forced conversion of Jews or Moors in medieval Spain. —marrano, n.

martyrology

1. a history or registry of martyrs.

2. the branch of ecelesiastical history that studies the lives and deaths of martyrs.

3. an official catalog of martyrs and saints, arranged according to the dates of their feast days. —martyrologist, n. —martyrologic, martyrological, adj.

Molinism

the doctrine of the 16th-century Jesuit Luis Molina, who taught that the work of grace depends on the accord of man’s free will. —Molinist, n.

Norbertine

a Premonstrant.

Novationism

a 3rd-century controversy in the Roman diocese in which Novation, elected bishop of a schismatic group, declared that lapsed Christians could not be received again into the Church. —Novationist, n.

oblate

a person resident and serving in a monastery but not under vows; a lay religious worker.

ostiary

1. a member of the lowest-ranking of the four minor orders in Roman Catholicism.

2. a doorkeeper of a church.

papalism

1. the institution and procedures of papal government.

2. the advocacy of papal supremacy. —papalist, n., adj.

papism

Usually disparaging. authoritarian government under the direction of the pope. Also papistry. —papist, n. —papistic, papistical, adj.

Petrinism

the theological concepts taught by or ascribed to St. Peter. —Petrinist, n.

popery

Pejorative. papal authority or actions.

portiforium

a breviary.

postulator

a priest who submits a plea for beatification or canonization.

Premonstrant

one of the order of Roman Catholic monks founded at Premontre, France, by St. Norbert in 1119. Also called Premonstratensian, Norbertine.

recusancy

resistance to authority or refusal to conform, especially in religious matters, used of English Catholics who refuse to attend the services of the Church of England. Also recusance. —recusant, n., adj.

reunionism

advocacy of the reunion of the Anglican and Catholic churches. —reunionist, n. —reunionistic, adj.

Ribbonism, Ribandism

the principles of the Ribbon Society, a Roman Catholic secret society of the mid 19th century. —Ribbonist, Ribandist, n.

Romanism

the practices and doctrines of Roman Catholicism. —romanist, n. —romanistic, adj.

sacerdotalism

the system, practices, or principles underlying the priesthood. —sacerdotal, n., adj.

simony

the practice or defense of the selling of church relies, preferments, etc. —simoniac, simonist, n.

sodality

a fellowship, brotherhood, or other association of a benevolent nature, especially in the Roman Catholic Church. —sodalist, n., adj.

stigmatism

the state of one who has received supernatural stigmata, i.e., marks on hands, feet, and side similar to the wounds of Christ. —stigmata, n. —stigmatic, adj.

synodist

a member of a council, meeting to consult and decide on church matters. —synodical, synodal, adj.

traditionalism

adherence to tradition, rather than to revelation, independent Bible study, or individual reasoning, as the authority controlling religious knowledge and practice. —traditionalist, n. —traditionalistic, adj.

Trappist

a member of a Roman Catholic monastic order, a branch of the Cistercians, observing an austere, reformed rule, including a vow of silence; named after the monastery at La Trappe, France, where the reformed rule was introduced in 1664. —Trappist, adj.

ultramontanism

the advocacy of the supremacy of the papacy and the papal system, in opposition to those favoring national churches and the authority of church councils. Cf. Gallicanism. —ultramontane, ultramontanist, n. —ultramontanistic, adj.

Uniatism

the union of an Eastern Rite church with the Roman Church in which the authority of the papacy is accepted without loss of separate liturgies or government by local patriarchs. —Uniat, Uniate, n.

Vaticanism

the doctrine or advocacy of papal supremacy. —Vaticanist, n.