“Windows To Spirituality”
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Paschal Mystery The Paschal mystery is one of the central concepts of the Catholic faith relating to the history of salvation. According to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Paschal Mystery of Jesus, which comprises his passion, death, resurrection, and glorification, stands at the center of the Christian faith because God’s...
Catholic Religious Orders Catholic Religious Orders are a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of the religious institute. Subcategories of religious orders are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular who recite the Divine Office and serve a church and perhaps a parish); monastics (monks or nuns living and working in a monastery and reciting the...
What Is Predestination? Predestination (Latin præ, destinare), taken in its widest meaning, is every Divine decree by which God, owing to His infallible prescience of the future, has appointed and ordained from eternity all events occurring in time, especially those which directly proceed from, or at least are influenced by, man’s free will. It includes all historical facts, as for...
Predestination In Catholicism Predestination in Catholicism is the Catholic Church‘s teachings on predestination and Catholic saints‘ views on it. The church believes that predestination is not based on anything external to God – for example, the grace of baptism is not merited but given freely to those who receive baptism – since predestination was formulated before the foundation of the...
Harrowing Of Hell In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell (Descensus Christi ad Inferos, “the descent of Christ into Hell“ or Hades), is an Old English and Middle English term referring to the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. In triumphant descent, Christ brought salvation to the souls held captive there since...
Criticism Of The Catholic Church This article covers the criticism of the Catholic Church in detail. During its long history, the Catholic Church has been subject to criticism regarding various beliefs and practices. Within the Church, this includes differences of opinion regarding the use of Latin at Mass and the subject...
Catholic Social Teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, concern for social justice, and issues of wealth distribution. Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum,...
Catholic Moral Theology Catholic moral theology is a major category of doctrine in the Catholic Church, equivalent to religious ethics. Moral theology encompasses Catholic social teaching, Catholic medical ethics, sexual ethics, and various doctrines on individual moral virtue and moral theory. It can be distinguished as dealing with “how one is to act”, in contrast to dogmatic theology...
Marriage In The Catholic Church Marriage in the Catholic Church, also known as holy matrimony, is the “covenant by which a man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and...
Sex And Gender Roles In The Catholic Church Sex and gender roles in the Roman Catholic Church have been the subject of both intrigue and controversy throughout the Church’s history. The cultural influence of the Catholic Church has been vast, particularly upon Western society. Christian concepts, introduced into evangelized societies worldwide by the Church,...
Catholic Theology Of Sexuality Catholic theology of sexuality, like Catholic theology in general, is drawn from natural law, canonical scripture, divine revelation, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic Church. Sexual morality evaluates sexual behavior according to standards laid out by Catholic moral theology and often provides general principles by which Catholics can evaluate whether...
Catholic Theology On The Body This article covers Catholic theology on the body. The theology on the body is a broad term for Catholic teachings on the human body. The dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, defined in Pope Pius XII’s 1950 apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, is one of the most recent developments in the Catholic theology of...
Catholic-Protestant Relations Catholic-Protestant relations refer to the social, political, and theological relations and dialogue between the Catholics and Protestants. This relationship began in the 16th century with the beginning of the reformation and thereby Protestantism. A number of factors contributed to the Protestant Reformation. Namely, disagreement on the nature of salvation and by extension...
Catholic Ecumenical Councils This article covers Catholic Ecumenical Councils. According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical (“world-wide”), if it is “a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him”. In addition to ecumenical Councils, there...
Catholic Church And Ecumenism This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and Ecumenism. The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement, especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside...
Catholic Church And Judaism This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and Judaism. Christianity started as a movement within Judaism in the mid-1st century. Worshipers of the diverging religions initially co-existed, but began branching out under Paul the Apostle. In 380, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, and a...
Catholic Church And Slavery This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and slavery in detail. The issue of slavery was historically treated with concern by the Catholic Church. Throughout most of human history, slavery has been practiced and accepted by many cultures and religions around the world, including ancient Rome. Certain passages in...
Catholic Church And Homosexuality This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and homosexuality in detail. The “Catechism of the Catholic Church“ promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a mortal sin against chastity. This teaching has developed through a number of ecumenical councils and the influence of theologians, including...
Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Cases This article covers Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in detail. There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, nuns, Popes, and other members of religious life. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities,...
Catholic Church And Abortion This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and abortion. The official teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus, since it holds...
