Intro to Catholic Morality Midterm Vocab
Ideology
A body of doctrine, usually political or economic, that makes grand systematic truth claims.
Marriage (Matrimony)
A covenant or partnership for life between one man and one woman. Marriage is ordered to the good of the spouses and the procreation and upbringing of children. When validly contracted between two baptized person, marriage is a sacrament.
Formal Cooperation
A deliberate assistance to another person in the commission of evil.
Family of God
A description of the fellowship of believers in the Church: the Communion of Saints united to Christ, enjoying the life of the Trinity.
Soviet Union
A former federation of communist republics that extended over the northern half of Asia and much of Eastern Europe. Established in 1922, it expanded especially after World War II. Its capital was Moscow. It collapsed as such during the years 1989 and 1991.
Virtue
A habitual and firm disposition to do good.
General Council
A major, having authoritative power, assembly of bishops representative of the Church throughout the world.
Slander
A maliciously false statement or report intended to defame or injure a person. It is a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
Fascism
A nationalistic form of social, advocating state control or ownership of key industries, with government overseen by authoritarian leadership.
Commandments
A norm of moral and religious action.
Habitual Sin
A permanent state of culpability caused by the frequent commission of actual sins.
Communism
A political theory based on the writings of Karl Marx, promoting violent class struggle and the abolition of private property.
Conversion
A radical reorientation of one's whole life away from sin and evil and toward God. This is a central element of Christ's preaching, of the Church's ministry of evangelization, and of the Sacrament of Penance.
Anarchy
A state of disorder due to absence of just authority; lawlessness.
Cold War
A state of tense political and military rivalry between two powers; usually applied to the hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union through much of the twentieth century.
Actual Sin
A thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to God's eternal law. It is a human act that presumes (a) knowledge of wrongdoing, (b) awareness of malice in one's conduct, and (c) consent of the will. It damages a person's relationship with God.
Socialism
A variety of political and economic theories that advocate a high degree of government control over—or outright ownership of—the means of production, distribution, and exchange. Though most forms of socialism reject violence as a means of achieving their ends, many of its forms espouse the idea of class struggle.
Intrinsic Evil
An act that is evil in and of itself and never justifiable, regardless of situation or circumstance.
Scandal
An attitude or behavior that leads another to do evil.
Encyclical
An authoritative papal letter, usually addressed to all the bishops of the world and treating a matter of great importance.
Laissez-Faire Capitalism
An economic approach that opposes governmental interference in business and industry.
Sacrament
An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed through the work of the Holy Spirt. There are Seven Sacraments: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick.
Person
An individual substance of a rational nature. Complete in itself, uncommunicable, and possessing responsibilities and rights as well as the essential elements of distinctiveness, uniqueness, intelligence, and will. A human person is an "individual, made in the image of God; he or she is not some thing but some one, a unity of spirit and matter, soul and body, capable of knowledge, self0possession, and freedom, who can enter into communion with other persons—and with God (357, 362; cf. 1700 CCC).
Grave Matter
An object or circumstance having serious weight or importance.
Natural Law
An objective order establish by God that determines the requirements for people to thrive and reach fulfillment.
Individualism
Belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the values of personal independence and self-reliance.
Universal Destination of Goods
Catholic doctrine that God created the goods of the earth to be shared in common by all people.
Paschal Mystery
Christ's saving work, accomplished through his dying, rising, and ascension into glory. "Paschal" refers to Passover, or Easter; Christ is the Lamb of the new Passover sacrifice (cf. I Cor 5:7).
Complete Consent
Consent given so freely and deliberately that an action becomes a personal choice.
Technocratic
Describes a form of government in which experts in industry, science, and technology are in control of all decision-making.
Decalogue
From the Greek for "ten words," the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses.
Euthanasia
From the Greek meaning "good death," an action or omission of an action that, by itself or by intention, causes a person's death in order to eliminate suffering. It is a sin against the Fifth Commandment.
Ecology
From the Greek oikos meaning house or dwelling (or family by reference to the house or dwelling), this science deals with the relations of living organisms (especially humans) to their surroundings or habitats. This field of studies environmental issues.
Communion
From the Latin for "mutual participation" or "oneness together," communion denotes the most intimate fellowship, a sharing of life; the bond that believers share with Christ and, in Christ, with one another.
Incarnation
From the Latin, meaning "to become flesh." The mystery of the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in the one divine Person, The Word, Jesus Christ. To become about man's salvation, the Son of God was made flesh (John 1:14) and became truly man.
Holy Spirit
God, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the personal bond of love between God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and the Son to the Church, to be the Church's bond o loving unity.
Gossip
Idle speech about another person's affairs, especially of an intimate nature. The word can also refer to a person who gossips. Gossip is a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
Attrition
Imperfect contrition resulting from being sorry for sins due to fear of God's punishment.
Class Struggle
In Marxist ideology, the never-ending conflict between the ownership and working classes, based on their opposing interests. The Church has opposed the idea as contrary to fraternal charity.
Economic Liberalism
Laissez-Faire capitalism.
Justice
One of the four cardinal virtues: this virtue refers to the stead and lasting willingness to give God and to others what belongs to them by right.
Apologist
One who defends and explains the Catholic Faith.
Pornography
Printed or visual material containing explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activity, intended to cause sexual excitement in the reader or viewer. The use of pornography is a sin against the Sixth Commandment.
Cardinal Virtues
Prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Because they are pivotal, these virtues are called "cardinal" (from the Latin cardo: "hinge"). They are stable dispositions of the intellect and will that govern actions, order passions, and guide conduct in accordance with reason and faith.
Atheism
Rejection of the existence of God, founded often on a false conception of human autonomy. This is forbidden by the First Commandment of the Ten Commandments.
Modesty
Reserve or propriety in speech, dress, and behavior. A modest person avoids that is overly revealing or may excite the senses, leading others to sin.
Fornication
Sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman; a sin against the Sixth Commandment.
Adultery
Sexual relations between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. Adultery is opposed to the Sacrament of Matrimony, because it contradicts the equal dignity of man and woman and the unity and exclusivity of married love.
Formal Sin
Sin that is freely and deliberately committed. It involves knowledge of the evil of the act and freedom to avoid it.
Imperfect Contrition
Sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again as a result of fear of God's punishment rather than out of love for God.
Pro-Life
Term commonly used to identify individuals and organizations that oppose abortion and other affront to human dignity.
Magisterium
The Church's teaching authority.
Body of Christ
The New Testament's preeminent image of the Church, which lives in communion with Christ as its Head.
Racism
The Theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race. This can be manifest in the different treatment of people based solely on race; in this way, it is a violation of human dignity and a sin against justice.
Infanticide
The act of killing a newly born child, a sin against the Fifth Commandment.
Suicide
The act of taking one's own life; self-murder. This is forbidden by the Fifth Commandment.
Detraction
The action of taking away from a person's merit or reputation by disclosing another's true faults or sins. This is a sin against the Eighth Commandment because each person has a right to his or her good name.
Relativism
The belief that knowledge and mortality do not correspond to any absolute truth, but are rather conditioned by individual experience or cultural context.
Materialism
The belief that nothing exists except physical matter; also, a tendency to value possessions and physical comfort above spiritual life.
Poverty
The condition of want experienced by those who are poor, whom Christ called blessed, and for whom he had a special love. Poverty of spirit signifies humility and detachment from worldly things.
Masturbation
The deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. Masturbation is a sin against the Sixth Commandment.
Responsibility (or Duty)
The demand for an account of one's acts; it includes accepting the consequences of those acts.
Abortion
The destruction of a child after conception but before birth. Direct abortion or cooperation in it is forbidden by the Fifth Commandment; it is a violation of the child's fundamental right to life.
Secularism
The doctrinaire exclusion of religion from public life.
Rape
The forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. This act deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. It is a sin against the Sixth Commandments.
Social Justice
The form of justice that governs the cultural, political, and economic aspects of human community, with particular concern for structural problems and solutions.
Commutative Justice
The form of justice that governs the ordinary transactions of everyday life, directing us to honor promises, contracts, and commitments.
Legal Justice
The form of justice that governs the way individuals respond to the obligations of living in society or living under the state. It may or may not be a morally just law, but it is by the will of the state a "legal" law.
Distributive Justice
The form of justice that governs the ways and means by which authority distributes the goods and obligations of social life among the members of society.
Rash Judgment
The formation of an opinion about someone's character without sufficient evidence. It is a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
Procreation
The formation of new life through a married couple's cooperation with God and in response to their vocation.
New Commandment
The foundational law given by Christ to his disciples: "as I have loved you, so love one another" (Jn 13:34).
Family
The fundamental unit of society and of the Church. The family is based upon the marriage of a man and a woman and includes their children. A Catholic family is a "domestic church."
Grace
The gift of a share in God's life. The state of grace is a stable, supernatural disposition that enables the soul to live in communion with God. God gives actual grace to help us accomplish his will, and special graces (charisms) to help us fulfill our vocation.
Rights (also, Natural Rights)
The goods that are owed to a person by nature. Natural rights are inviolable and belong to every human being because of his or her inherent dignity as a person, possessing a rational intellect and free will.
Polytheism
The idolatrous worship of many gods.
Eminent Domain
The legal principle of civil law that a government can claim private property, with compensation to the owner, because of a legitimate and overriding public concern. It is consonant with Catholic social doctrine when exercised in a just way, i.e. for the common good and with just compensation to the owner.
Chastity
The moral virtue that is directed toward the positive integration of sexuality within a person, moderating the sexual appetite.
Trinity
The mystery of one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the primary mystery of Christian life and belief.
Participation
The principle by which people take active responsibility for their roles in society—by means of labor, voting, community life, and so on.
Just War
The principle that war may be legitimately waged, under certain specific conditions, for the protection of a nation's rights.
Development of Doctrine
The process by which Christian teaching becomes gradually more explicit and detailed, though later statements of doctrine remain consistent with earlier statements.
Dignity
The quality of being worthy or honorable; worthiness, nobility, excellence. Every human person, by reason of his or her creation in the image and likeness of God, has an intrinsic dignity. Certain characteristics that are distinctive in human beings—such as work and freedom—are endowed by God with a special dignity.
Solidarity
The quality of communities or individuals being united in interests, sympathies, and aspirations. Also, the principle of "friendship" or "social charity" manifested first in the distribution of goods and the remuneration of work.
Industrial Revolution
The rapid development of industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, brought on by advances in technology for mass production and automation.
Stewardship
The responsible and just use of the world's resources.
Apologetics
The rhetorical art of defending and explaining the Christian Faith.
Private Property, Right To
The right of a person or community of persons to own, govern, and otherwise dispose of some part of creation.
Secularity
The special character of the laity, at work and living in the world (LG 31).
Nazism (National Socialistic Fascism)
The statist, racist, nationalist ideology behind the National Socialist German Workers Party, which reigned under Adolf Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s. Nazi racism was condemned by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical addressed to the German people: Mit Brennender Sorge ('With Burning Concern"), and by Pope Pius XII in his radio and other addresses.
Beatitudes
The teachings of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount on the meaning and way to true happiness (see Mt. 5:3-12). These are at the heart of Christ's preaching.
Statism
The tendency, in politics and economics, to concentrate control in the state at the cost of individual liberty.
Charity
The theological virtue by which a Christian loves God above all things for his own sake, and loves his neighbor as himself for the love of God.
Common Good
The total of social conditions that will allow both individuals and groups to reach their human and spiritual fulfillment more easily.
Idolatry
The worship or adoration due to God alone paid to images "made with hands" or any created object that is forbidden by the First Commandment. This is distinct from veneration given to saints and holy objects implicitly allowed by the Incarnation as defined by the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
Perjury
To make a promise without any intention of completing it, or to lie under oath, a sin against the Eighth Commandment.
Property
What belongs to someone; what someone owns. Persons have the right to private ownership of property; but that right is not absolute, and it may be limited.
Marxism
a particular form of communism.
Subsidiarity
n organizing principle in society, subsidiarity proposes that matters should be handled by the smallest and most local competent authority, rather than being handled default by a central authority.