Catechism of the Catholic Church

871

Glossary

CHRISTIAN: A name derived from that of Christ himself. The name refers to all those who have been anointed through the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism; hence, the followers of Christ, the members of the Christian Church. According to Acts 11:26 “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” (1289). CHRISTMAS: The feast of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus (1171). CHURCH: The name given the “convocation” or “assembly” of the People God has called together from “the ends of the earth.” In Christian usage, the word “Church” has three inseparable meanings: the People that God gathers in the whole world; the particular or local church (diocese); and the liturgical (above all Eucharistic) assembly. The Church draws her life from the Word and the Body of Christ, and so herself becomes Christ’s Body (752). In the Creed, the sole Church of Christ is professed to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic (811). CIRCUMCISION: The rite prescribed in Judaism and other cultures which involves cutting off the foreskin of a male. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and his people Israel and prefigured the rite of Christian initiation in Baptism. Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth in accord with Jewish law (527). COLLEGIALITY: The principle that all the bishops of the Church with the Pope at their head form a single “college,” which succeeds in every generation the “college” of the Twelve Apostles, with Peter at their head, which Christ

instituted as the foundation of the Church. This college of bishops together with, but never without, the Pope has supreme and full authority over the universal Church (861, 880, 883). COMMANDMENT: A norm of moral and/or religious action; above all, the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. Jesus summarized all the commandments in the twofold command of love of God and love of neighbor (2052). COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH: See Precepts of the Church. COMMUNION: Holy Communion, the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist (1382). More generally, our fellowship and union with Jesus and other baptized Christians in the Church, which has its source and summit in the celebration of the Eucharist. In this sense, Church as communion is the deepest vocation of the Church (959). COMMUNION OF SAINTS: The unity in Christ of all the redeemed, those on earth and those who have died. The communion of saints is professed in the Apostles’ Creed, where it has also been interpreted to refer to unity in the “holy things” ( communio sanctorum ), especially the unity of faith and charity achieved through participation in the Eucharist (948, 957, 960, 1474). CONCUPISCENCE: Human appetites or desires which remain disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism,