Catechism of the Catholic Church

892

Glossary

annual liturgical celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ takes place (560). PASSIONS, MORAL: The emotions or dispositions which incline us to good or evil actions, such as love and hate, hope and fear, joy and sadness, and anger (1763). PASSOVER: See Pasch/Paschal Lamb. PASTOR/PASTORAL OFFICE: The ministry of shepherding the faithful in the name of Christ. The Pope and bishops receive the pastoral office which they are to exercise with Christ the Good Shepherd as their model; they share their pastoral ministry with priests, to whom they give responsibility over a portion of the flock as pastors of parishes (886, 1560, 2179). PATRIARCH: A title given to the venerable ancestors or “fathers” of the Semitic peoples, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who received God’s promise of election (61, 205). In the Church hierarchy, and especially among the Churches of the East, a patriarch is a senior bishop with jurisdiction over a larger unit of particular churches (patriarchate) of a certain rite or region or liturgical tradition (887). PATRISTIC: Pertaining to the writings of the holy Fathers of the Church, who are privileged witnesses of the apostolic tradition (78, 688). See Fathers of the Church. PEACE: One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 (736). Peace is a goal of Christian living, as indicated by Jesus who said

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (1716). The Fifth Commandment requires us to preserve and work for peace, which was defined by St. Augustine as “the tranquility of order,” and which is the work of justice and the effect of charity (2304). PENANCE: Interior penance: a conversion of heart toward God and away from sin, which implies the intention to change one’s life because of hope in divine mercy (1431). External acts of penance include fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (1434). The observance of certain penitential practices is obliged by the fourth precept of the Church (2043). PENANCE, SACRAMENT OF: The liturgical celebration of God’s forgiveness of the sins of the penitent, who is thus reconciled with God and with the Church. The acts of the penitent— contrition, the confession of sins, and satisfaction or reparation— together with the prayer of absolution by the priest, constitute the essential elements of the Sacrament of Penance (980, 1422, 1440, 1448). PENITENT/PENITENTIAL: The sinner who repents of sin and seeks forgiveness (1451). In the early Church, public sinners belonged to an “order of penitents,” who did public penance for their sins, often for years (1447). Penitential acts or practices refer to those which dispose one for or flows from interior penance or conversion; such acts lead to and follow upon the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance (1434). See Satisfaction (for sin).