United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

512 • Conclusion and Appendices

EVANGELIZATION: This is the ministry and mission of proclaim ing and witnessing Christ and his Gospel with the intention of deepening the faith of believers and inviting others to be baptized and initiated into the Church. EXCOMMUNICATION: A severe penalty imposed or declared by the Church upon a Catholic who has committed a grave crime or offense according to Church law; a person who is excommunicated is barred from celebrating or receiving the Sacraments. This penalty is imposed as a remedy for serious sin, not as a punishment. Remission of the pen alty can be granted only by those authorized to do so by the Church. EXEGESIS: The process used by Scripture scholars to determine the literal and spiritual meanings of the biblical text. EXORCISM: “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church” (CCC, no. 1673, citing CIC, can. 1172). One needs to dis tinguish psychological illness from demonic possession. Illness is the domain of psychological and medi cal care, whereas the presence of the Evil One needs the attention of

an exorcist. In the Rite of Baptism, there is also a Prayer of Exorcism prior to the anointing with the Oil of the Catechumens; in this prayer, the priest or deacon asks that the one about to be baptized be freed from Original Sin. FAITH: This is both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God (who invites his or her response) and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed. FALL, (THE): A title for the event in which the first man and woman, traditionally called Adam and Eve, disobeyed God with the result that they lost their place in Paradise, passed Original Sin to all their descendants, and made Redemption necessary. FAMILY: “A man and a woman, united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recogni tion by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it. It should be considered the normal reference point by which the dif ferent [authentic] forms of family relationships are to be [recognized]” (CCC, no. 2202). -F