| A | B |
|---|
| Spiritual Works of Mercy | You can do these over the phone.Instruct the ignorant. Counsel the doubtful. Comfort the sorrowful. Reprove the sinner. Forgive injuries. Bear wrongs patiently. Pray for the living and the dead. |
| Corporal Works of Mercy | You have to be with the person to do these. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Shelter those in need. Visit the sick. Bury the dead. Ransom captives. |
| Abortion | Procuring the expulsion or destruction of a child at any time after conception and prior to birth. |
| Autonomy | The belief that one is entirely independent and is responsible only to himself for his actions and direction of his life. |
| Cloning | The technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized ovum with the nucleus of a body cell from the organism. This process is not moral in the case of humans. |
| Euthanasia | An action or omission of an action that, by itself or by intention, causes a person's death in order to eliminate suffering. |
| Mutilation | The disfigurement of the human body. |
| Scandal | An attitude or behavior that leads another to do evil. |
| Sterilization | The destruction of human procreative powers. |
| Theonomy | The belief that one depends upon God for the meaning, direction, and purpose in his life. |
| Chastity | The virtue that consists in moderating the sexual appetite according to one's state in life. |
| Concubinage | Cohabitation or "living together" between unmarried persons. Often called "trial marriage". |
| Continence | Abstaining from any type of sexual act, as well as from those activities that excite the passions and incline a person to the sexual act. |
| Declaration of Nullity | The finding of an ecclesiastical court that a valid marriage never existed from the beginning. |
| Eroticism | Exaggeration of the passion for sex and sexual pleasure. |
| Hedonism | The philosophy that considers pleasure as the supreme end of life. |
| Indissolubility | A quality of matrimony that the marital union can be broken only by the death of one of the spouses. |
| Modesty | The virtue that regulates dress, conversation, and conduct in relation to the individual and society according to faith and right reason. |
| Pornography | Any written, visual, or audible material that excites the sexual appetite. |
| Avarice | A passionate desire for riches that leads one to use money to control others. |
| Justice | The constant determination to give each person his due. |
| Principle of Solidarity | The duty of cooperating and harmonizing all of the rights of the individual and the demands that are derived from the sociability of man. It represents the entire effort-a joint effort-to reach the good of the individual and of society. |
| Principle of Subsidiarity | A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good. With this principle, the CHurch opposes all forms of collectivism or nationalism. |
| Principle of the Common Good | The primacy of the common good over individual interests. The term "common good" is applied to the effort to achieve a social good that makes possible the full development of one's own perfection. |
| Private Property | The right of a person to possess things as his own. |
| Social Justice | The justice that characterizes and regulates relations among indivuduals or among diverse groups and social classes in all areas of social interaction |
| humanism | a moral system that denies belief in God and views humanity as the highest form of existence |
| virtue | a habitual and firm disposition to do good |
| original sin | Adam and Eve's abuse of their human freedom in disobeying God's command. This sin separated mankind from God, darkened the human intellect, weakened the human will, and introduced into human nature an inclination toward sin. |
| moral relativism | the belief that there are no absolute truths, and that morality changes with each new situation |
| Actual Sin | sins against God committed by the deliberate will of the individual |
| mortal sin | a grave offense against God that destroys our relationship with him by severing us from his divine love. |
| sin | an offense against God. |
| venial sin | a less serious offense against the love of God that does not deprive the soul of sanctifying grace, but which weakens a person's love for God and neighbor. |
| eminent domain | principle that allows the government to claim property with appropriate payment |
| lie | to speak against the truth in order to induce a person entitled to it into error. (lie includes intention to lead the other to error) |
| free will | a gift from God to make possible the free choice to love God. |
| decalogue | 10 commandments given to Moses by God |
| contraception | prevention of transmission of life |
| indeterminism | actions are not determined by events or conditions, but by free will of individuals |
| Didache | Brief early Christian treatise, like a handbook for new Christians, describing sacraments, liturgy, and the Church. Supposedly written by 12 apostles. |
