F

Faculties: Grants of jurisdiction or authority by the law of the Church or superiors (pope, bishop, religious superior) for exercise of the powers of holy orders; e.g., priests are given faculties to hear confessions, officiate at weddings; bishops are given faculties to grant dispensations, etc.

Facta dogmatica: Dogmatic Facts (facta dogmatica). By these are understood historical facts, which are not revealed, but which are intrinsically connected with revealed truth, for example, the legality of a Pope or of a General Council, or the fact of the Roman episcopate of St. Peter. The fact that a defined text does or does not agree with the doctrine of the Catholic Faith is also, in a narrower sense, a "dogmatic fact." In deciding the meaning of a text the Church does not pronounce judgment on the subjective intention of the author, but on the objective sense of the text (D 1350 : sensum quem verba prae se ferunt).

Faith: In religion, faith has several aspects. Catholic doctrine calls faith the assent of the mind to truths revealed by God, the assent being made with the help of grace and by command of the will on account of the authority and trustworthiness of God revealing. The term faith also refers to the truths that are believed (content of faith) and to the way in which a person, in response to Christ, gives witness to and expresses belief in daily life (living faith). All of these elements, and more, are included in the following statement:  “ ‘The obedience of faith’ (Rom. 16:26; 1:5; 2 Cor. 10:5-6) must be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which man entrusts his whole self freely to God, offering ‘the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals’ (First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chap. 3), and freely assenting to the truth revealed by him. If this faith is to be shown, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the mind, and giving ‘joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it’ “ (Second Council of Orange, Canon 7) (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on Revelation, Dei Verbum, No. 5). Faith is necessary for salvation.

Faith and Order: An ecumenical body, founded to study theological problems underlying the divisions of Christians.

Faith, Rule of: The norm or standard of religious belief. The Catholic doctrine is that belief must be professed in the divinely revealed truths in the Bible and tradition as interpreted and proposed by the infallible teaching authority of the Church.

Fall, The: The story of Adam and Eve, who disobeying God, lost their innocence and introduced moral evil into the world, and the resulting human condition from which Christ redeemed us.

Fast, Eucharistic: Abstinence from food and drink, except water and medicine, is required for one hour before the reception of the Eucharist. Persons who are advanced in age or suffer from infirmity or illness, together with those who care for them, can receive Holy Communion even if they have not abstained from food and drink for an hour. A priest celebrating two or three Masses on the same day can eat and drink something before the second or third Mass without regard for the hour limit.

Father: A title of priests, who are regarded as spiritual fathers because they are the ordinary ministers of baptism, by which persons are born to supernatural life, and because of their pastoral service to people.

Fathers of the Church: Name given to early Christian writers, who wrote in Greek, Latin, Syriac and Armenian. Because of their doctrine and sanctity, they are “the classics” of Christianity. In the west, they end with St. Isidore of Seville (†636) and in the East with St. John of Damascus († 749).

Fear: A mental state caused by the apprehension of present or future danger. Grave fear does not necessarily remove moral responsibility for an act, but may lessen it.

Feminist Theology: A theological approach, developed mostly in USA, which protests against “masculine bias” in the Church, and demands, among other things, the ordination of women and inclusive language.

Ferial: In liturgy: Week day, as opposed to Sunday or Feast.

Fertile Crescent is a historical region in the Middle East incorporating Ancient Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The term "Fertile Crescent" was coined by University of Chicago archaeologist James Henry Breasted.

Fideism: The heretical belief that faith, without the aid of reason, can teach us all we need to live a satisfactory life. Fideists sometimes believe that faith and reason are not only separate but in conflict with one another. The opposite of fideism is rationalism.

Filioque: Addition to the Latin text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, meaning “AND from the Son”. It started –it seems- at the synod of Braga (Portugal, 675), later on accepted in the West and rejected in the East. It is the main point of discord between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Final cause: That for the sake of which the effect or result of an action is produced. There are many distinctions and divisions, of which only two are necessary for our purpose: the effect or result to which the agent is directed by the efficient cause; and the intention, or that which he principally and ultimately intends by his operation.
f. consummation:  The final consummation of Christ's work includes (a) His quickening of the dead, at the end of the world; (b) His return in glory to judge mankind; (c) His distribution of creatures to their final habitations; (d) His final establishment of the kingdom of heaven and the Church triumphant
f.perseverance: Final perseverance is the preservation of the state of grace till the end of life. The expression is taken from Matthew 10:22,

Finance Council: A C. to advice every ‘juridic persons’ in the Church (c.1280). The diocesan F.C. is appointed by the bishop, with at least three lay people, excluding his relatives (c.492); same rules apply to the Parish F.C. (c.537).

Finalism: View that there are final causes in nature; that is, that at least some things other than the products of deliberate human activity can be explained in terms of their end or purpose.

Finitude: The quality or condition of being finite, limited; characteristic of all creatures.

First Friday: A devotion consisting of the reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in reparation for sin. (See Sacred Heart, Promises.)

First Saturday: A devotion tracing its origin to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fátima in 1917. Those practicing the devotion go to confession and, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and meditate on the mysteries for 15 minutes.

Fisherman’s Ring: A signet ring (termed in Italian the pescatorio) engraved with the image of St. Peter fishing from a boat, and encircled with the name of the reigning pope. It is not worn by the pope. It is used to seal briefs, and is destroyed after each pope’s death.

Five ways: Five manners St. Thomas proposed to prove the existence of God: 1) The Argument From Motion, 2) Causation Of Existence, 3) Contingent and Neccessary Objects, 4) The Agrument From Degrees And Perfection, 5) The Agrument From Intelligent Design

Font: basin or vase, serving as a receptacle for baptismal water in which the candidate for baptism is immersed, or over which he is washed

Forgiveness of Sin: Catholics believe that sins are forgiven by God through the mediation of Christ in view of the repentance of the sinner and by means of the sacrament of penance. (See Penance, Contrition).

Form: Every sacrament has matter and form. The form is the sacramental sign or words that confer on the matter the power to sanctify.

Form criticism: Form criticism is the Biblical method which seeks to discover the type of literature which is contained in the Bible; it is is the study of the structure, content and function of literary or oral units.

Formal: Relating to or involving outward form  or structure. b. Being or relating to essential form or constitution: a formal principle. Following or being in accord with accepted forma, conventions, or regulations: had little formal education; went to a formal party. b. Executed, carried out, or done in proper or regular form: a formal reprimand; a formal document.

Formal cause: is that according to which the statue is made, is the idea existing in the first place as exemplar in the mind of the sculptor, and in the second place as intrinsic, determining cause, embodied in the matter. Formal cause could only refer to the essential quality of causation.

Formal/material cooperation: That [cooperation] is formal which concurs in the bad will of the other, and it cannot be without sin; that [cooperation] is material which concurs only in the bad action of the other, apart from
the cooperator’s intention.

Fortitude: Courage to face dangers or hardships for the sake of what is good; one of the four cardinal virtues and one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Forty Hours Devotion: A Eucharistic observance consisting of solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament coupled with special Masses and forms of prayer, for the purposes of making reparation for sin and praying for God’s blessings of grace and peace. The devotion was instituted in 1534 in Milan. St. John Neumann of Philadelphia was the first bishop in the U.S. to prescribe its observance in his diocese. For many years in this country, the observance was held annually on a rotating basis in all parishes of a diocese. Simplified and abbreviated Eucharistic observances have taken the place of the devotion in some places.

Forum: The sphere in which ecclesiastical authority or jurisdiction is exercised. (1) External: Authority is exercised in the external forum to deal with matters affecting the public welfare of the Church and its members. Those who have such authority because of their office (e.g., diocesan bishops) are called ordinaries. (2) Internal: Authority is exercised in the internal forum to deal with matters affecting the private spiritual good of individuals. The sacramental forum is the sphere in which the sacrament of penance is administered; other exercises of jurisdiction in the internal forum take place in the non-sacramental forum.

Four Last Things: There is no reincarnation. Immediately after death each person is judged for his or her eternal destiny. The traditional Latin term is novissima, "the newest things," because for each of us they are yet to come. The four last things are: de­ath,­ judg­ment,­ heaven, hell.

Freedom, Religious: The Second Vatican Council declared that the right to religious freedom in civil society “means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that in matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits” of requirements for the common good. The foundation of this right in civil society is the “very dignity of the human person” (Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, No. 2). The conciliar statement did not deal with the subject of freedom within the Church. It noted the responsibility of the faithful “carefully to attend to the sacred and certain doctrine of the Church” (No. 14).

Freemasons: A fraternal order which originated in London in 1717 with the formation of the first Grand Lodge of Freemasons. From England, the order spread to Europe and elsewhere. Its principles and basic rituals embody a naturalistic religion, active participation in which is incompatible with Christian faith and practice. Grand Orient Freemasonry, developed in Latin countries, is atheistic, irreligious and anticlerical. In some places, Freemasonry has been regarded as subversive of the state; in Catholic quarters, it has been considered hostile to the Church and its doctrine. In the United States, Freemasonry has been widely regarded as a fraternal and philanthropic order. For serious doctrinal and pastoral reasons, Catholics were forbidden to join the Freemasons under penalty of excommunication, according to church law before 1983.  Eight different popes in 17 different pronouncements, and at least six different local councils, condemned Freemasonry. The first condemnation was made by Clement XII in 1738. Eastern Orthodox and many Protestant bodies have also opposed the order. In the U.S., there was some easing of the ban against Masonic membership by Catholics in view of a letter written in 1974 by Cardinal Franjo Seper, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The letter was interpreted to mean that Catholics might join Masonic lodges which were not anti-Catholic.  This was called erroneous in a declaration issued by the Doctrinal Congregation Feb. 17, 1981. The prohibition against Masonic membership was restated in a declaration issued by the Doctrinal Congregation Nov. 26, 1983, with the approval of Pope John Paul II.

Free Will: The faculty or capability of making a reasonable choice among several alternatives. Freedom of will underlies the possibility and fact of moral responsibility.

Friar: Term applied to members of mendicant orders to distinguish them from members of monastic orders. (See Mendicants.)

Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.

Fruits of the Mass: The spiritual and temporal blessings that result from the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The general fruits are shared by all the faithful, living and departed, while the special fruits are applied to the priest who celebrates it, to those for whose intention it is offered, and to all those who participate in its celebration.

Functional Christology: Christology which focuses on the saving activity of Christ (like Soteriology), and presupposes ontological Christology, which focuses on Who Christ is.

Fundamental Option: The orientation of one’s life either to God by obedience or against Him through disobedience. Catholic Tradition acknowledges that one free and deliberate act with knowledge renders one at odds with God. A prevalent and vague moral theory today asserts that one act cannot change one’s option to God — no matter how grave — unless the action comes from the person’s “center.” Pope John Paul II cautioned against this ambiguous position in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor (1993).

Fundamental Theology: That branch of Theology which studies foundational issues: divine revelation, possibility of faith, credibility of Christianity, transmission of the deposit of faith, etc.

Fundamentalism: A 20^th c. Protestant movement (mainly in USA), which defends the basics of Christianity, like Christ’s divinity and resurrection, but also interprets the Bible literally. Similar ideological movements in other religions.

Futurible: A possible course of future development. A concept created by a Spanish Jesuit, Molina, in 1588 by connecting the  words "future" and "possible".