IIcons: Byzantine-style paintings or representations of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and other saints, venerated in the Eastern Churches where they take the place of statues. Iconoclasm: (“breaking images”), a movement in Byzantine Church that condemned images as idols and destroyed them (725-843). The main defender of images was St. John Damascene. It was condemned as heretical by Nicaea II (787). Iconostasis: (“image wall”), in Oriental churches a screen or wall, covered with icons, separating the nave from the sanctuary. Idiom: In christology, means "what is proper of a subject". Idolatry: Worship of any but the true God; a violation of the First Commandment. IHS: In Greek, the first three letters of the name of Jesus — Iota, Eta, Sigma. Immaculate Conception: The doctrine that affirms that “the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of God omnipotent and because of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of the human race, free from all stain of Original Sin,” as stated by Pope Pius IX in his declaration of the dogma, Dec. 8, 1854. Thus, Mary was conceived in the state of perfect justice, free from Original Sin and its consequences, in virtue of the redemption achieved by Christ on the cross. Immanent Trinity: The Triune God in Himself, who makes Himself known through the “economic” Trinity, or God as revealed in history of salvation. Immortality: The survival and continuing existence of the human soul after death. Impanation: the doctrine that Christ is really present in the Eucharist but without transubstantiation: Christ is in the bread, which remains bread; also called consubstantiation (Luther's doctrine). Others understand a sort of hypostatic union of Christ with the bread. Impassible: The glorified body's complete freedom from every kind of physical evil, such as sorrow, sickness, injury, or death, so that it cannot suffer or die. Impassibility results from perfect compliance of the body and emotions to the soul. Impediment:
any obstacle nullifying a sacrament or making it illegitimate. So an
Impediment of Crime nullifies marriage according to ecclesiastical law,
and arises from adultery and homicide separately or together. It can be: Impetratory Prayer: “obtain by asking”, or praying for our needs and for others’. Imprecatory Psalms: cursing Psalms (Ps 7,35,69,109,137) Imprimatur: See Censorship of Books. Impurity: Unlawful indulgence in sexual pleasure. (See Chastity.) Imputability: A canonical term for the moral responsibility of a person for an act that he or she has performed. Incardination: The affiliation of a priest to his diocese. Every secular priest must belong to a certain diocese. Similarly, every priest of a religious community must belong to some jurisdiction of his community; this affiliation, however, is not called incardination. Incarnation: (1) The coming-into-flesh or taking of human nature by the Second Person of the Trinity. He became human as the Son of Mary, being miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, without ceasing to be divine. His divine Person hypostatically unites his divine and human natures. (2) The supernatural mystery coextensive with Christ from the moment of his human conception and continuing through his life on earth; his sufferings and death; his resurrection from the dead and ascension to glory with the Father; his sending, with the Father, of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Church; and his unending mediation with the Father for the salvation of human beings. Incense: A granulated substance which, when burnt, emits an aromatic smoke. It symbolizes the zeal with which the faithful should be consumed, the good odor of Christian virtue, the ascent of prayer to God. An incense boat is a small vessel used to hold incense which is to be placed in the censer. Incest: Sexual intercourse with relatives by blood or marriage; a sin of impurity and also a grave violation of the natural reverence due to relatives. Other sins of impurity desire, etc.) concerning relatives have the nature of incest. Inculturation: The correct and entirely appropriate adaptation of the Catholic liturgy and institutions to the culture, language, and customs of an indigenous or local people among whom the Gospel is first proclaimed. Pope John Paul II Feb. 15, 1982, at a meeting in Lagos with the bishops of Nigeria proclaimed: “An important aspect of your own evangelizing role is the whole dimension of the inculturation of the Gospel into the lives of your people. The Church truly respects the culture of each people. In offering the Gospel message, the Church does not intend to destroy or to abolish what is good and beautiful. In fact, she recognizes many cultural values and, through the power of the Gospel, purifies and takes into Christian worship certain elements of a people’s customs.” Incumbent: the holder of an office or ecclesiastical benefice Indefectibility: Gift Christ gives to His Church whereby she will last till the end of the world (Mt 16:18). Index of Prohibited Books: A list of books which Catholics were formerly forbidden to read, possess or sell, under penalty of excommunication. The books were banned by the Holy See after publication because their treatment of matters of faith and morals and related subjects were judged to be erroneous or serious occasions of doctrinal error. Some books were listed in the Index by name; others were covered under general norms. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared June 14, 1966, that the Index and its related penalties of excommunication no longer had the force of law in the Church. Persons are still obliged, however, to take normal precautions against occasions of doctrinal error. Indifferentism: A theory that any one religion is as true and good — or false — as any other religion, and that it makes no difference, objectively, what religion one professes, if any. The theory is completely subjective, finding its justification entirely in personal choice without reference to or respect for objective validity. It is also self-contradictory, since it regards as equally acceptable — or unacceptable — the beliefs of all religions, which in fact are not only not all the same but are in some cases opposed to each other. Indulgence: According to The Doctrine and Practice of Indulgences, an apostolic constitution issued by Paul VI Jan. 1, 1967, an indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which a follower of Christ — with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions — acquires through the intervention of the Church. An indulgence is partial or plenary, depending on whether it does away with either part or all of the temporal punishment due for sin. Both types of indulgences can always be applied to the dead by way of suffrage; the actual disposition of indulgences applied to the dead rests with God. In July, 1986, publication was announced of a new and simplified Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, in accord with provisions of the revised Code of Canon Law. A revised manual was issued by the Holy See on Sept. 17, 2000. Indult: A favor or privilege granted by competent ecclesiastical authority, giving permission to do something not allowed by the common law of the Church. Indwelling: existing or residing as an inner activating spirit or force or principle; "an indwelling divinity"; "ind.of the Holy Spirit"; "an indwelling goodness" Inerrancy: As a consequence of divine inspiration, Scriptures cannot err in transmitting saving truth (DV 11). Infallibility: 1) The inability of the Church to err in its teaching, in that she preserves and teaches the deposit of truth as revealed by Christ; 2) The inability of the Roman Pontiff to err when he teaches ex cathedra in matters of faith or morals, and indicates that the doctrine is to be believed by all the faithful; and 3) the inability of the college of bishops to err when speaking in union with the pope in matters of faith and morals, agreeing that a doctrine must be held by the universal Church, and the doctrine is promulgated by the Pontiff. Infused Virtues: The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity; principles or capabilities of supernatural action, they are given with sanctifying grace by God rather than acquired by repeated acts of a person. They can be increased by practice; they are lost by contrary acts. Natural-acquired moral virtues, like the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, can be considered infused in a person whose state of grace gives them supernatural orientation. Initiation: Introduction in stages to the mystery of a religion. In Christianity, it begins with catechumenate, then Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Inquisition: A tribunal for dealing with heretics, authorized by Gregory IX in 1231 to search them out, hear and judge them, sentence them to various forms of punishment, and in some cases to hand them over to civil authorities for punishment. The Inquisition was a creature of its time when crimes against faith, which threatened the good of the Christian community, were regarded also as crimes against the state, and when heretical doctrines of such extremists as the Cathari and Albigensians threatened the very fabric of society. The institution, which was responsible for many excesses, was most active in the second half of the 13th century. Inquisition, Spanish: An institution peculiar to Spain and the colonies in Spanish America. In 1478, at the urging of King Ferdinand, Pope Sixtus IV approved the establishment of the Inquisition for trying charges of heresy brought against Jewish (Marranos) and Moorish (Moriscos) converts. It acquired jurisdiction over other cases as well, however, and fell into disrepute because of irregularities in its functions, and the manner in which it served the interests of the Spanish crown more than the accused persons and the good of the Church. Protests by the Holy See failed to curb excesses of the Inquisition, which lingered in Spanish history until early in the 19th century. I N R I: The first letters of words in the Latin inscription atop the cross on which Christ was crucified: Iesus Nazaraenus, Rex Iudaeorum — Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Insemination, Artificial: The implanting of human semen by some means other than consummation of natural marital intercourse. In view of the principle that procreation should result only from marital intercourse, donor insemination is not permissible. In Sin: The condition of a person called spiritually dead because he or she does not possess sanctifying grace, the principle of supernatural life, action and merit. Such grace can be regained through repentance. Inspiration: The special impulse and guidance of the Holy Spirit through which Holy Scripture was written and so can be called the word of God. Instruction: A document containing doctrinal explanations, directive norms, rules, recommendations, admonitions, issued by the pope, a department of the Roman Curia or other competent authority in the Church. To the extent that they so prescribe, instructions have the force of law. Insufflation: A ritual act of breathing on baptismal water or on the one being baptized Intercommunion, Eucharistic Sharing: The common celebration and reception of the Eucharist by members of different Christian churches; a pivotal issue in ecumenical theory and practice. Catholic participation and intercommunion in the Eucharistic liturgy of another church without a valid priesthood and with a variant Eucharistic belief is out of order. Under certain conditions, other Christians may receive the Eucharist in the Catholic Church. (See additional Intercommunion entry). Intercommunion is acceptable to some Protestant churches and unacceptable to others. Integrism: confusing that which is the faith, with that which expresses it. It describes those who separate the Holy See from the governance of Catholic faith, especially where it concerns the Latin rite Mass and the controversy between the Normative Mass, and the Mass of the 1962 Missal Interdict: A censure imposed on persons for certain violations of church law. Interdicted persons may not take part in certain liturgical services, administer or receive certain sacraments. Interstices: intervals of time required by the Church between the attainment of different degrees of an order Intinction: A method of administering Holy Communion under the dual appearances of bread and wine, in which the consecrated host is dipped in the consecrated wine before being given to the communicant. The administering of Holy Communion in this manner, which has been traditional in Eastern-Rite liturgies, was authorized in the Roman Rite for various occasions by the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy promulgated by the Second Vatican Council. Investiture: Investiture was the act by which a suzerain granted a fief to his vassal, and the ceremonies which accompanied that grant; in the 11 c., bishops and abbots were so given a benefice by kings. Now, the concession of an ecclesiastical benefice or the act of putting one in possession of such a benefice. Invincible Ignorance: Lack of knowledge, without one’s fault, regarding the truth of Christianity, which excuses from moral guilt. Irenicism: Peace-seeking, conciliation, as opposed to polemics; an important element in ecumenism, provided it furthers pursuit of the Christian unity willed by Christ without degenerating into a peace-at-any-price disregard for religious truth. Irregularity: A permanent impediment to the lawful reception or exercise of holy orders. The Church instituted irregularities —which include apostasy, heresy, homicide, attempted suicide —out of reverence for the dignity of the sacraments. Islam: (arab, “submission”), the religion that recognizes Mohammet († 632) as the last prophet, after Jesus. Iteration: Repetition; sacraments can be repeated, like the Eucharist, or not, like Bapism.
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