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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.
-F-
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).