Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

Glossary

• Apostolic descended from Christ’s apostles, particularly Peter, the first leader of Christianity after Christ’s death
• Confirmation the sacrament by which a person entering adulthood is confirmed in his or her faith
• Council of Nicaea a council of church fathers held in Nicaea in modern-day Turkey; the first such council was held in 325, the second in 787.
• Eucharist the sacrament of Holy Communion by which, according to Church doctrine, bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ
• Extreme Unction the anointing of the dead or dying, today called the Anointing of the Sick
• heretics those who believe in doctrines contrary to the orthodox doctrines of the Church
• indulgence a full or partial remission of punishment for sin granted to souls in Purgatory
• John the author of the New Testament book of Revelation
• justification the process of achieving eternal salvation
• Latin vulgate the fourth-century Latin version of the Bible
• latria adoration given to God
• mortal sin in Church doctrine, a serious sin that, if unforgiven by God through confession, merits eternal punishment in hell
• New Law the New Testament
• Order Holy Orders, the sacrament of entering the priesthood
• Paul an early convert to Christianity and author of thirteen epistles, or letters, in the New Testament
• Peter one of Christ’s apostles and the first leader of the Christian Church
• Pontius Pilate the Roman prefect of Judaea who sentenced Jesus Christ to his death
• Purgatory in Church teaching, the place where souls go temporarily until they are fit to enter heaven
• sacrament a formal religious ceremony that confers grace on the participant
• schismatics those who promote a schism, or a divergent branch of a religion
• species here, the external elements of the Eucharist, that is, the bread and wine
• vulgar here, a reference to a vernacular native language (as opposed to Latin)