CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

Council of Trent (1545-63), which
witnessed a reform within the Church to
stimulate genuine Catholic life and to
counteract effects of the Reformation.
Covenant: A bond of relationship between
parties pledged to each other. God
initiated covenants in the Old Testament
included those with Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Levi, David. The Mosaic (Sinai)
covenant made Israel God’s Chosen People
on terms of fidelity to true faith, true
worship, and righteous conduct according
to the Decalogue. The New Testament
covenant, prefigured in the Old
Testament, is the bond people have with
God through Christ. All people are called
to be parties to this perfect and everlasting
covenant, which was mediated and ratified
by Christ. The marriage covenant seals the
closest possible relationship between a
man and a woman.
Creation: The production by God of
something out of nothing. The biblical
account of creation is contained in the first
two chapters of Genesis.
Creator: God, the supreme, self existing
Being, the absolute and infinite First
Cause of all things.
Creature: Everything in the realm of being
is a creature, except God.
Cremation: The reduction of a human
corpse to ashes by means of fire. Cremation
is not in line with Catholic tradition and
practice, even though it is not opposed to
any article of faith. The Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, under date of
May 8, 1963, circulated among bishops an
instruction which upheld the traditional
practices of Christian burial but modified
anti cremation legislation. Cremation may
be permitted for serious reasons, of a
private as well as public nature, provided
it does not involve any contempt of the
Church or of religion, or any attempt to
deny, question, or belittle the doctrine of
the resurrection of the body. In a letter
dated Mar. 21, 1997, and addressed to
Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, president of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops,
the Congregation for Divine Worship and
the Discipline of the Sacraments granted
“a particular permission to the diocesan
bishops of the United States of America.
By this, local Ordinaries (heads of dioceses)
are authorized…to permit that the funeral
liturgy, including where appropriate the
celebration of the Eucharist, be celebrated
in the presence of the cremated remains
instead of the natural body.” Bishop Pilla
asked bishops not to use this indult until
appropriate texts and ritual directives are
approved by the Vatican. (See Burial,
Ecclesiastical).
Crib: Also Crèche, a devotional
representation of the birth of Jesus. The
custom of erecting cribs is generally
attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, who in
1223 obtained from Pope Honorius III
permission to use a crib and figures of the
Christ Child, Mary, St. Joseph, and others,
to represent the mystery of the Nativity.
Crosier: The bishop’s staff, symbolic of his
pastoral office, responsibility and
authority; used at liturgical functions.
Crypt: An underground or partly under -
ground chamber; e.g., the lower part of a
church used for worship and/or burial.
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