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Church-Speak: Strange things Church people say
Archdiocese of Washington ^ | August 3, 2012 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on 08/04/2012 1:41:50 PM PDT by NYer

There is a tendency that any group has to use words that make sense to some of its members, but are often unintelligible to outsiders. I have sometimes had to coach recent converts in “Church speak”.

For example I may proudly announce that “RCIA classes will begin next week….so if you know anyone who is interested in attending, please fill out an information card on the table just outside the sacristy door.” Thinking I have been perfectly clear, a new member approachs me after Mass to ask what “RCIA classes are….and also what is a sacristy?”

I have had the same reaction when announcing “CCD classes.” One angry parent called me to protest that she was told by the DRE (more Church speak) that her daughter could not make First Holy Communion unless she started attending “CCD.” The mother, a non-Catholic spouse of a less than faithful Catholic husband, had no idea that the parish even offered or required religious education for children, since she had never connected the term “CCD” with “Sunday School” or any form of religious instruction.

As a priest I have come to discover that I use terms, ordinary terms of traditional Catholicism, but given the poor catechesis (another Church word, meaning “religious training,” by the way), the meaning of what I am saying is lost on many. For example, I have come to discover that many Catholics think “Mortal Sin” means “killing somebody.” Even the expression “grave sin” escapes many, who know it isn’t good, but are not sure beyond that, what it means. And then mention “venial sin” and the conversation approaches stand-still.

Still other words, such as fornication, covenant, matrimony, incarnation, transubstantiation, liturgy, oration, epistle, gospel, sanctus, chalice, paten, alb, Holy Orders, theological, missal, monsignor, Eucharistic, etc., while being meaningful to many in the Church are often only vaguely understood by many others in the Church, not to mention the unchurched (is that another Church word?).

Once at daily Mass I was preaching out of the First Letter of John, and I was attempting to make the point that our faith is “incarnational.” I began to notice the blank stares, and vacant looks. And so I asked the small group that day if any of them knew what “incarnational” meant, no one did. I went on to explain that it meant that the Word of God had to become flesh in us, it had to become real in the way we live our lives. To me “incarnational” captured it perfectly, but most of them did not even really know for sure what “incarnation” meant, let alone “incarnational.”

Ah Church-speak.

The seminary years took the art of Church-speak to new levels. I remember how many of my professors, while railing against the use of Latin in the liturgy, seemed to have a strange fascination with Greek-based terminology. Mass was out, Eucharist was in. “Going to mass” was out, “confecting the synaxis” was in. Canon was out “anamnesis” was in. Communion was out koinonia was in. Mystagogia, catechumentate, mysterion, epikaia, protoevangelion, hapax legomenon, epiklesis, etc, etc. Necessary words, I suppose, but surely opaque to parishioners we were training to lead and teach. Church speak indeed, or should I say ekklesia-legomenon.

Ah, Church-speak…. or in this case seminary silliness.

At any rate, I have learned to be a little more careful when speaking today to avoid too much Church-speak, too many “insider” terms, too many older terms, without carefully explaining them.I think we can and should learn many of them, but we should not assume that most know them.

The great, and Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that he discovered, early on, that he often got credit for being learned, when in fact, he was merely being obscure. And, for any who knew him in his later years, especially on television, he was always very careful to explain and set forth Church teaching in a very accessible way. Good advice for all of us, a little less of the CCD and RCIA stuff, and little more of the clearer “Religious Instruction” can help decode our Church-speak.

Please enjoy this brief and very funny video from the Protestant side of the aisle. Tim Hawkins is a Christian Comedian. I’d also love to hear some of the words that make your “church-speak” list.

Tim Hawkins Hedge of Protection from crownentertainment on GodTube.


TOPICS: Catholic; History; Humor; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: catholic; churchspeak; jargon; lexicon; msgrcharlespope

1 posted on 08/04/2012 1:41:54 PM PDT by NYer
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To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; SumProVita; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 08/04/2012 1:43:03 PM PDT by NYer (Without justice, what else is the State but a great band of robbers? - St. Augustine)
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To: Running On Empty

Marking


3 posted on 08/04/2012 1:50:50 PM PDT by Running On Empty (The three sorriest words: "It's too late")
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To: NYer

As a courtesy:

RCIA: Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults

CCD: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine


4 posted on 08/04/2012 2:00:44 PM PDT by iowamark
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To: NYer
missal: What they shot at the Moon.

alb: German mountain. Except in Switzerland.

anamnesis: The way they explain plot twists on soap operas: "Hayley had anamnesis and forgot Brewster cheated on her two seasons ago."

koinonia: When numismatists go quite mad.

Mystagogia: Mrs. Gogia's husband.

mysterion: precursor element to unobtanium.

protoevangelion: If midichlorians cause the Force, then protoevangelions cause tent revivals.

epiklesis: the trembling action of a Pentecostal just prior to beeing "slain in the Spirit".

And finally:ekklesia-legomenon: building with a pointy roof decoration, made with plastc blocks

5 posted on 08/04/2012 2:12:27 PM PDT by ExGeeEye (Romney Sucks. Mutiny Now!)
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To: NYer

**fornication, covenant, matrimony, incarnation, transubstantiation, liturgy, oration, epistle, gospel, sanctus, chalice, paten, alb, Holy Orders, theological, missal, monsignor, Euchari**

In my opinion, the Bible by Committee, the NAB, either watered down these words or omitted them altogether.

One example is the word immorality susbstituted for the word fornication.

I a person looks, more examples can be found.

Use the RSV, Jerusalem or Douay Rheims Bibles!


6 posted on 08/04/2012 2:25:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Oops

If a person looks, more examples can be found.


7 posted on 08/04/2012 2:27:00 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: ExGeeEye
canon: a big gun.
8 posted on 08/04/2012 2:35:48 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

“Use the RSV, Jerusalem or Douay Rheims Bibles!”

Yea! My favorite: http://www.drbo.org


9 posted on 08/04/2012 2:44:22 PM PDT by sayuncledave (et Verbum caro factum est (And the Word was made flesh))
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To: sayuncledave
Pauline: a damsel in distress

epistles: the wives of the apostles

transfiguration: turned from a robot into a machine

countenance: tally up the donations

feast of booths: Taste of Jerusalem

10 posted on 08/04/2012 3:57:17 PM PDT by Qout
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To: Qout

I do CCD and we have entire classes that revolve around teaching the terminology. :)

It’s why I add latin + Greek to the curricula so that the students can look at the word, and break it down.


11 posted on 08/04/2012 4:11:36 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: NYer

I always wondered if the Venerable Archbishop would have caught a venerable disease if he committed a venial sin. ;^)


12 posted on 08/04/2012 4:18:06 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: JCBreckenridge

I thought we were required to attend CCD especially if we applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. ;^)


13 posted on 08/04/2012 4:21:21 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Cvengr

You can do both. :) Ain’t TX wonderful?


14 posted on 08/04/2012 4:34:18 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas, Texas, Whisky)
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To: iowamark

Is there such a thing as “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,” or is it simply a code term for “religious education.” I’ve never met anyone who said, “I’m in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,” or anything like that.

RCIA, although it may puzzle some people, is at least an acronym for an ongoing program in most parishes.


15 posted on 08/05/2012 6:01:49 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Get another cat.)
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To: Tax-chick

Allegedly the organization does exist, although I agree that we don’t hear much about it other than the initials.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03711b.htm

http://catholicexchange.com/the-confraternity-of-christian-doctrine/


16 posted on 08/05/2012 6:14:14 AM PDT by iowamark
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To: iowamark

Thanks. That’s something I’ve often wondered about.


17 posted on 08/05/2012 7:09:27 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Get another cat.)
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To: Tax-chick
RCIA, although it may puzzle some people, is at least an acronym for an ongoing program in most parishes.

Unfortunately. I can remember being stuck in one of these when trying to enter the Church and could only imagine it was some sort of a test to weed out the less than fully committed. It went on and on and there was never anything Catholic about it except for repeated made up rituals about sending and acceptance and such like. Surely, if one must endure such things that would have been a good time to teach some of these peculiar Catholic terms this article mentions. But, sadly, no. Just a lot of singing of Protestant songs and learning Protestant prayers. What would all of those Protestants we were there with have done without such instruction I wonder?

18 posted on 08/05/2012 8:44:30 PM PDT by cothrige
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To: cothrige

True, but what if you were on a search for a card-carrying member of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine?


19 posted on 08/06/2012 5:19:35 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Get another cat.)
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